All We Are Saying Is Give Peace a Chance

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In true prophetic fashion, I'm about to tick off nearly everybody. And it has to do, of course, with the 2016 United Methodist General Conference.

On Facebook, I posted my reaction to how delegates and observers are responding to the proposal for an alternative discernment process for General Conference decision-making. The alternative process resembles the kind of non-judgmental, collegial, consensus-building discussion – something like what native Hawaiians call "ho'oponopono" – that occurs in many communities of the Two-Thirds World.

As explained to me by Judi Modlin Kenaston, chair of the General Commission on the General Conference, the discernment process would be added to the conference's standing procedures as Rule 44. It's primarily intended to allow delegates from regions outside the United States to have more equitable input and influence on legislation, but leaders also hope it will reduce the tension and – let's say it frankly – the bullying that has occurred previously in difficult deliberations.

One of my Facebook friends asked, "How bad is it going to be?" In my reply, I found my thoughts condensing and clarifying into this statement:

I think there's a great effort to try to get delegates to embrace the spirit of Christian conferencing and try a process of discernment that's different from the "winners-and-losers" result of parliamentary procedure. But those with entrenched positions on both wings are fighting tooth-and-nail to keep fighting. I find this to be a form of "zero sum" spirituality, i.e., in order for me to be right, you must be wrong. Some Americans in particular refuse to consider the idea that Robert's Rules of Order just isn't the way decisions are made in communities of the 2/3rds world.

The more I think about this statement, the more it resonates with me, and the more its ripples collide with the complications of human interaction. Here's what I see it after 28 years of reporting on General Conference:

  • Pro-LGBTQI folks in The United Methodist Church, which I freely acknowledge includes me, are fixated on the harm caused to LGBTQI people because of the denomination's declaration that "homosexual practice is incompatible with Christian teaching." The common result, though not the consistent result, of this fixation is that anyone who doesn't totally agree with this perspective becomes the enemy.
  • Anti-LGBTQI folks, who contend they aren't against people but against acts, are fixated on keeping the institutional power they currently have to say who's worthy to join and lead the church. Anything that threatens their stranglehold, however small, must be resisted without compromise. Again, anyone who doesn't totally agree with this perspective becomes the enemy.
  • Some pro- and anti-LGBTQI folks have recognized the serious harm being done to all by nearly five decades of incessant fighting. These folks have looked to both Christ and culture for a way out. They think they've found it in a proposed alternative discernment process that's undergirded by the concept of talking through legislation collectively rather parliamentary warfare. This procedure resembles the conflict resolution process that Jesus endorses in Matthew 18. The sticking point of the Matthew 18 prescription is that it ends in breaking the relationship if reconciliation isn't achieved. Breaking up is something that United Methodist leaders are desperate to avoid.

All these factors are why I'm mournfully singing the Beatles' song, "All We Are Saying Is Give Peace a Chance."

The true risk of the conflict that grips United Methodism transcends the human approval that pro-LGBTQI people desire from the church. It transcends the institutional power that anti-LGBTQI people desire to retain. The stakes transcend the preservation of the institutional church. What really matters is how the world will view Christian belief and practice because of the behaviors of its United Methodist clan.

Plainly put, why would anyone want to struggle to follow Jesus Christ in today's world when his own professed followers don't interact according to his teachings and example? Where are the examples of God's grace through Christ breaking down the barriers between factions, genders, races and classes? To what are professed United Methodist Christians committing themselves if not to a way of life that resembles that of their avowed Master?

It's easy to see why The United Methodist Church is having such a hard time fulfilling its stated mission "to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world." It's because we show so little of the spiritual transformation that comes from authentically following Christ. Even our best intentions often end up being about our egos – what I once heard a pastor call "Edging God Out."

Like Jesus' instruction to the rich young man in Matthew 19:16-21, we all have to let go of what we most treasure. We pro-LGBTQI folks have to let go of our self-centered victimhood and grant grace when it isn't returned, so that we can love our perceived enemies as Jesus commands. We anti-LGBTQI folks have to let go of our self-centered moral superiority, so that we can love our perceived enemies as Jesus commands. We who long for a way out of perpetual wrangling must give up our fear and despair, and enter into the hard work of making space in our midst for God's Holy Spirit to act.

Hurt, hate, fear, despair. Jesus said God can redeem them all, if we're willing. Will we allow redemption to happen at General Conference?

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POSTSCRIPT: I just watched a couple of very moving videos showing the Maori custom known as a "haka." In this ritual Maori men – and now women, too – chant and strut in a ceremony intended to transfer honor, strength, and courage from the community to the individual(s) being honored. Haka was once a war dance – hence the fearsome faces in the video – but has become a community honor. What would General Conference be like if the delegates gave each other haka – or other similar ceremony from our own church regions – before they started deliberating legislation?

"Views from a Ridge" is the blog of United Methodist Insight Editor Cynthia B. Astle.