People of Faith for Health Care
True discipleship -- following Jesus -- requires risking the derision and scorn that comes when advocating for a more loving and just society.Picture this scene: The 1996 General Conference convened in Denver, Colo., in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. So many of us flatlanders were unprepared for two weeks at a mile above sea level that some folks ended up going to hospitals for altitude-related problems. Before the end of the first week it seemed that wheeled oxygen tanks replaced rolling luggage carts as a main accessory.
As if the environment weren't enough to befuddle, something happened during those two weeks that defied the United Methodist convention of "make nice no matter what." A group of bishops, originally 15, issued an open letter urging delegates to remove the denomination's stances holding homosexual practice to be "incompatible with Christian teaching," barring LGBTQ people from ordained ministry, and banning the use of any general church funds to promote the acceptance of homosexual practice.
The bishops' statement ignited a scandal. Whatever their personal misgivings, the Council of Bishops usually maintained a solid front on church matters. To acknowledge that the body wasn't of one mind on such a volatile topic outraged many. Rumblings of schism were rife, as were threats of bringing charges against "apostate" bishops.
In the midst of this fraught atmosphere a group emerged that some observers referred to as "The Great Compromisers." Correctly reading the signs of the times, these delegates from several annual conferences offered a proposal intended to foster United Methodist unity. Their statement: The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
In other words, the current UMC mission statement started life as a tool of institutional preservation. Its authority has increased over the past 17 years, but its success has not.
This history came back to me recently as I pondered a challenge to the UMC mission posed in an online discussion group. The conversation was sparked by a post, "Watching Our Language," by John Blase on the website "Deeper Church." In a nutshell, Blase took issue with a recent conclave's emphasis on "disciples" and "discipleship." He based his response on John 15, when Jesus says his followers are no longer as disciples, but friends. Blase summarized:
What would it look like if we were challenged to make friends instead of making disciples? Or is that taking the teeth out of Jesus’ commission? How would the stated goal of be-friending the world change our current conversation? Could it possibly change the way the world sees people of faith? It's hard to know, but it just might alter our consciousness every so slightly into that realm of nuance and subtlety where quieter kinds of still, small shifts always seem to make a difference that endures.
Since Blase refers to Matthew 28, known as the Great Commission, I chose to use Matthew's entire gospel as my basis for evaluating his argument and those of my online friends. As I said in our online discussion, I've long had misgivings about the authenticity of the Great Commission as part of the Risen Christ's farewell discourse. I'm willing to grant that since the purpose of Matthew's gospel was to convert the Jews, the idea of "making disciples" makes sense. At the same time, Jesus' teachings reported in Matthew contrast sharply with the idea of founding and perpetuating a religion.
In Matthew 5, 6, and 7, Jesus outlines a set of spiritual attitudes and practices that enable his hearers to "live eternally in the here and now," as I've heard it phrased. These were "stealth" practices that required courage, fortitude and an inner conviction of self-worth and dignity in the face of imperial Roman oppression. The Jews who heard Jesus were being schooled to live in ways that showed what their faith said about human worth and God's justice. The fact that few of them could take up this lifestyle testifies to how difficult Jesus' way truly is.
That being so, I find the UMC's mission statement and John Blase's challenge to disciple-making to be equally inadequate. The United Methodist mission has failed because we don't really make disciples; we create church members. Blase's argument for friendship over discipleship likewise fails because of the nature of personal and systemic sin. Here's what I mean.
Since becoming a member of a monastic association, The Order of Saint Luke, my life as a follower of Jesus has become a stricter, more mindful observance, both of the Order's Rule of Life and Service, and of the awesome meaning of our United Methodist baptismal vows. In the words of our OSL abbot, the Rev. Daniel Benedict, my daily quest to follow Jesus (my "discipleship," if John Blase will forgive the word), now "pinches." It's not something that can be easily accomplished, particularly obeying our OSL vow to "live for the Church of Jesus Christ" when the church so often disappoints, dismays, demeans and depresses.
If we are honest, we must acknowledge that compared to Jesus' teachings in Matthew, our United Methodist Church fails the test of discipleship. We have too many prosperous, aging, mostly white congregations that collude with America's imperial culture of affluence and power instead of resisting it. Our members too often side with those who oppress widows, orphans, strangers, migrants, the sick and the vulnerable, instead of holding leaders accountable for creating a just and caring society. We spend far more time, money and effort on ourselves rather than on those who need our charity and our advocacy. We shrink from the scorn, derision and even physical risks that charity and advocacy require. What's more, our religious leaders fear for the institution's sustenance, so they resist telling church members that collaborating with oppression has been contrary to God's will – i.e., sinful – since the time of Elijah, Amos and Jeremiah.
We need God's love, yes, but we also need God's justice. Much of what troubles us today comes from an excess of one to the exclusion of the other.
As for John Blase's well-meaning assertion, indeed Christian friendship today leaves a lot to be desired. The world needs many more visible expressions of God's love, and every sign of love should be celebrated. However, friendship alone ignores the evils of the world, from the devils in our own hearts to the systems in which we are complicit. Thus we also need God's judgment, which is not vengeance or punishment but a solemn and agonizing determination between righteousness and sin. We need God's love, yes, but we also need God's justice. Much of what troubles us today comes from an excess of one to the exclusion of the other.
Decades of observation have taught me that what we need now most of all is humility – not self-effacement or self-debasement, but a sense of our place in God's world. Our collective self-importance and self-righteousness delude us. We are not the Creator; we cannot "make" disciples by our own will. We can make church members; we can make friends. But the making of true followers of Jesus Christ requires action by God's Holy Spirit, given access to our souls through closeness to God in regular spiritual practice and by humble acceptance of our common humanity.
In closing, consider this thought posted by a Facebook friend, Andre Fournier, who gave me permission to quote him: "People are watching us...What are they seeing in us? Do they see Jesus Christ shining brightly through us? Do they see His love? His mercy? His compassion. His grace? His tenderness? If you truly belong to Jesus, the answer is yes! It's time...it's time to live it...people are watching us!"