Incompatible with Christian Teaching
The other day I spent six hours driving which gave me a lot of time to think and pray. It was the Thursday following the end of General Conference and I was trying to sort out what had taken place and what my thoughts and feelings are. I watched the majority of the conference as it was streamed live. I was drawn to it. I had friends who were there and they were not taking lightly the decision that they were making for our denomination. I had been and continued to pray for them and all the delegates. I was also curious what was going to happen and the human side of me wanted to see it for myself if it all derailed.
I do not want to focus on this but it did derail. There were moments that we got to see our ugly side. There were moments that revealed to us the hurt that we have caused one another. I am not proud of the way that we handled ourselves at all times. The church is still a work in progress.
I was thinking about the decision that was made and where I stand as a United Methodist on this side of the General Conference 2019. The words that seemed to be at the heart of our differences kept reverberating in my mind. "Incompatible with Christian teaching." I kept thinking about all kinds of behavior that we could use that statement for other than homosexuality.
When I think about Christian teaching I think about it through the lens of my Methodist influences. Scripture is the primary source for teaching about God but it is not all that there is to help us to understand God. The history of the people of God and the work of the church can help us to understand what it means to live in a relationship with God and talk about the things of God. We have our Christian tradition to look to in our discernment and learning to help us understand the things of God and to interpret the scriptures. God created us with minds that can reason. We are not called to check our minds at the door when we enter the church. We are not asked to stop thinking. We need to think. To understand Christian teaching and the things of God we are to use our ability to reason that God creates each of us with. Finally, we all experience God because God is not distant and far off. God is with us. God desires that we experience and know Him. Our personal experience of God helps us to understand God.
When I am talking about what I believe it is through a combination of scripture, tradition, experience, and reason. This has become known as the "Wesleyan Quadrilateral." As I talk about my understanding of Christian teaching and the scripture it is through these lenses. What I read in the Bible, what I have learned from the tradition of the church, how I have experienced God personally and what I can reason. As you seek to understand God you may find Wesley's Quadrilateral helpful as well.
Here are some behaviors and practices that as I understand through scripture, tradition, reason and my personal experience of God I would say are incompatible to Christian teaching. Each of these behaviors while not directly speaking to the issues of same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBTQ+ people they are about living in relationship with Christ and one another. So, they do have something to say to us.
I shared in the previous post that thinking that I fully know is incompatible with Christian teaching. The scriptures caution us for thinking that we know it all. There is a common theme that God is God and that we are not. We can know God but we can not fully know God until we see God face to face. Our thinking is finite and limited. This does not mean that we know nothing. It only means that we do not know everything until we are able to see Jesus face to face. This requires us to be humble. It requires that we be open to at least the possibility that we don't know the whole truth. It means that we are open to more learning and continue to seek God's wisdom.
One of the clearest themes of the Bible is that of love. God's unconditional love. Jesus says that it is love that will identify His followers and set them apart. We are called to love one another. Not just love the ones that are like us and easy to love, but Jesus says to love our enemies. James tells us that if we say we love God but don't love our brothers and sister who we can see we are liars. We can't love God and hate others. Not loving one another is incompatible with Christian teaching. To hate is incompatible with Christian teaching. Love keeps no records of wrongs. Love forgives. Love protects. Love never fails. Love always hopes. Love is patient and kind. Not loving everyone no matter what is incompatible with Christian teaching.
For me to judge others is incompatible with Christian teaching. It is not our job to judge. Jesus is judge, not us. Jesus tells us in the sermon on the mount that we are not to judge. Condemnation is not compatible with Christian teaching either. John 3:17 tells us that Jesus didn't come to condemn but to save. If Jesus is not going to condemn people neither should his followers.
Here is one I will want to expand on further in future writing. Making choices based on what I desire is incompatible with Christian teaching. This traps Eve and Adam. Jesus prays "not my will by thy will." Too often we fall into the trap like Adam of Eve of saying "It looks good to me." "I like it." "I want it." Following Jesus is not about following our desires, it is about following Jesus. Jesus says if you want to be my disciples than you have to "deny yourself daily and take up your cross and follow me" Making choices based on what we desire is incompatible with Christian teaching.
Jesus is always about inclusion, not exclusion. Jesus is about making a way where there seems to be no way. Jesus calls us to welcome the stranger, to care for the widow and the orphan. The widow and the orphan are without a family, a place, or people, He says to care for them. He tells us unless we are willing to become like and be associated with the people that society says don't count than we are not fit for the kingdom as he brings a child to them and says "become like a child." He is always about bringing the outside in. He tears down the walls that divide and seperate. He dines with the ones that society shuns. He touches the untouchables. Excluding others is incompatible with Christian teaching. All of us are on the outside and excluded if it is not for the grace of God.
When Jesus begins his ministry he announces it in the synagogue of his hometown by reading the Isaiah scroll and then he tells them that it has been fulfilled in their hearing. He says he comes to bring "release to the captive, freedom to the oppressed, to restore the sight of the blind and proclaim Gods favor." Jesus comes to bring justice for the captive and the oppressed. There is a consistent theme from Genesis to Revelation that God is a God of mercy and justice. Injustice is incompatible with Christian teaching. As followers of Jesus, we should stand with those who are being treated unjustly and we certainly should not be perpetrators of injustice. It is just incompatible with Christian teaching.
I am sure that there are more behaviors that we could point out. I am not trying to make a thorough list. These are some that I think about as I reflect on these matters. They help me to think about where I stand if I want to stand with Christ. I remember when I was being called to ministry in my twenties, I wanted to deny it. I didn't want to be called. I was scared. I didn't have the tools. I was not qualified. So, I just tried to ignore God. I did a pretty good job for a while. But, there was always a desire in me that I did not want to sin against God. I didn't want to surrender to a call to ministry yet, but I did not want to sin against God. I was listening to a speaker talking about Christian leadership and he said, "if you know what God is calling you to and you refuse to do it that you are sinning against God." It was with those words that I knew I had to stop running from God and I had to explore what this calling meant for my life. I don't fully know. But, I do know some things. God has revealed some things to us that help us to know more. I know that I don't want to sin against God. So, with what I do know and with an openness to what I do not yet know I will seek to live in relationship with God and others. I strive to be real about my relationship with God and to be as compatible as I can be to His teaching. I believe that all of us in the church truly desire this.
Love Today.
In Christ's love and mine,
Doug
I do not want to focus on this but it did derail. There were moments that we got to see our ugly side. There were moments that revealed to us the hurt that we have caused one another. I am not proud of the way that we handled ourselves at all times. The church is still a work in progress.
I was thinking about the decision that was made and where I stand as a United Methodist on this side of the General Conference 2019. The words that seemed to be at the heart of our differences kept reverberating in my mind. "Incompatible with Christian teaching." I kept thinking about all kinds of behavior that we could use that statement for other than homosexuality.
When I think about Christian teaching I think about it through the lens of my Methodist influences. Scripture is the primary source for teaching about God but it is not all that there is to help us to understand God. The history of the people of God and the work of the church can help us to understand what it means to live in a relationship with God and talk about the things of God. We have our Christian tradition to look to in our discernment and learning to help us understand the things of God and to interpret the scriptures. God created us with minds that can reason. We are not called to check our minds at the door when we enter the church. We are not asked to stop thinking. We need to think. To understand Christian teaching and the things of God we are to use our ability to reason that God creates each of us with. Finally, we all experience God because God is not distant and far off. God is with us. God desires that we experience and know Him. Our personal experience of God helps us to understand God.
When I am talking about what I believe it is through a combination of scripture, tradition, experience, and reason. This has become known as the "Wesleyan Quadrilateral." As I talk about my understanding of Christian teaching and the scripture it is through these lenses. What I read in the Bible, what I have learned from the tradition of the church, how I have experienced God personally and what I can reason. As you seek to understand God you may find Wesley's Quadrilateral helpful as well.
Here are some behaviors and practices that as I understand through scripture, tradition, reason and my personal experience of God I would say are incompatible to Christian teaching. Each of these behaviors while not directly speaking to the issues of same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBTQ+ people they are about living in relationship with Christ and one another. So, they do have something to say to us.
I shared in the previous post that thinking that I fully know is incompatible with Christian teaching. The scriptures caution us for thinking that we know it all. There is a common theme that God is God and that we are not. We can know God but we can not fully know God until we see God face to face. Our thinking is finite and limited. This does not mean that we know nothing. It only means that we do not know everything until we are able to see Jesus face to face. This requires us to be humble. It requires that we be open to at least the possibility that we don't know the whole truth. It means that we are open to more learning and continue to seek God's wisdom.
One of the clearest themes of the Bible is that of love. God's unconditional love. Jesus says that it is love that will identify His followers and set them apart. We are called to love one another. Not just love the ones that are like us and easy to love, but Jesus says to love our enemies. James tells us that if we say we love God but don't love our brothers and sister who we can see we are liars. We can't love God and hate others. Not loving one another is incompatible with Christian teaching. To hate is incompatible with Christian teaching. Love keeps no records of wrongs. Love forgives. Love protects. Love never fails. Love always hopes. Love is patient and kind. Not loving everyone no matter what is incompatible with Christian teaching.
For me to judge others is incompatible with Christian teaching. It is not our job to judge. Jesus is judge, not us. Jesus tells us in the sermon on the mount that we are not to judge. Condemnation is not compatible with Christian teaching either. John 3:17 tells us that Jesus didn't come to condemn but to save. If Jesus is not going to condemn people neither should his followers.
Here is one I will want to expand on further in future writing. Making choices based on what I desire is incompatible with Christian teaching. This traps Eve and Adam. Jesus prays "not my will by thy will." Too often we fall into the trap like Adam of Eve of saying "It looks good to me." "I like it." "I want it." Following Jesus is not about following our desires, it is about following Jesus. Jesus says if you want to be my disciples than you have to "deny yourself daily and take up your cross and follow me" Making choices based on what we desire is incompatible with Christian teaching.
Jesus is always about inclusion, not exclusion. Jesus is about making a way where there seems to be no way. Jesus calls us to welcome the stranger, to care for the widow and the orphan. The widow and the orphan are without a family, a place, or people, He says to care for them. He tells us unless we are willing to become like and be associated with the people that society says don't count than we are not fit for the kingdom as he brings a child to them and says "become like a child." He is always about bringing the outside in. He tears down the walls that divide and seperate. He dines with the ones that society shuns. He touches the untouchables. Excluding others is incompatible with Christian teaching. All of us are on the outside and excluded if it is not for the grace of God.
When Jesus begins his ministry he announces it in the synagogue of his hometown by reading the Isaiah scroll and then he tells them that it has been fulfilled in their hearing. He says he comes to bring "release to the captive, freedom to the oppressed, to restore the sight of the blind and proclaim Gods favor." Jesus comes to bring justice for the captive and the oppressed. There is a consistent theme from Genesis to Revelation that God is a God of mercy and justice. Injustice is incompatible with Christian teaching. As followers of Jesus, we should stand with those who are being treated unjustly and we certainly should not be perpetrators of injustice. It is just incompatible with Christian teaching.
I am sure that there are more behaviors that we could point out. I am not trying to make a thorough list. These are some that I think about as I reflect on these matters. They help me to think about where I stand if I want to stand with Christ. I remember when I was being called to ministry in my twenties, I wanted to deny it. I didn't want to be called. I was scared. I didn't have the tools. I was not qualified. So, I just tried to ignore God. I did a pretty good job for a while. But, there was always a desire in me that I did not want to sin against God. I didn't want to surrender to a call to ministry yet, but I did not want to sin against God. I was listening to a speaker talking about Christian leadership and he said, "if you know what God is calling you to and you refuse to do it that you are sinning against God." It was with those words that I knew I had to stop running from God and I had to explore what this calling meant for my life. I don't fully know. But, I do know some things. God has revealed some things to us that help us to know more. I know that I don't want to sin against God. So, with what I do know and with an openness to what I do not yet know I will seek to live in relationship with God and others. I strive to be real about my relationship with God and to be as compatible as I can be to His teaching. I believe that all of us in the church truly desire this.
Love Today.
In Christ's love and mine,
Doug
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