The Crossroads of Christianity and Culture

 Much has been written. I believe there are three key points for me. The UMC allows us to be an effective local expression of a genuinely global, ecumenical, apostolic, missional Church.  The UMC allows us the room to try new ways of adapting to our constantly changing social and cultural context. It allows us the space to disagree for the sake of loving our neighbors, particularly those who have been despised and rejected. It allows us the freedom to make mistakes, grow in knowledge, and be reconciled to one another.  Remaining in the UMC is an expression of fidelity to those who over decades and indeed centuries have been faithful to us, providing material support, intellectual encouragement, spiritual sustenance, and prayer for our well-being and our journey in faith.  In the New Testament we learn that the first local churches, the first Christian congregations, were formed by the apostles as part of their mission to "go and make disciples of all nations, ba...

Several times in the last few weeks I’ve had conversations with people who are concerned about guard rails. They worry that if the United Methodist Church should allow same-sex marriage, then in the end it will essentially allow anything. They worry that there will be no guardrails to guide human sexual behavior and limit different forms of human sexual relations. The argument is based on a fundamental misconception that God's law, enforced by the Church, is the source of human morality. Without a Divine legislator, judge, and executioner humanity will collapse into a chaos of sinful behavior.  This couldn't be further from the truth.  The reality, as attested by scripture, is that God's law is nearly worthless in keeping people on the straight and narrow. On the other hand the witness of history is that human societies self-regulate rather well, and are able to create structures of mutual care, guardrails if you will, that have allowed these societies to steadily progress ...

Absent self-representation by LBGTQ+ persons there is no Christian knowledge of human sexuality. There is a modernist fiction that you can obtain an objective knowledge of what it means to be human without actually listening to the subjective self-representation of actual humans. This is particularly true among Christians who believe that with the supposedly objective facts about humans revealed by their Creator in scripture, reasonably assessed and presented, one knows all one needs to know about the basic aspects of their humanity.  In reality all true knowledge of humanity is rooted in an understanding of the subjective experiences of being human. And this is particularly true with the kind of knowledge obtained through God's Word. Enlightenment philosophers sought a means to obtain true knowledge of the world, which they believed was obtained through objectivity.  They recognized the individuals would have a subjective view and experience. So to overcome individual subject...