As we face the upcoming General Conference in the United Methodist Church, I have been doing a ton of praying and thinking about what this conference truly comes down to—Where the progressives are coming from and what they are doing, yet my friends, there is hope…even for the most liberal progressive in the UMC.
I can tell you right now the progressive point of view is coming from one place; a place of unbelief. Not a place of doubt, not a place of questioning, it is coming from a place of complete and utter unbelief. Hebrews 3:12 tells us “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” And 2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Everything that the progressive church professes as truth—the inclusiveness of ordained homosexuals, the inclusion of being able to marry same-sex couples is a lie straight from the pit of hell.
Paul knew that a time was coming when men would wander towards unsound doctrine. 2 Timothy 4:3-4, he writes to Timothy, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” Friends, let us not forget that our progressive members have itching ears and they are running towards whomever will scratch them.
But what are the progressives doing in this instance? Well if the OCP passes, they are re-writing our discipline. I mean we have already dropped the title “Doctrines” from the BOD. So what if we just slip in and rewrite the definition of marriage and ordination. Matter of fact they aren’t just rewriting our definition they are completely deleting our definition. According to John Lomperis if the GC votes to change the BOD, it DELETES present language which affirms marriage as a uniquely special relationship, defines marriage as being between “a man and a woman,” declares that “God’s plan is for lifelong, faithful marriage,” calls for “encouraging reconciliation wherever possible” in divorce proceedings, and expresses concern about “high divorce rates.” Changing our denomination’s definition of marriage by deleting all of those phrases just quoted would make the UMC’s official definition of marriage open to same-sex couples as well as to polygamy.
As I sit here, I think of the Book of Revelation, Especially chapter 2:12-15. In this part of John’s vision, Jesus is telling the church at Pergamum “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
“‘I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”
The Book of Revelation must never be read in isolation from the Book of Acts and the Pauline letters. In Acts 15 we read the text of a letter authored by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. This letter of encouragement and instruction was sent to gentile Christ-followers who had been delivered from the bondage of paganism (Acts 15:22-29). The conclusion of the letter reads as follows:
“… for it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us not to place any greater burden on you than these necessary rules: that you abstain from meat that has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality.”
Once we realize this etymological connection between “Nicolaitans” and “Let-us-eat-ers,” it is not difficult to see that this aberrant group of Gentile Christ-followers were at odds with the decision of Jerusalem Council and the will of God in Christ. They appear to have set aside the teaching of the apostles given in Acts 15 and were slipping back into their former pagan practices.
We, if the OCP passes, are becoming like the church at Pergamum—we will be slipping back into our pagan practices and a humanistic mind-set.
The other thing that the progressive is doing is abusing Christian liberty. Romans 6:1-2 warns us of seeing salvation as a license, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” 1 Peter 2:16 tells us “Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.”
As I said in the introduction, there is still hope, even for the most liberal member of the COB, the Way Forward Committee and the delegation. 1 John 1:8-10 says If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
If I could tell the progressives one thing it would be 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Each person that is in St. Louis has been bought with a price, our progressives, are like the woman whom God ordered Hosea to marry. Hosea 2:7 says “She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’” Matter of fact, if we really look at Hosea for what the prophecy is, we see that in using the imagery of a marriage, the Lord, through Hosea, taught His people that though they had been unfaithful to Him, yet He would still not divorce them (cast them off) if they would but turn back to Him. Though Hosea speaks of a nation, the same principle holds true for individuals. Even those who have been grossly unfaithful to God can reestablish their relationship with Him if they will but turn back to Him with full purpose of heart.
So my encouragement to the conservatives in the UMC right now is to take a moment; several actually, and pray. Pray that those who are being unfaithful to God will reestablish their relationship with God. Take a few moments every day not think negatively about our progressive members, but rather to bring the names of those you personally know to the throne of God and to pray for them. I have a list that I pray for daily—they don’t know me, many have never met me and probably never will—but they are on my list for daily prayer. And to my progressive readers in the UMC, I am going to challenge you to do the same—take a few moments daily to pray, not that your conservative counterparts will see things your way—but rather we all find a way back to Biblical truth, our Wesleyan roots and a relationship with God.
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