Hey DZ,
This blog is an open letter to you. Now you may not read it, that is fine, but I think it's important for you to realize that not every Christian is out to hurt you or convert you to their separate non-essential beliefs. Over the past few months, you have attacked me online, you have slandered me and thought up some pretty crazy things about my Christian faith. That's fine, but tonight I am going to set you straight about my beliefs. Before I get to that though, I want to address you personally.
The first thing I want to say to you is that I forgive you. I believe you are angry and bitter; and I am pretty sure it's not my so-called liberal beliefs. If you are going through something, I am sorry that you are having to go through the trial. Believe it or not, DZ, it's okay to question God. It's okay to sit in your floor and cry out and ask Him why something happened. I can't promise that you will like the answer, and it will challenge you. Yet in the end, it will help you know more about what God truly wanted for your life.
I think my core Christian beliefs can be summed up by the Apostle's Creed.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
*catholic here means universal
Those are my core Christian beliefs. Ones that I think every Christian should uphold. These beliefs are essential beliefs.
However, you tell everyone I am a liberal, and that I have liberal beliefs. I think that is because I don't have a problem with women pastors. You also tell people I don't have a problem with homosexual ministers. I have never once said that. In fact, if you really know me, you'd know I have some pretty on point beliefs about homosexuality. Let me explain. The United Methodist Church is broken up in jurisdictions, then various conferences, and finally from there districts and the individual churches are called Charges.
So for example, I attend church in a 1 point charge church, in the Appalachian District of the Western North Carolina Conference in the South East Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. A 1 point charge means we don't share our pastor with another church. Another of my pastoral mentor/friends is a pastor of a 2 point charge, meaning she goes between two churches on Sundays to preach.
Right now, there is a lot of conversation surrounding the United Methodist Church. I openly admit it's crazy around here. The western jurisdiction of the UMC has been in open rebellion since I came to the UMC and they are ordaining homosexual pastors. Believe it or not, I do have a problem with that. Why? Because our book of Discipline states it is not supposed to be that way.
Here is the official wording of the 2016 Book of Discipline:
¶ 304.3 Qualifications for Ordination
While persons set apart by the Church for ordained ministry are subject to all the frailties of the human condition and the pressures of society, they are required to maintain the highest standards of holy living in the world. The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore self-avowed practicing homosexuals1 are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church.2
1. "Self-avowed practicing homosexual" is understood to mean that a person openly acknowledges to a bishop, district superintendent, district committee of ordained ministry, board of ordained ministry, or clergy session that the person is a practicing homosexual. See Judicial Council Decisions 702, 708, 722, 725, 764, 844, 984, 1020
2. See Judicial Council Decisions 984, 985, 1027, 1028
I think what you and many others heard me talking about in the chat room one night was the wording. I do know of one UMC minister who is a self-avowed non-practicing homosexual pastor. I have no problem with her being a minister. The key to all of this is the word practicing. I can honestly respect this pastor who is truly fighting against her temptations to live for Christ. My ex is a self-avowed homosexual man, who loves Jesus more than he desires to be with a man, but he still has struggles and temptations. Temptations and struggles do not disqualify someone from preaching the gospel; practicing and actively taking part in your sin does.
DZ, I can't change your mind about female pastors, I don't want to. However, I will tell you that to really understand what Paul was writing about you have to take off the glasses of western understanding, dig deep into the history of Ephesus and look at what was going on at the time.
I have also posted some links to my call story--and the candidacy program that I was a part of.
Wesley's Historic Questions--My Modern Answers
Candidacy and Psychological Evaluation
In the end, my church found me too continuous to continue to support; that's all they told me, but I believe it is because I called out the sin of racism, I called anyone who associated with Klan members racist, I went out on the streets of my hometown and prayed with BLM protestors and prayed for the healing of our nation and even led a couple to know Christ. I know my calling isn't what you think it should be; I can't help that. However, I know that I do what God calls me to do, I do it to the best of my ability and I always will.
