Putting on a bandage when we need surgery

My heart breaks for the families in Connecticut. As would be expected, a conversation has arisen in light of this most recent tragedy about gun control. This is a conversation that has needed to happen for too long, but it's simply a bandage on a situation that is so dire it requires surgery. You see, guns are only a small portion of the problem. The real problem lies in an American culture that much like Rome, thrives on violence. So much so that the violent culture flows along naturally every day and we perceive it to be "normal". Americans whether they will admit it or not love violence. Some would like to say they don't but we all do? #1 sport in America? American Football one of the most violent sports in the world. Top Pay Per View purchases since 2009? UFC. Some of the top songs for 2011? Grenade by Bruno Mars, Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People, (run run faster than my bullet?), S&M by Rhianna? See where I'm going with this? What happened in Newtown was terrible, horrible, and should never be forgotten. What is forgotten in the conversation is while it was a tragedy, these tragedies happen every single day on the violent streets. Statistics tell us that between 1,300-1,900 people will die in gang related violence every 7 years in major cities alone.They didn't die because easy access to guns. They died because of a culture in film and music that glorifies violence, gang banging, and the "ride or die" attitude.  Fixing the gun culture in America is a start, but I've always be told if you want to kill a snake you cut off the head. I'm sorry to inform many many people out there but the NRA is not the head of the snake. Violent American culture is the head of the snake. We turn on the news and see nothing but bad news about violence, war, death, and crime yet we keep watching because we can't turn away. Celebrities and media types cry out for stronger gun laws but decry any effort to cut down on the sex, drugs, gun play, and objectification of women in media as "censorship". We can't keep talking about gun control. We have to get to the root of the issue. We are the little boy with his finger stuck in the damn plugging the leak. It's only a matter of time. Want to stop Newtown from happening again? Don't just ban assault weapons, refuse to participate in the culture of violence.

Why the battle over homosexuality may be the death of the UMC

"A house divided against itself cannot stand"

Abraham Lincoln

In his famous speech while accepting the Republican Senate Nomination, future President Lincoln uttered these words. For those familiar with Scripture, you will probably realize Lincoln is repeating the words found in the 12th chapter of Matthew "And every city or household divided against itself will not last" (Matt. 12:25). This my friends is how the United Methodist Church currently finds itself. At the crossroads of an almost Civil War within the church that will no doubt end with the same pain and hurt the last time the church came to this point (Methodist Episcopal Church Split Over Slavery). Now before everyone goes huffing and puffing about the title let me say this. Homosexuality and how the United Methodist Church deals with it, is a very important issue. That being said it is not the only important issue and in some people's opinion not the most important issue. I think it is a divisive enough issue to lead to the death of the UMC and here's the main reason. It does not significantly affect the path the church is on now. That is to say it doesn't stop the bleeding. Churches like St. Mark in Atlanta (across the street from Charles Stanley's Church) have seen drastic growth when becoming more open and friendly to people who identify as homosexual. That's excellent and great, but to simply suggest that changing the churches stance on homosexuality would fix the ills of the church is misguided. If we convinced every LGBT person to attend and support a UMC, it still would do little to stop the drastic rate in which we are shutting church doors. It is a start, but the root of why we are losing people is way deeper. Say you have a youth group. In that youth group are 10 young men. Statistics tell us that 6 out of those 10 men will walk away from their faith during their college years. Similar statistics tell us that the likelihood of a family becoming actively involved and remaining actively involved in a church drops drastically when the mother or the child is the primary member responsible for drawing the family to church. We have to rediscover what it means to be Wesleyan. We have to get people not only into the doors but to where they become passionate disciples of Jesus Christ.Fighting for gay rights is great, but not when you focus so much on social gospel you forget personal gospel. Wesley realized both were hand in hand. Focusing only on social gospel and not holiness does nothing to create disciples. It takes both parts of the equation. Are there people who are passionate about social justice who balance it with personal gospel? Sure. The inverse is also true, but elevating social justice above personal gospel like we have been known to do completely flies in the face of what it means to be Wesleyan. When you realize how fluid some people believe doctrine within the UMC to be, you begin to realize why Jon Stewart called the UMC the "University of Phoenix of Christianity. Give your money and believe what you want" Don't believe me? Google United Methodist Church believers baptism. You'll find tons of UMC churches that while acknowledging infant baptism openly state they prefer "believer's baptism" while only offering infant baptism a few times a year. If you need something more recent, you can also find pastors that despite the UMC saying people coming to the United Methodist Church from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) should be rebaptized due to drastically different understandings of Jesus Christ, feel it is their place to decide whether they need to be baptized or not. Every pastor upon being ordained takes an oath to uphold the Discipline of the United Methodist Churches. Every single day pastors readily ignore their oath. Jon Stewart was accurate. You really can disagree with things even Wesley himself taught and still be Methodist. That has to change if we are to grow. We have to be willing to say "This is what we believe" and stick to it. Having a Pastor saying "I don't think Hell exists" when we recite a creed affirming our belief that Christ descended into hell is why Jon Stewart is right. We have to begin by holding ourselves accountable.






Secondly, the battle over homosexuality within the UMC has become all consuming. I served for 2 years on the United Methodist Student Movement Steering Committee and attended Student Forum 2 years before that. I distinctly remember one year when there were approximately 20 petitions to the student forum. 12 of the 20 dealt with the issue of homosexuality and were almost identical in wording. This was 2006. How many more things were going on in the world that students needed to be aware of and vocal about? How many injustices and atrocities were being committed all over the world? In my opinion, the UMC has become so focused on the issue of homosexuality that we overlook the rest of the world. If we are a global church, we must insist that issues facing our brothers and sisters around the world are just as important as the issues facing Americans. For me this was no better displayed than in the post General Conference responses from Bishop Minerva who told our brothers and sisters from Africa to "grow up" because they felt differently about homosexuality. The struggle over homosexuality led to protests and demonstrations at General Conference in Tampa this as it has for the last few general conferences. The difference being this year General Conference was a complete and utter waste of time. No beneficial changes came out of General Conference. The one's that did were quickly done away with by judicial council rulings. Rather than discuss any of those issues and how we address them, the responses and reflections kept pouring in from Bishops and Pastors on General Conference and focused on a singular issue. The fact that changes to the Discipline and Ordination rulings concerning homosexuality had not changed. Even after we heard passionate debate from the floor about divestment, little to nothing was said about it in the wake of General Conference.






So where do we go from here? Do we continue to be a church divided against itself who is more interested in our side "winning" than holy conferencing? Do we continue to focus solely on homosexuality to the point that we ignore those hurting within the global church? If we do start to take a more holistic approach rather than basing success or failure on a single issue, how do we insure that the issue does not fade from conversation? These are questions the United Methodist Church must answer in the future.I believe homosexuality is a massive issue for the UMC and churches around the world, but we must quit acting as if it is the only issue. The hatred, time, effort, and energy spent ensuring "victory" for one side or the other has only served to strengthen the split within the UMC. Liberals and Conservatives, it's time to come forward and work together for the good of the global church. Liberals admit there are issues in the world just as important as whether a homosexual person can be ordained. Conservatives admit that homosexuality is a major issue and can no longer be simply swept aside. The church must deal with it and deal with it appropriately. We can either go forward focusing on both homosexuality and other issues or simply continue to look more and more like congress in Washington each day where we choose not to give a single inch until the divide is as deep as it can possibly be. When we reach a place where we began voting or expressing opinions simply because our idea was "voted down" or not spoken about favorable like happened at General Conference this year, we begin the end. We step foot down a road that will lead to ruin. A house divided against itself can not stand. We can no longer let a single primary issue drive the divide so deep in the church. Remember how that ended last time.