Staying at the Table: The Gift of Unity for United Methodists - Softcover

Jones, Scott J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0687645069 ISBN 13: 9780687645060

Verlag: Abingdon Press, 2008

Inhaltsangabe

Unity is a gift of God that involves us staying at the table to find common ground in "the extreme center." Talk of a United Methodist denominational split is not going away, only intensifying. Unless we can go beneath the issues that divide us to find our common ground, we will splinter or worse, just argue ourselves into irrelevance and oblivion. Here, Bishop Scott Jones reminds us that "the strength of Wesleyan doctrine is its ability to articulate holistic, balanced, and practical interpretation of Scripture. It is conservative in some ways and liberal in other ways; it occupies the extremem center and is totally opposed to the dead center. Tackling divisive issues such as homosexuality, race and gender, and authority of Scripture, Jones shows the logical contours of the conversation by locating them in larger questions of doctrine and ecclesiology. He outlines the logic of our current position and explains why it is defensible, while at the same time suggesting a logic for change. Responders include: William J. Abraham, Lonnie D. Brooks, Mary Brooke Casad, Amy DeLong, Sudarshana Devadhar, Sally Dyck, James A Harnish, Carolyn E. Johnson, Susan J. Laurie, Bill McAlilly, Patricia L. Miller, John R. Schol, Joe M. Whittemore, Gerald “Jay” Williams, William H. Willimon, and David K. Yemba. Scott J. Jones is Bishop of the Kansas Area of The United Methodist Church

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Scott J. Jones is the Resident Bishop of the Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church and served as Bishop of the Great Plains area of The United Methodist Church. He was formerly the McCreless Associate Professor of Evangelism at Perkins School of Theology, where he taught courses in evangelism and Wesley studies. Previous books include The Wesleyan Way, The Evangelistic Love of God & Neighbor, Staying at the Table, and Wesley and the Quadrilateral, all published by Abingdon Press. of the United Methodist Church and served as Bishop of the Great Plains area of The United Methodist Church.

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Staying at the Table

The Gift of Unity for United MethodistsBy Scott J. Jones

Abingdon Press

Copyright © 2008 The United Methodist Publishing House
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-687-64506-0

Chapter One

GOD'S GIFT OF UNITY FOR UNITED METHODISM

Unity is God's gift, and Christians should claim it.

The United Methodist Church should not split. Nor should its leaders allow it to be torn apart. Nor should anyone let herself or himself so focus on one part of the Church's life or mission that the gospel beauty and excellence of the whole is ruined.

The General Conference of 2004 was a tumultuous time. Prior to the meeting, several persons, both liberal and conservative, had written or spoken in ways that suggested it was time for the Church to think about splitting. Sometimes those proposals suggested that an opposing group should leave the Church. Other times, the weariness and frustration of dealing with controversial issues led some to say they were ready to leave the Church. During the Conference a group of persons began talking, and ideas about amicable separation were put on paper. Following the revelation of a written proposal for splitting the Church, the Conference reacted.

On May 7, 2004, the Conference supported a resolution brought by six persons—one from each jurisdiction in the United States and from one Central Conference—stating the Church's commitment to unity. Approved overwhelmingly, the resolution said,

As United Methodists, we remain in covenant with one another, even in the midst of disagreement, and affirm our commitment to work together for a common mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

In this way the question of the continuing unity of The United Methodist Church took a new turn and received a new urgency. This was not a new conversation. Many such discussions have occurred both formally and informally for many years. Most notably, the conclusions of a dialogue on unity sponsored by the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns were published as a document, "In Search of Unity," that sought to clarify many of the issues. While for many this is primarily a debate about homosexuality, "In Search of Unity" identified deeper issues. It argued that strong disagreements within the church on Christology, ecclesiology, and the authority of Scripture were the main problems and that the debate on homosexuality was a symptom of deeper disagreements. They said,

There are many ways in which the unity of our church has come under strain over the years. Some of the factors at work are easy to identify; some are not. Some are relatively isolated and independent; others are deeply intertwined in complex and even enigmatic ways. It is useful to distinguish between three kinds of challenges to unity: 1) Some challenges are those that we associate with the human condition (the fall from original righteousness); 2) Other challenges extend from disagreements that harm the quality of our existence in a variety of ways; and 3) Yet other challenges run so deep as to harbor the danger of explicit disunity or schism.

As the next General Conference prepares to meet, I hope to contribute to the continuing conversation about how best to think about and receive the gift of unity.

In addition to the issues addressed in the dialogue about unity quoted above, there is another question of unity facing the Church. In many ways, The United Methodist Church is a global Church. It is one body, with one mission, one set of doctrinal standards, and one Council of Bishops. It has general agencies with ministries that affect the entire Church and local congregations meeting and serving in more than fifty countries on four continents. Yet, the Church continues to function like a United States Church with a few non-U.S. outposts. Since 1964 various committees and task forces have addressed the issue of the global nature of The United Methodist Church, so the ongoing conversation about the global nature of our Church will be part of the discussion here.

The Vision of the New Testament and the Early Church

The New Testament clearly envisions that some degree of unity will exist among all of the disciples of Jesus. Jesus prayed,

"I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me." (John 17:20-21)

When the church was facing a variety of tensions, Paul advised them,

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)

Paul goes so far as to say, "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:27-28). By the time of the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople in the fourth century, these scriptural teachings had been summarized in the third article of the creed: "We believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church."

These texts—Jesus' prayer in John 17, Ephesians 4, Galatians 3, and the Nicene Creed—are worthy of extended commentary and exposition. Such a commentary would find many ways to elaborate on a basic theme of the gospel: it is God's will that all of the disciples of Jesus be one. To the extent that we are separated from each other, or, even worse, in conflict with one another, we are in rebellion against God's will for God's Church.

But what sort of unity is it that God wills for us? God values diversity. Again, the New Testament gives many strong indications that God does not intend uniformity. Two key texts show this. First, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples and they began speaking in different languages. Acts 2:5-6 says, "Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each." If the Holy Spirit had worked a miracle so that all of the listeners could suddenly speak and understand Aramaic or even Hebrew that would have been an indication of movement toward uniformity. Instead, the Spirit worked so that each person heard Peter's message in his or her own language.

The other crucial text supporting diversity is Paul's image of the church as a body. The church at Corinth was suffering from a number of divisions—based on who was baptized by whom or spiritual gifts or wealth and perhaps other factors—which Paul addressed in the twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians:

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.... Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27)

Paul clearly applies this text to differing spiritual gifts, addressing one of the dividing issues in that community. But the image would apply equally well to other sources of division, such as that between Jews and Gentiles. Indeed, the Jerusalem Conference referred to in Acts 15 was an effort to define what unified the disciples of Jesus while allowing for appropriate diversity in matters like Old Testament rules on clean and unclean foods.

Another mark of God's vision for the church found in the New Testament is its inclusiveness. Christ's ministry was constantly crossing boundaries to reach those being left out. He ministered to lepers. He ate with tax collectors and notorious sinners. He spoke to women in public and associated with Samaritans. He told parables about lost sheep and lost coins and made it clear that, while Israel was special, the reign of God would include everyone. David Bosch, in his Transforming Mission, asks

What is it that gave rise to the many sayings, parables, and stories that seem at the very least, to nourish the idea that, one day, God's covenant will reach far beyond the people of Israel? In my view there can be no doubt: the primary inspiration for all these stories could only have been the provocative, boundary-breaking nature of Jesus' own ministry.

Hence, the decision to include Gentiles without first requiring them to convert to Judaism was the logical extension of Jesus' own ministry. The Holy Spirit led the church into a radical form of inclusiveness that was a powerful witness for God's redeeming love.

Taken as a whole, the New Testament is offering a vision of the church of Jesus Christ as embodying a visible unity while also characterized by diversity. Unity lies first and foremost in the confession that Jesus is Lord and in common worship of the risen Christ. While there is a common mission exemplified in evangelism and caring for the poor, differences in nationality, language, and spiritual gifts are expected and embraced. However, as the church lived its mission and worshiped the Lord, tensions arose. Sometimes they arose out of differences in nationality (Acts 6), doctrinal disputes (Acts 15, Galatians 3), and disagreements about missionary strategy (Acts 15:36-39). The church struggled to handle these tensions with love, grace, and unity while experiencing serious internal conflict.

From one point of view, this unity God wills for the church could be viewed as a commandment. We can think of it as something we ought to achieve, as if it were simply a matter of determining the proper course of action and then doing the right thing. But that violates the basic New Testament teaching that we are "saved by grace through faith" (Ephesians 2:8). Wesley talks about this in a helpful way. His principle is that the law and gospel are two ways of looking at the same relationship between God and humanity. He says,

Yea, the very same words, considered in different respects, are parts both of the law and of the gospel. If they are considered as commandments, they are parts of the law: if as promises, of the gospel. Thus, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," when considered as a commandment, is a branch of the law; when regarded as a promise, is an essential part of the gospel—the gospel being no other than the commands of the law proposed by way of promises. Accordingly poverty of spirit, purity of heart, and whatever else is enjoined in the holy law of God, are no other, when viewed in a gospel light, than so many great and precious promises. . . .

We may yet farther observe that every command in Holy Writ is only a covered promise.

Thus, the unity of the Church (as well as its holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity) is a gift from God that is to be received rather than achieved.

Believing that unity is a gift changes our approach to it. First, we know it is God's will for God's people to be one. We then study and pray that God's "will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Second, we know that God is actively at working saving the world by grace. We then begin looking for signs of God at work, trusting that they exist and knowing that they might be obscured by the bad news that seems to frequently get more attention. Third, we then seek to align our lives, both in word and in deed, with what God is doing so that we can participate in God's saving, unifying activity. We are then able to live with confidence and hope in the future.

The Need of the World and a Christian Answer

The world needs a united Church. The peoples of the twenty-first century are characterized by interplay of complex interrelations and simultaneously increasing polarizations.

This is certainly true in economics. Under the rubric of globalization, a variety of changes have occurred since 1950. Manufacturing is now done on a global scale. Automobiles and airplanes are assembled in one country with parts made in a variety of countries. Manufacturers choose from many different locations all over the world for the best location to create their goods. Electronic communication means that many services such as call centers can be located in countries far away from the place where the service is delivered. Capital flows from all over the world, so that government debt in the form of bonds is financed by persons and institutions participating in a global market. The same is true for equities—not only do corporations operate internationally but their ownership is international as well. Increasingly, one can find goods and services from McDonald's restaurants to French clothing to Korean automobiles in many countries of the world.

At the same time, there are pressures for greater local control over economic realities and for people who value the specific traditions, ways of life, and products of their local culture. Indeed, part of globalization has been the search for different ways of doing things so that people from all over the world can experience the unique food or authentic practices of a particular region.

But the same trends of unity and diversity apply to politics as well. A number of problems such as global warming; terrorism; slavery; nuclear proliferation; genocide; diseases such as HIV/AIDS, avian flu, and malaria; and poverty can be addressed only by international cooperation. Yet, there are local pressures and realities that make each country's issues unique; and some countries are on the verge of breaking apart because different regions or ethnic groups have strong differences with others. In the field of education, we find universities emphasizing studies abroad and recruiting undergraduate and graduate students from a global pool of applicants. Global travel is now much easier than before. Instead of people reading about faraway countries, they are likely to vacation there in person. The ease of travel has fostered legal and illegal migration, so that in the United States there are an estimated twelve million illegal immigrants. Within developing countries like Mexico and China, internal migration causes pressures as well. In some metropolitan school districts in the United States, children will be speaking as many as three dozen languages.

In the midst of such major changes, what unifies a people? What holds a city together? What makes for a united country? What are the values that are so clearly held in common that living together is possible? How can appropriate freedoms be offered and guaranteed for diverse expressions? How do we keep from killing each other or oppressing each other or abusing each other? The world needs as many concrete expressions of diverse unity and reconciled diversity as possible. It needs a united Church. It does not need Christian churches dividing, splintering, or fracturing. If there was ever a time when the world needed to see how diversity can work within unity, it is now.

The Nature of the Church

In my view, the Christian church has a mission to proclaim peace on earth and God's loving offer of salvation. In the midst of a globalizing world, the mission of the Church is essential if the world is going to see both the deep values God intends for everyone as well as the need for diverse expressions of what it means to be fully human.

To fully accomplish its mission, the Church must be as united as possible with appropriate diversity. In many ways, the world's problems need the gospel. The peace proclaimed by the angels on the night of Christ's birth—the shalom or wholeness that comes from God—is precisely what the world needs to have. The Church must not only proclaim this gospel but embody it.

It is the nature of the Church to be the means of grace by which God's mission is accomplished. It worships God the Father; it is the body of God the Son; and God the Holy Spirit dwells in it with truth, love, and power. The Constitution of our United Methodist Church defines this clearly in its preamble:

The church is a community of all true believers under the Lordship of Christ. It is the redeemed and redeeming fellowship in which the Word of God is preached by persons divinely called, and the sacraments are duly administered according to Christ's own appointment. Under the discipline of the Holy Spirit the church seeks to provide for the maintenance of worship, the edification of believers, and the redemption of the world. (Continues...)

Excerpted from Staying at the Tableby Scott J. Jones Copyright © 2008 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Abingdon Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0687645069
• ISBN 13: 9780687645060
• Einband: Tapa blanda
• Sprache: Englisch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 160
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar