In response to the State of the Church report which was completed in 2007 Lovett Weems of Wesley Theological Seminary addressed a paper to the Council of Bishops. He chose to include in his report "10 Provocative Questions" and his answer to them. These are questions I believe are worth considering and after noting his response to them, I want to address them myself.
Question 1: Can we capture the Wesleyan power of being an evangelical church in a liberal tradition?
United Methodist core beliefs are clear, says the State of the Church report. There is remarkable consensus on key affirmations of Christian faith. There is also strong evidence of spiritual vitality across the church shown by extraordinary responses on questions of faith and core beliefs, as well as practices of Christian discipleship, including social justice.
There are variations of emphasis across global regions and within the United States. These differences should not overshadow the consensus, but they do point to the need for good Wesleyan Christian conferencing in which we honestly engage theological differences for mutual edification, knowing that no one perspective captures all of God’s wisdom.
United Methodists today appear to be in the tradition of Georgia Harkness, who spoke of herself theologically as an “evangelical liberal.” She believed that it was possible to combine “tolerance with decisiveness, open-mindedness with Christian conviction.” Most survey respondents would agree with her that the powerful communication of the gospel is “the most important task under God that any person can undertake.” The respondents also would affirm the call theologian Claude H. Thompson made years ago for evangelical renewal in the United Methodist Church, saying this is an hour when United Methodist evangelicals are called to eliminate the evils of war, poverty, and racism from our society.
Could this Wesleyan identity be captured in an inclusive vision of an evangelical church in a liberal tradition? We are an evangelical church. At the same time we are in a liberal tradition. We are the first to challenge assumptions. We are the first to open windows and doors to new ideas and possibilities when faith mandates it. Could such a vision that is both deep (in faith and piety) and open (to new needs and possibilities) sustain us over the years ahead?
I can think of few things which could strengthen the United Methodist Church more than recapturing the spirit of evangelical liberalism. In our diverse society where people live all over the political, religious, and social-economic spectrum, there is no other denomination better positioned to do ministry in this brave new world than the UMC.
In order to do that however balance must be found between evangelical and liberalism. When I was a child, one of the games my friends and I would play on the teeter totter was to try to get the board to be perfectly balanced, so that neither one of us was higher or lower than the other. The other game I played was to try to force my friend to the ground by pushing off as hard as possible so that I could be the highest up, all the while my friend was trying to do the same thing. One doesn't need to be around the UMC for very long before figuring out which one of these games we're playing.
How much of an impact could we have on the world for Jesus Christ if we stopped playing the game of "I'm the highest" and really started to learn from one another? Those on the evangelical side of the teeter totter need to listen and learn how to address the evils of war, poverty, and racism. Those on the liberal side need to listen and learn how to live lives of holiness, piety, and discipline. Is it possible for us to quit playing the power games and bring together the balance that is so much a part of our heritage? If we could, people from every spectrum will find a home in the UMC.
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