To the Methodists,
Presbyterians, Anglicans, and Lutherans Contemplating Schism: Stop it. Just
Stop.
Recently a group of
“traditional” United Methodists issued a statement that in effect calls for an
amicable divorce over the issue of same sex marriage. It was a document full of sweet reason. Essentially it suggested that both parties in
this conflict would be better off without the other. And I am sure in one sense that is true. I am certain it will be a relief for the
advocates of same sex marriage to not have to listen to the biblical challenges
of the traditionalists. And certainly
the traditionalists will be relieved to not have to confront the question of
gay marriage and gay clergy once again at some local or national
gathering. It is the easiest, most
comfortable response to this conflict to peacefully permit the others to go
their own way. And this, of course, is
the Protestant way. We have a long
history of refusing to live together if we couldn’t agree on, well, just about
anything: theology, sacraments, church order, the ministry, the place of women
in the church, musical instruments in worship—the list goes on and on. And we always have some biblical warrant for
our position—whatever it is.
Stanley Hauerwas
once said something like “Catholics need to be more like Anabaptists,
Anabaptists need to be more like Catholics and nobody needs to be
Protestant.” I find the proliferation of
Protestant schisms shameful and appalling.
I find it appalling because it suggests we find our unity not in Christ
but in our theology, or liturgical practices, or organizational structures, or
view of the Bible, or hermeneutics, or social location. I find it appalling because we present
ourselves as “ministers of reconciliation” but spend our time refusing to hear
each other. And, let me make it clear,
this is a fault of both the “left” and the “right.” Our behavior confirms the views of Rene
Girard that human communities need scapegoats to foster identity. We need enemies. And so the “liberals” need the evil
“fundamentalists” to mock and scorn. And
so the “conservatives” need the evil “liberals” to denounce and despise. As Nathan told David, “thou hast given great
occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme” (2 Samuel 12:14, KJV). When we solemnly chide the Israelis and the
Palestinians or, for that matter, the Democrats and Republicans, on the
importance of reconciliation and living together with differences, our
essential hypocrisy is exposed. Jesus
said something about splinters and beams and the Protestant church in North
America, both left and right, is blinded by its own need to be right, to be in
control. And this control is foster by
despising the alien other.
I confess
that I have no idea what to do about this.
I have been a part of the Evangelical movement my whole life. It is my home—not always a comfortable place
to be—but my home. I see a small cloud
on the horizon the size of a human hand; a storm of division and despair is on
its way. And of course, this is always
our way, isn’t it? My own denomination
began as a renewal movement in the Lutheran church of Sweden that ended up as a
group of denominations in the United States.
We couldn’t agree on baptism, eschatology, or ecclesiology so each group
went its own way. Division is in the
evangelical DNA. These days the Internet
is filled with evangelical heresy hunters who search for nuggets of heresy like
old men scanning the beach with metal detectors for lost watches. Incapable of living with mystery and ordinary
human frailty they insist on no accommodation with what they considered
error. To be fair, the left side of the
theological spectrum has its own heresy hunters—although they would not call
them that. The left is as likely to call
someone out over incautious thoughts and careless words as the right—because
both sides want to win. If I have any
hope it is in young people who want to follow Jesus—the Jesus of the Sermon on
the Mount and the Gospels. If I have any
hope it is not in national organizations and ecclesial hierarchies but in local
congregations seeking to be faithful to our long heritage as Christians and the
call to be true disciples. My hope, you
could say, is that Protestants can stop protesting so much and be, well, catholic
and Anabaptist. I am hopeful but, as
they say, not optimistic, because the theological terrorists, both liberal and
conservative, are fully armed and ready to blow up even more bodies of Jesus
followers.
