Holston WCA
Scriptural, Orthodox, Positive, Faithful
Is Orthodoxy Optional?
By Rowland S. Buck
Do United Methodists believe that orthodoxy is optional? Is it a core value of ours, in spite of our clearly defined doctrinal standards, that it is okay to believe whatever you want or need to believe about the Bible, God, and living out the Christian faith?
I think with annual conferences in open schism against our Discipline, and our last General Conference brought to a standstill, and the constant debate about human sexuality, and the Council of Bishops endorsing the “One Church Plan,” we would have to say, at the very least, that we are willing to consider “multiple orthodoxies” as a viable alternative for moving forward. But is that really a path to unity?
Ephesians 4 speaks to the unity of the church that is found in Christ:
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 (NRSV)
Paul calls us to “make every effort maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” We are to make this effort because the reality we experience since Christ is Lord is unity: there is one church (the Church that names Christ as Lord); there is one faith (the faith that believes Christ is Lord); there is one Spirit (the Spirit of the Lord Jesus). We maintain the unity of the Spirit by clinging to the reality of Jesus and the oneness He brings. This unity comes to us on His terms – He calls each of us to a singular hope in one God. So there are not multiple ways or standards to be in relationship to God – there is one, Christ. This is made clear later in the chapter:
The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13
Notice that the leadership God provides through the gifts Jesus gives is for equipping the saints for the work of ministry. The equipping of the saints and their subsequent work of ministry builds up the body of Christ for the end that we all share the same faith and knowledge. How do you measure that unity and knowledge? When is one mature? When the stature or the standard of Christ is met. In other words, the unity in which we participate is each of us measuring up to Christ as we are equipped and participate in ministry. Without Christ, there is no unity.
We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ… Ephesians 4:14-15
To participate in the unity of Christ, we must achieve a level of maturity that is rooted in truth, which is why the Church has doctrine in the first place. We do not come to Jesus on our own terms picking and choosing what we want to believe; or worse yet, choosing any new notion that might come along. We come to Jesus on His terms as expressed in the apostolic teaching of the church down through the ages. Believing and speaking the truth in love is how we grow up in every way into Christ. And as we grow up into Christ, we are unified by the Spirit of Christ.
The current crisis of the United Methodist Church is a crisis of faith in the orthodox doctrine of the church, a doctrine that has long helped us come to know Christ and grow into His likeness. We must reclaim the core doctrines of our church that define our faith and learn once again to speak the truth in love. The pain our denomination is experiencing is a failure to lovingly speak the truth of our faith, holding each other accountable to that truth so that we would each be equipped and grow to the measure of Christ. This is the process that leads to entire sanctification as we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
John Wesley felt that the people called Methodists were raised up to propagate the doctrine of entire sanctification. The beauty of the Wesleyan revival is the organizational genius of Wesley to gather people in societies and classes and bands to give structure to promote the work of grace in the lives of the Methodists. This common pursuit of holiness fueled the fires of the Methodist Revival up to the turn of the 20th century.
What would it look like if we recaptured this pursuit of holiness? What if we began to meet to hold each other accountable to God’s work in us? What if we used our gifts to assure each other of the power of the transforming power of Jesus Christ—that no sin is beyond forgiveness, no habit beyond the power of transformation, no life beyond reclamation. What if we didn’t settle for a redefinition of sin, but an unyielding dependence on God to deliver us from it?
I think the crisis of the United Methodist Church in the present moment is also a great opportunity for us to reclaim our orthodox and Wesleyan heritage and chart a new course into the future “to spread Scriptural holiness across the land.”
Rowland S. Buck is an ordained elder in the Scenic South District and an acting director of the Holston WCA.
Branded
By Chuck Griffin
Today I’m donning my old public relations hat, the one I wore before going into professional ministry. I feel the need to point out a practical problem with the Council of Bishops’ recommended “One Church Plan,” a problem anyone, liberal or conservative, should recognize.
The problem is rooted in what corporate communications people call “branding.” When I explained branding to my corporate colleagues, I would employ a simple example. I would put an object like this in a corner of the room:
No one ever had trouble identifying the object, even when empty and viewed from the side as far as 30 feet away. That’s because Coca-Cola is one of the best-branded products in the world, perhaps the best. The calligraphy-style lettering, the shape of the bottle, the color of the label—consumers immediately associate all that with what’s inside.
The rules of branding apply anywhere people see a marketable name or logo. Branding doesn’t require a specific product you can hold in your hand; institutions of all kinds need branding.
If people think well of your logo and name, someone did a good job by delivering a quality product and associating it with images and ideas in a clear way. If people are confused about your product or institution, something has gone wrong.
For example, let’s say every third time you drank a bottle labeled Coca-Cola, you found yourself getting a mouthful of Grape Nehi. Confusion would set in. You might decide you don’t trust the Coca-Cola name or logo, particularly if you don’t like Grape Nehi.
The United Methodist Church already has allowed tremendous damage to its brand in recent years as it has offered wildly different theological flavors under one name. Schismatic clergy and entire conferences change the mix by defying the Discipline and our traditional understanding of scriptural authority, and the people in charge cannot or will not stop them.
As Christians, we understand this is a much more serious matter than whether some fizzy brown liquid gets sold. We believe we are engaging with people because their eternal lives are at stake. Competing theological views offered under the same church name negatively impact the basic mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
In three appointments, I have seen how communities can be confused about what the local UM church represents theologically. And yes, the people around us do debate what’s going on in that building marked with a cross and flame. Neighbors may even warn people to stay away, citing the words or actions of a prior UM pastor while not understanding that the next pastor may have a very different theological stance.
People looking for a church home tell me they are unsure what they’ll find when they walk through the doors of a UM building for the first time. Some have heard of the historic Wesleyan movement and how it took people back to the Bible as the basis for living, but they’ve also seen news stories about homosexual marriages and ordinations in the United Methodist Church and think these are approved practices.
I even have known regular visitors who were very comfortable with me as a pastor, but declined to join the church, fearing I would be moved and the next pastor would be liberal. I assume my liberal colleagues have the same problem playing out in the opposite direction.
Some will argue the deceptively named “One Church Plan” will help with branding, but it will only make the branding problem worse. Nobody trusts a “One Size Fits All” label.
Traveling down the bishops’ recommended path, how would we communicate to our key audience what a particular church’s theological stance is? Remember, individuals looking for a church home engage with us at the local level. Would our common name and logo have subtitles for each church sign—”A Biblical Church” or “A Progressive Church,” perhaps? Would we fly little flags to distinguish ourselves?
Whatever the approach, we would be driving our branding efforts to a very complicated level of communication. Complicated brands fail. In a busy world with lots of choices, people don’t have time to parse a brand’s possible meanings.
If the 2019 General Conference takes us down the traditionalist path, with new means of enforcement put in place, I think the United Methodist brand can be saved. We would have a lot of work to do if we are to recover from the damage that has been done, but the brand is salvageable because we can re-root ourselves in our long history.
A traditionalist decision also should give the theological liberals the right to exit, build their own brand and see who blesses it. I personally am very curious to see how an overtly progressive denomination free of orthodox influence would fare.
Chuck Griffin is an ordained elder serving in the Hiwassee District and an acting director of Holston WCA.
Practicing the Presence
Our WCA display has been well-received at Holston Annual Conference thus far. Lots of people have stopped by to seek information regarding individual memberships and church memberships. We’ve even had a few folks sign up on the spot, and we’ve lost count of how may people are wearing a WCA tag on their badges.
We’re getting a consistent comment: “Thank you so much for being here.” We’ve begun to realize the simple presence of orthodox voices is proving to be very important at this annual conference.
Please keep all of your WCA volunteers in prayer. Special thanks to Connie Griffin, who has stayed with the display table many hours while others have been in session.
From the Judicial Council …
Petitions in harmony with the purpose of the called 2019 General Conference will be allowed. Good news! Orthodox proposals can be heard and voted on in 2019! You also will want to read the statement from the national Wesleyan Covenant Association.
A Word from Dr. Tennent
We want to encourage everyone to take time to read Dr. Timothy Tennent’s “Seven Reasons Why the ‘One Church’ Plan Should Be Rejected.” Dr. Tennent is president of Asbury Theological Seminary.
