A Weblog Dedicated to the Discussion of the Christian Faith and 21st Century Life

A Weblog Dedicated to the Discussion of the Christian Faith and 21st Century Life
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I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe, –that unless I believed, I should not understand.-- St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)

Thursday, February 10, 2011

United Methodists Have No Identity... And This Is a Surprise?

John Meunier quotes George Hunter:
"The people called United Methodists cannot recall who they are, if indeed most of our present members ever knew," Hunter lamented. "They are no longer rooted in scripture or in any recognizable version of Methodism’s theological vision."
Hunter quipped: "Thousands of our churches are analogous to mules – which are creatures that are so genetically compromised that they are incapable of reproduction." And he warned: "Don't expect much vitality, much less reproduction. There is not much vitality or reproduction anywhere the gospel is in absentia." …

Hunter further regretted about United Methodism: "The religion that inhabits the minds of our attendees is now about as likely to be deism, or pantheism, or middle class moralism, or civil religion, or even astrology or luck, as any recognizable form of the faith once delivered to the saints." He remarked: "What is now called Methodism, in many places, has retained the form of religion but without the power."
Hunter is spot on... a group cannot retain any sense of significant identity when it no longer knows what sets it off from others, when it no longer stands as an alternative. Shallow notions of inclusiveness and sentimental accounts of love and passive understandings of grace and embracing the politics of the DNC are not sufficient for a church to mantain a sense of itself. Indeed, they are counter productive. Moreover, they are woefully inadequate in forming a people that will cohere around a central and deeply profound vision that makes what they are about necessary for others. When a church puts much of its energy and emphasis on being in the good graces of those in the halls of state power, when its people are actually excited that their denomination is well represented in Congress, when its leaders trip over their tongues to get an audience with the President of the United States, they are indeed incapable of producing anything that is vital for God's Kingdom-- and reproduction is not only impossible... frankly... it is not desirable.

For Christians, modern political progressivism is not progress and modern political conservatism is not a guardian of our best traditions. And for Christians to identify themselves by such labels is not only to undermine the politics of God's Kingdom, it is to embrace idolatry. In such a context no wonder doctrine becomes unimportant. When the world of Christendom sets the agenda, doctrine becomes nothing more than matters of personal preference, and morals are founded on the slippery and vacuous rantings of emotivist response and not on Scripture informed by our deepest and most profound traditions. And when the connection between doctrine and ethics is lost the church is left with very little in the way of uniqueness with which to commend itself to those outside the walls of its edifices, which stand as crumbling monuments to its embrace of civil religion and a day now long past. And those who insist that doctrine matters are ridiculed as close-minded snobs as if God cares little about his people's search for truth and much about their living a domesticated ethic which amounts to little more than being nice. The mainline Protestant project sows the seeds of its own demise.

Hunter's words should come as no surprise. But for many United Methodists they will come as quite a shock and will appear by many apologists of the status quo as extreme... and that, in and of itself, demonstrates the truth of his words.

10 comments:

Keith H. McIlwain said...

Amen, Allan. Exactly right. But our arrival at this place has not been accidental; our denominational leaders have nurtured this particular journey. We need to be honest about that. We are what we have created.

Clay Knick said...

Yes and amen to you Allan. Keith is right, too.

Mark said...

Brilliant...and tragic.

Jonathan Marlowe said...

You are, of course, right about this. But here's another question: When George Hunter writes books like "Church for the Unchurched" in which he seeks something called "cultural relevance," to what extent is he contributing to our loss of memory and sense of identity?

Allan R. Bevere said...

Jonathan... a great question... I don't want to dodge the issue, but I also want to ask you (since you are well informed on this), what do you think?

Jonathan Marlowe said...

I don't want to dodge the question either, Allan. But before I put all my cards on the table, I am curious to see what others might think. And I'm pretty sure you know what cards I'm holding.

Jonathan Marlowe said...

Well, no takers so far, so I'll throw in my two cents. While there are many helpful parts to George Hunter's book, Church for the Unchurched, I do think that his insistence on 'cultural relevance' (as defined by secular culture) tends to have a negative effect on our appreciation and embodiment of the Christian tradition, and this does contribute to a loss of memory about who we are as the church. I have been influenced by Street & Kenneson's book, The Dangers of Church Marketing.

John B said...

To help make for an interesting conversation, I'm going to defend Hunter.

The problem as Allan eludes to lies in the fact the UMC has let go of the essentials of the faith in an attempt to be culturally revelant, while at the same time holding onto non-essentials which aren't culturally revelant. (The music in most UMC's is a prime example.) This needs to be turned on it's head, holding tight to the essentials of our faith, while releasing the non-essentials so that the church can speak to the culture in a language the culture can understand.

Jonathan Marlowe said...

It is interesting to note that even Mike Slaughter is now commenting on how boring contemporary worship is, and he is longing for worship that is connected to the ancient Christian tradition, with creeds, sacraments and other ancient rituals that (ten years ago) people assumed would not appeal to the 'unchurched.'

Allan R. Bevere said...

Jonathan, the formula is substance plus alternative.