A great deal of my concern regarding obedience to church leaders stems from my observance of certain inherent conflicts of interest present in GMC polity. I would enjoy an analysis of GMCs authority to direct local churches in temporal matters.
This is a long, intriguing, baffling post. For starters, you walk around a problem that floats in ambiguity though seemingly clear in your own mind. You leave the lineaments of the root problem vague. No one (except the cognoscenti) can do more than speculate on "what the heck" (to use your slang) lies at the nexus of this disquisition. Perhaps you should elucidate.
I am glad you mentioned Steve Lawson and Ravi Zacharias as examples of fallen leaders. As you said, Christian leaders do damage when they preach the Bible and behave contrarily. They are labeled as hypocrites by non-believers. They become a reason for avoiding Christianity and church. Leaders are not stupid but they sometimes start to believe in themselves and their positions and authority to the point that they believe Satan's lie. Jesus warned about the flesh. He said that anyone who "hates his brother has committed murder in his heart" and "he who lusts after a woman has committed adultery." We are always being tempted. Leaders must be constantly on their guard against the pride that can lead them to fall. When they do fall, how terrible a fall it can be.
This article made me reconsider my choice to leave our church because of the GC decision when perhaps I should have continued to submit to its authority. After all, the decision had little impact on our small church in the NE and the congregation was largely unaware of the decision except the pastor, who had mentioned earlier in the year, that “change was coming like it or not.” I failed to consider my husband’s reaction to my decision. He liked the people and has a “married” homosexual sibling. We are now elderly without a church. Furthermore, your examples of Asbury and Wesley’s rebellion make me wonder about these as supporting the rationale of the progressive agenda behind the GM decision. When I’ve explored the hermeneutics applied to scripture that applies to human sexuality, I start to question my more literal interpretation, but I know God is not a God of confusion. I am in a difficult place when I question my own conscience, and feel I have not respected my husband by deciding to leave and being unable to leave the decision to him.
Linda, I navigate these things in a different way, but I have some overlap. I think it is wise for a wife to consider how she might honor her husband when her conscience is compromised. Marriage requires sacrifice and self-denial. The fact that you are considering such things is good and admirable.
The reason I had the second portion of the original statement was because I think the authority of church leadership proceeds from obedience to Christ and faithful administration of their office. In this case, UM leadership has failed on both counts. I am of the mind that they have therefore forfeited their authority and have no rightful claim on believers. To continue to submit to their authority would be death dealing. The connectional nature of the church means that your local church, even if things have stayed largely the same on the ground level, has been tarnished by its connection to the UMC in a very spiritual and real sense. You can disagree with me, of course, but this is my reading of the moment.
Even so, being outside of a local church is just as bad as being inside an apostatized church. You and your husband need to find a local fellowship in which you can serve alongside other brothers and sisters in Christ joyfully to proclaim Christ and him crucified. In an ultimate sense, it doesn't matter if such a church is of another denomination or tradition. Please make this of the highest priority, as the longer one lives outside of the church, the harder it is to rejoin.
A final note of warning: God's truth is not determined by who one likes or loves. The truth of sexual immorality is not changed by who I know and love that is sexually immoral. Nor is it right to boil scripture down to certain principles to which I think conform the rest of the scriptural witness despite itself. If you allow yourself to go down a road of canceling out certain scriptures because they do not conform to certain notions of what the scriptures are really about, then you open the door to apostasy and deconstruction.
Thanks for earnestly writing out how you received this so that I could respond a little bit. I hope my response is helpful in your journey. God bless you.
Thank you Jeffrey for your kind and thoughtful response of which I am in agreement, although it is difficult sometimes when accusations of being judgemental creep in from within and without. I also appreciate your clarity around these issues so I have more peace about my decision. I have been relying on you as a source of Godly human wisdom, reason, and encouragement. An answer to prayer has been my husband’s willingness to attend a PCA church I visited near us. It was wonderful to be able to worship beside him after more than three months! God Bless You & Your Family.
A great deal of my concern regarding obedience to church leaders stems from my observance of certain inherent conflicts of interest present in GMC polity. I would enjoy an analysis of GMCs authority to direct local churches in temporal matters.
Amen, Rev Jeffrey. Well done.
This is a long, intriguing, baffling post. For starters, you walk around a problem that floats in ambiguity though seemingly clear in your own mind. You leave the lineaments of the root problem vague. No one (except the cognoscenti) can do more than speculate on "what the heck" (to use your slang) lies at the nexus of this disquisition. Perhaps you should elucidate.
I am glad you mentioned Steve Lawson and Ravi Zacharias as examples of fallen leaders. As you said, Christian leaders do damage when they preach the Bible and behave contrarily. They are labeled as hypocrites by non-believers. They become a reason for avoiding Christianity and church. Leaders are not stupid but they sometimes start to believe in themselves and their positions and authority to the point that they believe Satan's lie. Jesus warned about the flesh. He said that anyone who "hates his brother has committed murder in his heart" and "he who lusts after a woman has committed adultery." We are always being tempted. Leaders must be constantly on their guard against the pride that can lead them to fall. When they do fall, how terrible a fall it can be.
This article made me reconsider my choice to leave our church because of the GC decision when perhaps I should have continued to submit to its authority. After all, the decision had little impact on our small church in the NE and the congregation was largely unaware of the decision except the pastor, who had mentioned earlier in the year, that “change was coming like it or not.” I failed to consider my husband’s reaction to my decision. He liked the people and has a “married” homosexual sibling. We are now elderly without a church. Furthermore, your examples of Asbury and Wesley’s rebellion make me wonder about these as supporting the rationale of the progressive agenda behind the GM decision. When I’ve explored the hermeneutics applied to scripture that applies to human sexuality, I start to question my more literal interpretation, but I know God is not a God of confusion. I am in a difficult place when I question my own conscience, and feel I have not respected my husband by deciding to leave and being unable to leave the decision to him.
Linda, I navigate these things in a different way, but I have some overlap. I think it is wise for a wife to consider how she might honor her husband when her conscience is compromised. Marriage requires sacrifice and self-denial. The fact that you are considering such things is good and admirable.
The reason I had the second portion of the original statement was because I think the authority of church leadership proceeds from obedience to Christ and faithful administration of their office. In this case, UM leadership has failed on both counts. I am of the mind that they have therefore forfeited their authority and have no rightful claim on believers. To continue to submit to their authority would be death dealing. The connectional nature of the church means that your local church, even if things have stayed largely the same on the ground level, has been tarnished by its connection to the UMC in a very spiritual and real sense. You can disagree with me, of course, but this is my reading of the moment.
Even so, being outside of a local church is just as bad as being inside an apostatized church. You and your husband need to find a local fellowship in which you can serve alongside other brothers and sisters in Christ joyfully to proclaim Christ and him crucified. In an ultimate sense, it doesn't matter if such a church is of another denomination or tradition. Please make this of the highest priority, as the longer one lives outside of the church, the harder it is to rejoin.
A final note of warning: God's truth is not determined by who one likes or loves. The truth of sexual immorality is not changed by who I know and love that is sexually immoral. Nor is it right to boil scripture down to certain principles to which I think conform the rest of the scriptural witness despite itself. If you allow yourself to go down a road of canceling out certain scriptures because they do not conform to certain notions of what the scriptures are really about, then you open the door to apostasy and deconstruction.
Thanks for earnestly writing out how you received this so that I could respond a little bit. I hope my response is helpful in your journey. God bless you.
Thank you Jeffrey for your kind and thoughtful response of which I am in agreement, although it is difficult sometimes when accusations of being judgemental creep in from within and without. I also appreciate your clarity around these issues so I have more peace about my decision. I have been relying on you as a source of Godly human wisdom, reason, and encouragement. An answer to prayer has been my husband’s willingness to attend a PCA church I visited near us. It was wonderful to be able to worship beside him after more than three months! God Bless You & Your Family.