King Hezekiah and the #UMCGC

Recently I heard a devotional given by Rev. Dr. Tim Bruster (who is up for election for Judicial Council of the UMC). Rev. Bruster shared the story from 2 Kings 20:1-21 and how it relates to the UMC. For those of us who have not memorized the story, here is the key part Dr. Bruster shared:

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: Days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord. Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?’

Dr. Bruster pointed out that Hezekiah was a king who was told that his actions and the way he was leading was going to result in some very bad news for his sons. However, this news did not provoke Hezekiah to repent and change his ways. His response to hearing this word was, "this is a good word that you have spoken." It is good that those closest to him will experience shame and punishment? Why? 

Hezekiah may have thought this was good news because this news was about his sons and not about himself. Perhaps we could read his response, "Oh that sounds bad.... Wait did you say this was going to happen to me? Oh, no? My sons? Whew! That was close. I thought you were going condemn my actions, but you only are saying my boys will be affected. That was close, I really dodged a bullet there."  

It might have been good news for Hezekiah, but his son's may have a different opinion...

Of all the voting delegates of General Conference of the UMC, only 7% of them are "young people." The gifted and talented Abigail Parker Herrera wrote: "Only 7% of the 864 seated delegates will be young people. Less than 30 people under the age of 35 from the Central Conferences and only 33 people under 30 from the United States will be on the floor making decisions. Almost half of these young people are women. A mere 6 of them are clergy."

With these sorts of numbers I wonder if the other 93% of delegates may fall victim to the universal sin of shortsightedness? May it remind us all that our perspective is influenced depending on if we have to live with for 10 or 50 years.

ORDER, DISORDER, AND REORDER AND #UMCGC (PT. 3)

In case you missed the first two posts of this series, here is a quick recap:

A Richard Rohr metaphor of three boxes - order, disorder and reorder. Conservatives tend to get stuck in order, while progressives tend to get stuck in disorder. The Christian life is to include and transcend the previous ways of being. The metaphor builds by implying the goal is to move away from order and disorder into the realm of reorder. And while the far right and left in the UMC may be stuck in their boxes, the rest of us are seeking the way of reorder. But what does reorder look like in the UMC? 

So let's shift gears just a moment. Here is a quick little image outlining the difference between bipartisan and transpartisan:

First of all you may be familiar with the word, bipartisan but maybe not as much with transpartisan. From the Wiki:

Transpartisanship represents an emerging field in political thought distinct from bipartisanship, which aims to negotiate between “right” and “left,” resulting in a dualistic perspective, and nonpartisanship, which tends to avoid political affiliation altogether. Rather, transpartisanship acknowledges the validity of truths across a range of political perspectives and seeks to synthesize them into an inclusive, pragmatic container beyond typical political dualities.

The UMC has a chance to reorder our denomination. We have a chance to reorder away from the bipartisanism of Order vs. Disorder. We have a chance to stop name calling and demonizing. We have a chance to reorder our denomination around Love rather than around the truth that individuals embrace.

We think that we cannot overcome the split between those trapped in the Order and those trapped in Disorder around the issue of homosexuality. We think this is the divisive issue of our day that will tear the church apart. I am not sure why we are allowing this issue to have so much power over us. We did not split over abortion. We did not split over the ordination of women. We did not split over Biblical inerrancy, alcohol, gambling, climate change, capital punishment, the use of war, divestment or divorce. When these issues present(ed) themselves we were able to reorder around something larger than the presenting issue. We reordered our Church around the Love of Christ.

Can General Conference 2016 get out of the boxes of order and disorder so that we can reorder the common ministry and mission we all share? Can conservatives step out of the box of order so to not be rigid and punitive? Can progressives step out of the box of disorder so to not be zero-sum in thought? Are we courageous enough to stay in dialogue and communion with those we disagree with? Can we be a denomination that liberates one another from the tyranny of order and disorder?

I do so pray.

ORDER, DISORDER, AND REORDER AND #UMCGC (PT. 2)

In a previous post, I shared about a metaphor Richard Rohr shares about spiritual formation. He asks us to imagine there are three boxes, "order", "disorder" and "reorder". Fr. Rohr believes that conservatives tend to get stuck in the "order" box. I shared in the previous post how important it is for the voice of our conservative sisters and brothers be heard. The desire for order is noble and essential for all of us. However, getting stuck in the box of order can lead to rigidity in thought (at best) and self-proclaimed defenders of what is pure (at worst). 

While conservatives may get stuck in the "order" box, according to Rohr, progressives tend to be stuck in the "disorder" box. Progressives are often the ones driven by dismantling the things that are ordered in an attempt to examine values, assumptions and advocate for any change that may be needed for the new day. It is something many people go through in their lives when we come to question why things are the way they are. We tend to push back on the rules and expectations that ordered our lives up to a point but now we examine why these rules and expectations are there to begin with. For anyone who has ever said they did not want to "become like my parent" is going through the process of disordering. Just as it is natural to order it is also natural to disorder the things in the world. Both have their place, assets and liabilities.

Disorder does not mean chaos

The progressive group in the UMC called "Love Prevails" is an example of the progressive tendency toward disorder. The movement advocates for three actions: Disclose(t), Divest, and Disrupt. These call to action are at their core expressions of disorder which you can read in their definition of each action.

Disclose(t) - We can no longer sit in silent acquiescence before the unjust laws of The United Methodist Church. The time has come and gone for behind-the-scenes, closeted support of LGBTQ people. As LGBTQ Christians and straight allies, we will speak out publicly about our lives, our families, our friends, and our ministries. We will claim equality for ourselves and for our LGBTQ brothers and sisters.

Divest - For too long, the cost of injustice has been hidden by our loyalty to the institution. Beginning now, we will redirect our time and treasure to efforts aimed at ending discrimination against LGBTQ people. We will divest our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness from all structures within the church that support the status quo.

Disrupt - The time for polite persuasion has passed. To ensure discrimination no longer flows uninterrupted, we will protest and disrupt local, national and global events. We will undermine all policies that limit or deny the full participation of LGBTQ United Methodists in the life of the church. Through our media campaign and physical presence, we will stand in the way of business as usual.

I am not making a value judgement on these actions, only desire to point out that while Good News is locked into "Order", Love Prevails is locked into "Disorder". 

And perhaps the most frustrating thing for those of us in the middle is that both those locked into order or disorder feel they are correct and it is the other that is doing the damage to the denomination. The fact of the matter is, anytime anyone is locked in a box, there is a human desire for freedom. This is the Gospel proclamation. God desires that all be free from being locked in/up/out. Jesus did that work on the cross. We are all free from the shackles of sin and death because of his Grace and Love.

This is why the spiritual life is one that include the assets of order and disorder but also transcends the liabilities. Christianity points not toward life or death but toward resurrection. Or in this case, we are not to be people of order or disorder but a people of reorder. 

What would General Conference look like if it we include and transcend order and disorder to the "box" of reorder?

General Conference - What are the Signals in the Noise?

In case you are interested in the General Conference of the UMC happening in May 2016, you may have caught onto the fact that everyone has an opinion on every matter under the sun. In the middle of all this noise, one might wonder what are signals in all this noise? 

I have been charged with the task of trying to cultivate a collection of articles, recordings, videos, blogs, etc. You can see those articles by following the link at the top of the page "General Conference 2016"

While this project is still young and I am not doing as well as one might be able to do if they were professional tech communicators, I hope this site will be helpful for those that are interested to know what is happening at the GC2016 that is going to have an impact on the local church here in the central Texas area.