It has always been widely discussed in the media about the way certain issues currently present in our culture should be approached by the church. One of the most delicate questions is how to deal with the awareness of the church and its followers of the complex biological and psychological nature of human sexuality.
It is clearly stated in The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, 2012 that “God’s grace is available to all, that nothing can separate us from the love of God.” Besides, Methodists claim to be “in respectful dialogue with those with whom we disagree, to explore the sources of our differences, to honor the sacred worth of all persons.” Despite such tolerant, promising doctrines, a huge amount of the discussions on the topic of LGBT come down to accusations and black-and-white judgments having nothing to do with Christian dialogue.
The 53% Problem in the United Methodist Church – the article written by Rev. Jeremy Smith – proves that controversial issues are still unresolved among Methodists, which causes deterioration of the general attitude towards them each year.
The paper at hand attempts to analyze the article in order to find out whether it reflects John Wesley’s ideas and applies them to the modern interpretation of the issue. The purpose of the analysis is to demonstrate that despite the tendency of the Methodist Church to maintain Christian standards of behavior, Wesley’s ideas of equality in the face of God reflected in his doctrine of prevenient grace are perceived with latent disapproval when the church has to deal with people having divergent views on sexuality as one of the vaguest issues from the religious perspective.
The Overview of the Article
Rev. Jeremy Smith speculates upon the reasons the new doctrine is only supported by 53% of the Methodist clergy though it directly refers to John Wesley’s pivotal beliefs. The low percentage first emerged in 2012 when the doctrine was passed. Moreover, this surprisingly small number reappeared in 2015 when a survey of United Methodist pastors, leaders, and lay membership was conducted to estimate current attitudes to the statement. As compared to 2014, the number of those who supported the idea of prevenient grace dropped by 38%.
The author explains this phenomenon by the fact that marriage equality granted to LBGT created a reverse-halo affect – the attitude to God’s grace became negative as it got connected with the debatable problem of LGBT inclusion. The author concludes the discussion by expressing his hope that the shame of prejudice will be eliminated and the Methodist Church will welcome everyone who is striving to live out his/her call to lead a righteous life by serving God. Surprisingly, he contradicts himself by stating at the end of the article that John Wesley did not consider that all the minorities were equal and we should go beyond his beliefs showing a more open-minded attitude.
Thus, the key reason for attitude deterioration Rev. Jeremy Smith names is the coincidence of the poll with the new law concerning homosexual marriages, which brought about the error of judgment about the alleged connection of the two issues.
Wesley’s Ideas as Opposed to the Ideas Reflected in the Article
Although Wesley is accused of being partial in his treatment of the minorities, his outward activity coupled with the ongoing rigorous pursuit of inward holiness proves that his doctrines exclude ambiguity and double interpretation, which means that the disapproval of LGBT expressed by Wesley’s followers contradicts his beliefs. Already in 1730, John Wesley began assisting people who were disadvantaged by either their health, financial or social status, which is quite demonstrative in terms of his understanding of equality of people for God’s love. Moreover, he firmly believed that love was the highest form of knowledge. In the Sermons Wesley clearly indicates his position making the following appeal: “Let whatsoever you do be done in charity, in love, and in the spirit of meekness.”
In fact, prevenient grace is the aspect that makes Wesley’s church stand apart from Protestantism. Methodists believe that God pursues every person with his everlasting love. The proof of that premise Wesley found in the Bible, which stated that our Lord “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (Timothy 2:4). Therefore, there could not be any people who are damned to live outside the grace of God while he gives it to the selected ones. Wesley even rejects the commonly accepted belief that God needs proof of our commitment to Christ for us to deserve his love. He promotes the idea that God’s love is inherent in his nature and is granted to humanity regardless of how wrong our decisions might be. Wesley also addresses the role of sin as a lot of people believe that it has the potential of separating us from God’s grace, which is totally wrong. The point is that the more we sin – the more insensitive we become to God’s love.
However, in order to judge whether Rev. Jeremy Smith was right in his statement about Wesley’s unequal treatment of homosexuals, people of color, women, and other groups commonly suffering from prejudice, we should understand whether he saw any sin in the divergent perception of sexuality. Wesley supported the view that sexuality is not a moral choice but an individual unexpected discovery. This assumption is proved by the Bible, which never uses the word “homosexuality” as there was no notion of sexual orientation in the biblical times. The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, 2012 states that sexuality is a gift that all people receive from God: “We call everyone to responsible stewardship of this sacred gift…All persons, regardless of age, gender, marital status, or sexual orientation, are entitled to have their human and civil rights ensured and to be protected against violence.”
Thus, the position expressed in the article that John Wesley did not presume that everyone would be equal in his Church is not proved by his deeds and thoughts expressed in his works, which means that the article does no faithfully present his views. On the contrary, the attitude of the present-day Methodist community to LGBT is inconsistent with his basic idea about unconditional love that distinguishes Methodist church.
Application from Wesley to the Present
Despite the fact that Wesley’s doctrines still find adequate application to the present as they help Methodists maintain Christian standards of behavior, his message is distorted by the modern Methodist clergy, which demonstrates opposition to LGBT inclusion. The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, 2012 says that people have equal value in God’s eyes. Therefore, they must have equal access to all the modern conveniences and opportunities connected with housing, education, employment, health care, safety, communication, etc. Besides, modern Methodists claim that they “deplore acts of hate or violence against groups or persons based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender, disability, status, economic condition, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religious affiliation.” This allows us to think about theological issues in the social context and have a broader understanding of their significance.
We see that basic civil liberties that are inseparable from our life derive from the spiritual. In fact, the rights granted to minority groups prove that Wesley’s doctrines have survived and continue to influence the modern society in a positive way as it was him who protested against any means of coercion or violence against people of other sexual orientation. However, it is clear from the article that 47% of the clergy disapprove of equality when it concerns such delicate taboo issues as sexuality thinking that any deviations from the normal behavior undermine the family institution and principles. Despite being rather skeptical about both Wesley and modern Methodists, the author of the article is still rather optimistic about the application of the doctrines in the present-day society. He believes that the church will soon realize that there must be no exclusions to the “all” that are implied when Methodists speak about God’s grace.
Thus, it is evident that Rev. Jeremy Smith makes a faithful application from Wesley to the present even though he denies Wesley his genuine desire to see God’s grace bestowed upon all creatures regardless of their identity. The article expresses hope that these doctrines will find practical implementation and help the society get rid of biases and become “better than this”.
Bibliography
Holy Bible. Grand Rapids: Zonderva, 2011.
Outler, Albert Cook, and Thomas C. Oden. The Wesleyan Theological Heritage: Essays of Albert C. Outler. Michigan: Zondervan Publishing Company, 1991.
The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, 2012. Nashville: United Methodist Publishing House, 2012.
Wesley, John, Albert Cook Outler, and Richard P. Heitzenrater. John Wesley’s Sermons: An Anthology. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1984.
Wesley, John. Journal and Diaries, Edited by W. Reginald Ward, and Richard P. Heitzenrater. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1988.