EDITOR'S RESPONSE
TO QUESTION ABOUT METHODIST
.
E-Mail Letter:
.
"ATTACHED to this e-mail is a sermon
by a local Methodist preacher [and an official communiqué from North
Carolina Bishop Marion Edwards to the Methodists of the North Carolina
Conference] on lesbians in their church. The part I don’t understand is
where he states, ‘Although we do not condone the practice of homosexuality
and consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching, we affirm
that God’s grace is available to all.’ And so we do not take a rigid judgmental
stance but say that we are people of God’s grace [first sentence
in bold type is from the Methodist Creed Book, THE BOOK OF DISCIPLINE,
and the second sentence being the local Methodist preacher’s words].
.
"I am presently communicating with a member
of this Methodist church…But this person has been brainwashed and bombarded
with this philosophy of grace. Can you help me in how to explain to this
person the truth that God would have them know and understand as to grace?
And how do you explain the true meaning of grace to a Methodist?
.
"I understand that grace is unmerited reward
and mercy is relief from punishment we deserve. But this philosophy on
grace that they have has really stumped me.
.
"Thank you for all the hard work on THE
SWORD AND STAFF." (E-mail)
.
Answer to E-Mail
Letter:
.
In responding to this letter, let us get all
of this in context. The sermon referred to, involving the Methodist preacher,
goes back to March of this year. It was prompted by the ruling of an official
church court of the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist
Church that restored the "ministerial credentials" of a practicing, self-avowed
lesbian "pastor" and consequently the de facto acceptance of same
sex "marriage" (as she publicly was in such a union). This was contrary
to the official laws of the church (denomination), and it raised questions
as to how it should be dealt with. The local Methodist minister in North
Carolina, referred to in the e-mail correspondence, was addressing this.
The only way that the laws in the Methodist creed book could be changed
would be by the General Conference of their denomination that was to meet
in Pittsburgh, we were told. The newspapers tell us that it would seem
that about 60 percent of the denomination would abide by the church law
as it stood and about 40 percent were in favor of what happened in the
Northwest.
.
In all kindness, but to the point, let us briefly
notice the questions in this e-mail correspondence. I am a former Methodist.
But now I come from the vantage point of a nondenominational, New Testament
Christian (having no man-made creeds or denominational church laws to restrain
me in studying and following the Bible). I find more than one thing objectionable
in what has been brought up.
.
Homosexual Practice
and Gracel
.
The statement, "Although we do not condone
the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with
Christian teaching, we affirm that God’s grace is available to all," I
find interesting. On the surface this almost sounds good. I likewise condemn
homosexual practices (not because it is denominational law, but because
it is the Word of God), and I "affirm that God’s grace is available to
all." But I am afraid that they mean something different from what I mean,
and what I believe the Bible means. The purpose of grace is through the
forgiveness of sins to bring us into a right relationship with God. Jesus
came to save us from our sins, not in our sins (Matthew 1:21). Yes, Jesus
forgave the adulterous woman. He said to her, "Neither do I condemn thee,"
but he also said, "GO, AND SIN NO MORE" (John 8:11). Read the first few
verses of Romans chapter 6. Paul asked and answered, "Shall we continue
in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead
to sin, live any longer therein?" He went on to say, "Know ye not, that
to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom
ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
(Romans 6:16). Jude speaks of "turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness"
and being given over to "strange flesh" (Jude 4,7; lasciviousness mean
unbridled behavior, licentiousness). Romans 1:26-32 is pretty straightforward
as to what God thinks about homosexual practices. Read it. Why can’t everyone
understand this? Among other sins, Paul mentions the practice of homosexuality
in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, and he says that people who practice such things
will not inherit the kingdom of God. Then he says, "And such were some
of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." This is past
tense, "such were some of you." This was not their lifestyle now. The writer
of Hebrews says, "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the
knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins" (Hebrews
10:26). The verses that follow this reference are very sobering for those
who would lightly trod under foot the grace of God (10:27-30). As a professed
believer, to willfully continue in sin is to cut oneself off from grace.
The throne of grace is where we find help with our spiritual needs—like
finding mercy, obtaining forgiveness and realizing victory (Hebrews 4:14-16);
it is not a cover-up for us to continue in our sins. (And if we won’t confess
that sin is sin, how can the Lord forgive us? 1 John 1:9). The Lord Jesus
Christ came to save us from our sins, not in our sins. Read Titus 2:11
and 12, and carefully ponder these verses. They say a lot.
.
What is a Woman
Doing "Pastoring" a Church?
.
In commenting on the situation in the state
of Washington, the local Methodist minister said that "this jury has restored
the credentials of a practicing, self-avowed lesbian United Methodist pastor
and has judged her suitable to return to pastoring a church." Backing up
beyond the question of homosexual practice and grace, which we have briefly
touched upon, this raises another question for those who believe the Bible.
What is a woman doing "pastoring" a church in the first place? The word
"pastor" in the New Testament refers to the elder (or elders) of the local
church (1 Peter 5:1-4; Acts 20:28). "Bishop" (overseer) is another term
applied to the elders of the local church, the same person (Titus 1:5-7;
Acts 20:28). Interestingly the apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy 3:1, "If
any man desire the office of a bishop [elder, pastor], he desireth a good
work." Notice. He said man, and not woman. And this man was to be "the
husband of one wife" (3:2). Also, Paul states in the same epistle, "But
I [as an apostle of Christ, 1:1] suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp
authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed,
then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in
the transgression" (1 Timothy 2:12-14). All of this creates a problem,
in view of the situation being dealt with in this little article. No woman
ever got her credentials from the Word of God to be a "pastor" (elder,
bishop) of a church. Only a man-made human denomination could give her
such authority. God has placed the responsibility of leadership on the
shoulders of qualified men.
.
Perhaps the mentality of many was reflected
in what the wife of a local Methodist minister said to this writer. We
were discussing the question of women preachers. I quoted to her what Paul
said in 1 Timothy 2:12-14. She was very adamant in her response. She said,
"Paul was a good theologian, but I don’t agree with everything that he
said." And one of the things she disagreed with was what he said in 1 Timothy
2. She even accused Paul of being a woman hater. Personally, I would back
off really fast in trying to find fault with Paul’s words. He said in 1
Corinthians 14:37, "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual,
let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments
of the Lord." That should settle it.
.
"Bishops" of the
Church
.
In the attachment to the e-mail I received,
as intimated, there was also the communiqué from the bishop over
the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. This brings
up another question and another problem for Bible believers, although this
was not asked. Here we have one man called a "bishop" over a large number
of churches that constitutes a conference (the North Carolina Conference).
In the New Testament there was a plurality of bishops over each single
church, just the opposite of the Methodist practice. Paul wrote to the
church at Philippi, and among those addressed were its "bishops" (Philippians
1:1), more than one over a local church. Paul met with the "overseers"
(episkopous = bishops) of the church at Ephesus (Acts 20:17,28),
a single church. Titus was to ordain "bishops" in every city on the island
of Crete (Titus 1:5,7). Bishops were over local, autonomous churches, not
one bishop being over many churches. It sounds like something is amiss
somewhere, but such are the ways of denominationalism.
.
Our response to the questions asked in this
correspondence has extended beyond what was initially brought up. But I
think what I have said is appropriate. More could be said about many others
things. My intentions have not been to be harsh, but to be straightforward,
plain and informative.
.
<BACK
.
TheSwordANDStaff
|
.Articles