The three essentials of the Wesleyan gospel

Last updated on: May 19, 2016 at 11:11 am By Morgan Guyton

I came across an article by a woman named Carolyn Moore that puts forward “three non-negotiables for the United Methodist Church.” They are the exclusive nature of Jesus Christ, the authority of the Bible, and the global nature of the gospel. I don’t dispute any of these per se, but it seems like there’s nothing particularly Wesleyan about these three non-negotiables. They are generic non-negotiables of conservative evangelicalism. So I wanted to offer briefly what I consider the three essentials of the Wesleyan gospel... Read more

Two ways of being moderate: bridge-building and equal opportunity scorn

Last updated on: May 18, 2016 at 10:53 am By Morgan Guyton

Moderate United Methodists are having a tough time right now. People on both the left and the right are digging in their heels for different reasons. While I’m obviously more sympathetic to the left side of things, I think moderates have a crucial role to play in helping us move forward. The key question is whether they’re going to be moderate in a helpful or unhelpful way. One way to be moderate is to heap equal opportunity scorn on conservatives... Read more

Three options for the United Methodist Church moving forward

Last updated on: May 17, 2016 at 7:00 pm By Morgan Guyton

As expected, the conservative evangelicals at General Conference have a solid majority. It is likely that they will not only reject every possible compromise for our Book of Discipline, but also tighten the noose by instituting a mandatory minimum punishment for LGBT clergy and clergy who officiate same-sex weddings. As I wrote in a previous blog post, this would represent the crossing of a red line for progressive United Methodists like me. We have a very unique situation in the United... Read more

The one verse the church should have been reading for the past 2000 years

Last updated on: May 16, 2016 at 11:41 am By Morgan Guyton

Order. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about Pentecost, the infinite harmony of the Word of God being translated into every possible dialect and identity. There’s a verse that I’ve been meditating upon a lot in the last couple of decades as Christians have our great debate over gender and sexuality: Galatians 3:28. It reads, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of... Read more

Maybe it’s time to plant a new denomination

Last updated on: May 13, 2016 at 11:57 am By Morgan Guyton

I became United Methodist because of Central Avenue United Methodist Church in Toledo, Ohio. I was one of about four straight people in that congregation when I found it in late 2001. It was the safest, most grace-filled space I’ve ever been a part of in a time when I desperately needed it. I discovered the gospel that I preach today when I read Henri Nouwen’s book Life of the Beloved with a bunch of lesbians who loved me like they were... Read more

Why we’re ethically incomprehensible to each other

Last updated on: May 12, 2016 at 7:12 pm By Morgan Guyton

A recent commenter brought up an important point that provides a different angle for understanding the conflict between conservative and progressive Christians. This may not be true of everyone in both camps and in between, but I think we’re operating with two completely different ethical systems. Conservatives tend to use a deontological ethics, in which you find an authority figure to give you a duty to obey. Progressives tend to use a consequentialist ethics, in which you decide what to do... Read more

The contempt for the heart in United Methodism

Last updated on: May 11, 2016 at 5:44 pm By Morgan Guyton

It’s odd that a movement founded when John Wesley “felt [his] heart strangely warmed” has gained such a contempt for the heart. We talk about having a quadrilateral for our spiritual discernment: scripture, tradition, reason, and experience, but some conservative United Methodists want to banish experience from this list because it draws upon bleeding heart, flighty feelings instead of logical, accurate, “agenda-less” Biblical interpretation. To argue against experience, one of my United Methodist colleagues loves to trot out Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart... Read more

Can traditional sexuality exist without social control?

Last updated on: May 10, 2016 at 4:49 pm By Morgan Guyton

With the rise of Donald Trump as the Republican presidential candidate, many conservative evangelical leaders like Russell Moore are reflecting on how their movement might redefine itself. Donald Trump signifies the abject failure of the religious right’s pursuit of political power. On every social issue around which they rallied their voting base, they have been exploited and betrayed by the Republican Party. And millions of Americans have been completely alienated from ever considering Christianity as a result. Some conservative evangelicals... Read more

A prophecy and two visions from Acts for our United Methodist General Conference

Last updated on: May 7, 2016 at 12:39 pm By Morgan Guyton

The book of Acts is supposed to model for us how the early church engaged in discernment and made its decisions. Surprisingly, the one thing we do not see the apostles do is consult scripture as a reference manual the way that we think we’re supposed to do today. The three most decisive acts of discernment occurred through the prophecy of Gamaliel and the visions of Paul and Peter. Thus it seems entirely appropriate for the United Methodist General Conference... Read more

What Romans 1 teaches about sin and why it ironically exonerates LGBT identity

Last updated on: May 6, 2016 at 7:04 am By Morgan Guyton

Romans 1:18-32 is one of the most important passages in scripture, because it describes the nature of sin. Specifically, it shows how idolatry is the foundation for injustice, and moreover, how sin always cascades into deeper forms of corruption. This passage is one of the most prominent biblical proof-texts against homosexuality, but the mention of same-sex practices is incidental to Paul’s larger points in the passage. Ironically, if we recognize the larger points that Paul is making about sin, then... Read more