Before I left the United Methodist Church to join Scotts Hill Baptist Church, I made a few remarks critical of the United Methodists. Since I officially walked out of the “open doors” of the UMC, I’ve been asked repeatedly about what motivated me to make that decision.
Based on my conversations with a number of other unsatisfied Methodists I started to have an increasing number of unanswered questions about the direction in which the church is going. Many of these questions deal with sin in general and sexual sin in particular. Instead of answering the question of “why I left”, perhaps some Methodists who did not can answer some of my questions concerning “why they are left.”
1. A young pastor was conducting a UMC 101 course required of all prospective members of a small Methodist Church. When asked whether there was such a thing as hell, she answered “I’m not sure and I don’t know that it’s important.” Given that Jesus talked about hell more than anyone else in the Bible, isn’t the question of whether hell exists an “important” one? If there is no hell, doesn’t that make Jesus a liar?
2. A Methodist preacher makes the statement “We don’t like to talk about sin here at (deleted) United Methodist Church.” Instead, he likes to talk about “grace.” If there is no sin and there is no hell, what was Jesus saving people from? Does silence on the issue of “hell” and “sin” render the term “grace” completely meaningless?
3. A man asks the Methodist preacher to pray to give Congress the courage to protect the institution of marriage from homosexuality. The preacher corrects him in front of the entire congregation saying “give Congress wisdom as difficult decisions are considered.” Why did she publicly correct him? Was he out of line?
4. A church employee becomes pregnant out of wedlock. In the presence of less than five year old Sunday school students she talks about how the father of her child is going to move in with her. Is that really appropriate in front of the little ones? Would it be too “offensive” to talk to her about legitimating the child through an institution called “marriage”?
5. A United Methodist preacher does not allow his teachers to talk about abortion or evolution. Why is that? Continued... |