Thirty Minute Theology: What does it mean to be a Methodist?

Often times we approach tension as a problem to be solved. But when we simply resolve tension without ever really addressing it, do we really solve the problem?

Tension isn’t a problem to be solved, but a reality of lived.

When your kids cried because they wanted more potato chips, but it was getting close to supper time…what’s best for them? To live in the tension of hunger for a few more minutes.

When we have a friend who has a drinking or drug problem and they come to you broke and desperate for money....what’s best for them? to deal with the reality of their situation, or for you to give them $20 so they are happy for the next few hours?

A lot of times we approach tension as something to solve…or avoid…when in reality tensions are unavoidable. We just need to figure out how to live in the midst of them…to manage them.

They are also a reality to true faith.

Tension is a reality of true faith.

What I love about the UMC is that we have been a denomination for centuries that has sought to live in the tensions of being humans here on earth and children of God at the same time.

Many people who join the UMC ask about our doctrine…like I have friend who is a pastor in the PCA and they have set of doctrinal statements that explain exactly what they believe. The Westminster Catechism, Statements of faith, and scriptural proofs. There are a few different ones. If you agree with them, if you can sign your name saying you believe them, you can join their church.

People ask, what are ours? Do we have anything like that?

Simple answer…no.

We profess the creeds. We have some statements in our constitution about the founding beliefs of our denomination, but that’s it.

In fact, there are actually no doctrines or beliefs that belong exclusively to United Methodists. We emphasize certain beliefs, absolutely, but there is nothing that we as United Methodists affirm that are not also believed by other Christians.

Think about why…Wesley started what came to be the UMC as a renewal movement in the COE. He wasn’t starting a new denomination. He was gathering faithful members of the COE in order to see them take claim to a bold and vibrant faith. His desire was to see holiness sweep across the nation of England. He believed their doctrine was fine, it was that people weren’t living it out. He sought to shake people out of lukewarm Christianity. He wanted to set the people’s hearts afire for Jesus.

He knew this was a problem for the church because he had once been a lukewarm Christian.

And Wesley knew that getting the people on fire was about getting them to understand and live into the tensions holiness brings about in a faith filled spiritual life.

We as UMs emphasize 4 areas of tension that I would like for us to look at today as we look to get a grasp on what it means to be a UM.

First, when it comes to faith in Jesus, is it a matter of the head or of the heart?

Faith: Head or Heart

Which is faith? Is faith a knowledge we have or is it something we feel?

Have you ever known someone who seemed to be only caught up in the passion of God. I mean they loved God, their worship seemed genuine, they seemed to be caught up in the spirit…but when bad things happened, often times people who are all heart question if God is there.

I used to see this in youth ministry all the time. Kids with what looked like true faith would feel God’s presence, would passionately repent and love Jesus…but let something bad happen at home, let them go too far with their girlfriend, if they made a moral mistake, they would quickly draw back from the church and their Christian friends. They were embarrassed and ashamed and the last thing they wanted was to be around people where they would be reminded of their mistakes

But as we mature in our faith, we understand that there is some tension between the faith in our heads and the faith in our hearts.

True faith requires Head AND Heart

It can’t be all in our hearts because we get tired, we get hurt, we get beat up....where do we go when bad things come our way. Well if you faith is only in your heart, you can only rage at God…why are you doing this to me.

But when you faith is in you head too, when you know God’s love, when you know God’s promises, when you know that you have been saved, that God is at work changing you, using everything in your life to draw you closer to him, then you can take the bad and grow from it.

But for me, the better I know who God is, the closer I am to God. Both my head and my heart need to be engaged and working for me to understand the fullness of the grace God has in store for me.

We should want to experience God’s presence…in fact that is part of our vision that every person here would experience the presence and power of God in and through our worship…but a relationship with God is more than an experience. We want you to know the God who loves you…not just know about him. That happens as you spend time in his Word, in a small group with other believers, in prayer.

So we hold the head and heart dimensions of our faith in tension. Second, we hold the belief and action dimensions of faith in tension.

What does this mean?

Faith: Beliefs or Actions

Jesus was pretty clear about this one:

Matthew 22:37–40 HCSB

He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

True faith requires Belief AND Actions

And John Wesley started his preaching talking about this. Wesley confronted people, asking if they were truly loving God fully and truly loving their neighbor as themselves. And he wouldn’t let them off the hook easily, either!

He would ask…if you truly love God, how can you come to church on Sunday but then live like everybody else around you the rest of the week?

If you truly love God, how can you have essentially no prayer life and you never even crack open your Bible?

How can you truly love God if you are not daily offering your life to the Lord and His work?

How can you possibly love your neighbor as yourself when you’re not even thinking about anybody but yourself?

Wesley understood that the Christian faith was much more than a Sunday morning pastime. To say Jesus is my Lord means something for every moment of every day.

Today, we might refer to folks like this as lukewarm Christians…Wesley had a much stronger word…he called them ‘almost Christians.’ He’d say “you believe the right things, but you sure don’t live like you believe them.” He’d say to people, if you don’t have enough faith to get you to church, you probably don’t have enough faith to get you to heaven.

Wesley was relentless about calling people to a complete commitment to following Jesus.

Wesley would go out to churches and preach: You folks are almost Christian, but you’re not altogether Christian. You have the right idea, you are fitting Jesus into a part of your life, you are finding space for Jesus in your life, but you aren’t letting Jesus live through you…He’s not your Lord.

Altogether Christians live every day for the Lord! Wesley would and I would ask you....Commit your life to Christ! There’s no time like today. Right now, call on the name of the Lord you will be saved!

The reactions then were the reactions now. Some people responded…YES and jumped right up to have God lead them deeper in relationship with him....but the rest were like, yea well, I”m really busy you see.

Others: I have this project going on at work.

I’k like to, but you see, I’ve been a pretty good person.

In fact, I’ve been in church my whole life.

I’m getting ready to plant;

You don’t really understand some of the mistakes I’ve made

....eventually they would run him out of town and continue to hold on to their lukewarm, powerless faith.

Some denominations teach that you can pray a prayer....or once you are baptized your relationship with God is set. The salvation is an internal working in your soul.

We understand that we are saved to good works,

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

True faith…actually leads to changes in our behavior. Faith is a belief that leads to action

Wesley believed and we as Methodists continue to emphasize that it’s not about merely believing in Jesus....but we are called to live our lives the way God wants us to....loving God with all our heart mind soul and strength....and really loving others .

That’s why I can’t say I love Jesus but not my neighbor…I can’t say I’m a disciple, but I’m not willing to help people in need.

We aren’t just nice people, we are Jesus people.

This leads to another tension that we emphasize as UMs, that is our understanding of salvation:

Salvation: Forever or For Now

Many people think of salvation as what Paul describes in Romans 5:

Romans 5:9 NIV84

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

We are going to be saved and go to heaven and be with the father when we die. That’s true. But salvation is much more than that.

Wesley explained it this way, I was saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved....that our salvation is not something that happened, but it is happening by God’s sanctifying grace.

As Paul wrote it:

1 Corinthians 1:18 HCSB

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved.

Salvation is about Now AND Forever

United Methodists have always understood that salvation came as a result of a mature faith. Key to having a growing faith, was being in fellowship with other Christians, Wesley would say in a class or band meeting…we call them small groups, where you can be encouraged and strengthened in the faith. Without other Christians to support us, we tend to fall away from God, slowly, over time.

That’s why groups have always been a part of our heritage, because our faith isn’t something we live in isolation…in fact faith requires fellowship…it requires other people to keep your faith growing, people to hold you accountable to holiness, to spiritual disciplines.

This is how we experience salvation as an ongoing process of growing closer to God, becoming more free from sin, more able to love generously, more filled with God’s Spirit. Salvation isn’t either now or later. Salvation is something we enjoy both now and forever!

That’s why Jesus taught us to pray:

Matthew 6:9–10 NIV84

“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Our salvation starts now…we are being saved as we are being sanctified, as we are being made more holy, we are striving to make the Kingdom of God realized here and now.

This leads to the 4th tension that we emphasis as UMs. That’s the tension of holiness.

Holiness: Personal or social

Is holiness personal or social?

How are we supposed to live in a world plagued by poverty, hunger, war, addictions, murder,

1 Peter 1:14–16 NIV84

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

True holiness is Personal AND Social

In fact, Wesley taught that there was no holiness but social holiness. What he meant was that inward holiness was meaningless if it didn’t also have an impact on the world around us. Just believing wasn’t enough…that holiness compelled us to act.

That’s why schools, hospitals, mission organizations were all formed by the church. The Salvation Army is a wesleyan cousin of ours because of this wesleyan understanding that our faith compells us to have an impact on our world.

That’s why Wesleyans have consistently stood in opposition to the plagues of our culture…gambling, polution, alcohol, drugs, poverty, homelessness, human trafficing, slavery, and more.

We are called to not just just know that God’s word is true, but be fully committed to following God’s word.

We are called to not just believe in God, but love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30), and rejoice to be able to love God!

We are called to not just strive for personal morality, but also show true Christian love toward one another AND love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 19:19).

We are called to not just take pity on those in need, but be willing to be a servant to all.

Galatians 2:20 NIV84

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

We are called to not just do good deeds, but proclaim with Galatians 2:20: “it is not I, but Christ who lives within me. The life I live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave Himself for me.”…we are called to proclaim Jesus as our motivation as we serve

You see, the almost Christian is scared to death of tension. They prefer instead to remove that which makes them uncomfortable....They keep their faith personal, because then the tension is controlled

When we avoid the tension…lets just give them food, lets just help them out with their bills....but in accepting the tension, we allow our love for God overflow into a love for others as we get involved personally, we take Jesus into their problem, taking the opportunity to share the reason for the hope we have.

When we avoid the tension, we want to say those people are out. They aren’t living they way they should, so they need to change....living in the tension, I am moved to say, I don’t agree with how you are living, but God loves you and has a plan for your life....we are here to help you find that life…not matter what you are going through.

The almost Christian is a people-pleaser....they are uncomfortable with the tension. They figure if things are going smooth, then they must be doing a pretty good job. The altogether Christian accepts that tension isn’t a problem to be solved, but a reality to be lived. They understand that they’ve put their faith solely in Jesus Christ for their salvation and that their new life is based entirely on the merits of Christ rather than their own good deeds. That being aware of the tension, and seeking God’s will in it is the place to be…

To love people who don’t love back.

To serve people who don’t deserve it.

To show hospitality to people who sin.

Why should we care?

As many of you know, our denomination begins a specially called general conference next weekend in order to sort out how we as a denomination will deal with a cultural change that is happening all around us. That is the change in the cultural understanding of sexuality.

You may not have been at any of the denominational meetings where this happens, but after a while you begin to wonder....why do I even care?

Why am I even dealing with this??? You just get tired of dealing with it.

Why should we keep it up? What makes all this worth it?

That’s my struggle....but what about you?

Because we love Jesus

The church is his bride

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