Middletown United Methodist Church

Our former bishop Alfred Johnson used to say that churches are called by God to unity, not uniformity. It’s a way of saying that it is inevitable that we are going to have differences, but that we should NOT allow those differences to divide us. We are one in Christ. My experience, and I’m sure the experience of many, has been that this way of being the Church has not always been realized. Too many times over the years I have seen members of churches engaged in mean-spirited quarreling, shouting down those who disagree with them at meetings, talking behind peoples’ backs in the parking lot or elsewhere, and generally behaving as if they’d never heard of the concept of being one in Christ.

Some of you have heard me tell the story of one man in a church that slammed his hand down on the table around which we were having a trustees’ meeting and (finger pointed in my face) threatened to leave the church if we painted the doors red. I’ve seen fistfights at Administrative Council meetings (twice!) There have been numerous instances in which people threatened to reduce their giving or that they would leave the church, or call the district superintendent if they didn’t get their way. One wonders what they listen to on Sunday morning…

Unity in the body of Christ is essential for a healthy and vital congregation. Without it, the morale of the people erodes and the presence of the Spirit becomes difficult to discern. (It’s not that the Spirit isn’t present; it always is. The problem is that when we are divided it becomes nearly impossible for us to collectively recognize that presence.)

We are not going to agree on every question or issue that arises out of the life and work of the church. While we try to arrive at a consensus (that consensus includes God) about as much as we can, there are frequently going to be times when we think differently, feel differently, and hear God differently. Those are the times when the true character of our church is revealed. Can we live with our differences with grace and humility? When a decision at a meeting doesn’t go the way we’d like it to go, can we accept it as lovingly as possible? Yes, there are times when decisions are made that upset us, usually because we love the Church so much that we want it to do the “right” thing, and we so often believe that our position reflects the “right” thing.

Can we accept that a part of the theology of the Church is that God’s will is often discerned and followed by the collective wisdom of the body, even when we disagree? There have been times over the years when Administrative Councils or Boards of Trustees, or (more frequently) Finance Committees have made decisions that I thought were plain wrong. I cannot tell you that I never got upset about those things or that I never got angry about how obtuse some people can be. (Ever notice it’s when folks disagree with us that we believe they’re the ones that are being obtuse…?) I can tell you that I never thought about leaving or cutting my giving or turning my back on someone just because they disagreed with me. I am more concerned with the unity of the Body of Christ than I am with getting my way in everything. I am sure that the same thing could be said for the majority of you.

The words of the apostle Paul come to mind: “If there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. (Philippians 2:1-2)