Obitar Dictum

The Issue Is Never The Issue

(Caution: this may only be of interest to United Methodists. It may not be of interest even to us.) 

When I was a young pastor, I spent a great deal of time doing pastoral counseling, about the only ministerial expertise I learned at Candler School of Theology. I learned very early that I was poorly trained for that as well and invested some time in additional continuing education. Since I served in rural or small town settings, even my counseling was better than none, which was the other option available to most people. 

This was a great learning experience for a young preacher. I was confronted with many of the universal emotional, relational and spiritual struggles of humanity. Since I was serving in the above mentioned locations, I rarely dealt with hunger, violence, poverty. 

One of the key lessons I learned in pastoral counseling is this: The Issue Is Never The Issue.  Making allowance for the hyperbole in that statement, I discovered it's truth. 

A couple would come to me for marital counseling. The presenting issue was their inability to effectively communicate. Over time I would discover the real issue was substance abuse or infidelity or abuse experienced as a child, etc. 

A husband would come to get help with their financial problems. He would tell me “she” is spending uncontrollably. Soon we would discover his extravagant golf habit was spending far more than she was spending at the super market. 

There are many specific and concrete examples of this principle learned in counseling. But the lesson went far beyond counseling. I discovered it was even more accurate when confronted by most complaints about the church. One clear example comes mind. A man in his 30’s, husband and father, joined the church professing his faith in Jesus. He got involved in some spiritual growth opportunities in the church and outside the church. He was a successful salesman with a winning personality. So people were naturally drawn to him. He began to make passive/aggressive complaints and criticism of the spiritual health of the church. These began to intensify. I was at a loss to diagnose the problem. However, one day his wife came to me with a file complied by a private investigator she had hired. He behavior had caused her some serious concerns. The PI discovered he was going daily to sex shops, nude bars, massage parlors, and had a list of prostitutes he regularly visited. So the issue was not the issue, but something else entirely. 

Now the self-identified “Centrists” in the UMC are stating the issue is Christian love, compassion, inclusion, particularly related to the LGBT community. They would have us believe this is the issue and the only issue that needs to be resolved for all of us to remain under one big tent. 

But, The Issue Is Never The Issue. The schism currently existing in our church is a theological schism which is wider than the muddy Mississippi River. Most of the worldwide church universal is on the side called Orthodoxy. The minority is on the left and is found most concentrated in the US and Europe. These Progressives have controlled the denominational Boards and Agencies, the Seminaries and the Episcopacy for over 40 years. In their echo chamber, they are the majority. 

Yet the vast majority of the church finds their liberal, progressive, Neo-Orthodox positions and pronouncements to be not just slightly divergent from the “faith once delivered to the saints,” but most often contradictory to the same. 

Therefore, even if we could erect a tent big enough to shelter the divergent views and beliefs and practices related to the presenting issue of the LBGT agenda, it would not resolve the much deeper theological divide which exists in our church. 

I remember as a young preacher seeing the Mississippi River for the first time, crossing it in Memphis Tennessee. I had seen pictures and videos, I had studied it in school, I had read the Mark Twain novels set on it, but I never understood just how wide and divisive it was. Without the bridge over it, I could not have crossed. A canoe would have been suicidal for this north Georgia landlocked Hillbilly. 

I used to think we could bridge the gap between conservatives and liberals (now called Progressives or Centrists). Many have been close friends and colleagues for many years. I love them and esteem them. But the theological division is just too wide. I see that clearly now. 

So what is the Way Forward? I am committed to hanging on for the Commission and the Bishops and the General Conference to do their work. I often ask myself, “Why?” The answer is complicated. I love the church. I am an 8th generation Methodist. This church accepted me when I was eight, confirmed my call, ordained me, deployed me, provided me with a good living, at least in the later years, provided me with an excellent pension, created deep and lasting friendships, awarded me significant recognition along the way and is my home. As a member of innumerable committees and boards and a stint as a DS, I often said, “Trust the process.” Now I must. 

The problem: my first loyalty is not to the UMC, but to Jesus and the faith the church has historically held in him. This places me on one side of this great divide and those Centrists on the other. And this divide is not a Appalachian creek called LGBT. It is a mighty river called Orthodoxy. And I neither can,  nor will I cross it.