Acts 4:1-12
John 14:1-7
“I continue to dream and pray about a revival of
holiness in our day that moves forth in mission and creates authentic community
in which each person can be unleashed through the empowerment of the Spirit to
fulfill God's creational intentions.” John Wesley
What do we mean
when we say we have faith in Christ? I
think that in order for the Church to experience genuine spiritual revival, as
Wesley worked for in his day and as our bishop insists must happen today for
the sake of the Gospel, this question must be answered honestly - because to
‘believe’ as a simple creed is not quite the same as having the ‘faith’
necessary to please The Lord, “for one who comes to The Lord must believe
He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV).
This depth of
faith not only leads to our justification before The Lord; it is the
manifestation of what it means to “diligently
seek Him” as we “go on to perfection”.
As John Wesley believed and expressed, one who is not “going on to
perfection” purposefully and intentionally and, yes, “methodically” is no
better off than the demons who “believe … and tremble”!
Too often we
insist having faith means it is not necessary to explain ourselves because our
faith is ‘personal’, maybe even ‘private’ and thus ‘no one’s business but mine’
(and the social liberals would much prefer it that way!), but Wesley nor our
United Methodist principles and doctrine will allow any such notions as
strictly ‘personal’ faith that lacks meaningful, outward social expression, for
“Holy solitaries' is a phrase no more
consistent with the Gospel than ‘holy adulterers’.” We are necessarily
connected one to another in the Body of Christ.
We do not all have
to be church pastors or street preachers, but The Lord has a unique claim on
our lives that cannot – must not – be ignored.
Our faith cannot be relegated
to only a portion of our being on Sunday morning nor can it be delegated strictly to paid church staff. The fullness of the life we are called into is
expressed in doctrine outwardly in and through this abiding faith which can
indeed “please The Lord”.
Doctrine binds us
as United Methodists (not just ‘Methodist’!), but it is a mistake to believe
John Wesley’s “think and let think” concept applies so much so that UM doctrine
can be summarized as ‘whatever’. It
isn’t true, of course. It never was true
even in Wesley’s context, and it never will be true.
However, we must
also understand the usefulness of doctrine as much more than distinguishing us
as United Methodist Christians. The
doctrine of the United Methodist Church is entirely about informed, purposeful discipleship and spiritual leadership in
mutual accountability, the fullness of which is not only in what we believe but, perhaps more
importantly, in how we express outwardly
what we believe inwardly as the Body of Christ.
Without that
expression in our living and in our doing for “the least of these” (not just
family and close friends), the doctrine falls flat and is rendered meaningless
– as is the Church. It is the “form of
religion” when we go through the motions only on Sunday morning and yet is “lacking
the genuine power to transform lives” Monday through Saturday. This is paper
faith that is incapable of “pleasing The Lord”.
It is as true in
understanding a portion of United Methodist doctrine known as the “General
Rules” in which we are admonished and encouraged to 1) Do no harm, 2) Do good,
and 3) stay in love with The Lord through the Sacraments of the Church and the
means of grace at our disposal – including regular Bible study and worship with one another. We may not cherry-pick one or another of
these General Rules to fit particular circumstances and still consider
ourselves faithful United Methodist Christians – especially if we will not be
bothered with worshiping with United Methodist Christians.
These General
Rules go together in conjunction with the whole of United Methodist doctrine in
the fullest expressions of the Great Commandments to “love the Lord our God with every fiber of our being and doing, and to
love our neighbor as ourselves”. The
fullness of United Methodist doctrine helps us to understand the depth of faith
necessary to strive toward sanctification, that state of spiritual being in
which we finally desire nothing but The Lord.
Let us not become confused
by the depth of this desire to the exclusion of all else. Rather, in the fullness of faith and life, we
become better spouses, better parents, better siblings, better friends,
certainly better disciples than we would otherwise be. Why?
Because without doctrine we know, understand, respect, and even admire limits.
We love fully – but not quite as fully as The Lord because we also know,
understand, respect, and even institutionalize conditions; cultural conditions, personal conditions … within the
overall human condition which is less than holy.
Faith that truly
“pleases The Lord” knows no limits
and places no conditions on love. We love even our enemies; and if we are
unwilling to love even these (and I think we all struggle with this), Christ may
have no place in or use for us. We lack
the faith necessary to “please The Lord”.
We might believe “He is” (as the demons do), but we cannot say we are
also “diligently seeking Him” if
there are conditions and limits on the love we choose to share and express.
Why is doctrine so
important? I once believed doctrine
serves no more useful purpose than to divide
the people of The Lord as Catholics or Protestants, Baptists or Methodists,
Jews or Gentiles. There is much more to
a better understanding of doctrine than what may divide us; doctrine defines
us. It is expressed in the Discipline of the United Methodist Church,
“Whenever
United Methodism has had a clear sense of mission, The Lord has used the United
Methodist Church to save persons, heal relationships, transform social
structures, and spread scriptural holiness, thereby changing the world” (¶121,
pg 92). It begins in the local church in
that part of the world in which we are actively engaged.
Within our present
society we are compelled to ask ourselves: is what we are witnessing a foreordained degradation of society – OR
– an unmotivated and ill-informed Church? Looking at the world in which we currently
live, a world in which our mission seems unclear or unimportant, we see quite
the opposite of an ideal society precisely because we have forgotten or have dismissed
altogether the importance and usefulness of doctrine.
So before United
Methodism and any United Methodist Church can have a clear sense of mission,
United Methodist Christians must regain a clear sense of self in her doctrines
rather than to be guided by a garden variety of opinions and emotions, human
instincts, or a shallow notion of “personal” salvation which lacks social
expression and, consequently, stunts our spiritual growth.
United Methodist
doctrine is entirely about Christ Jesus as “the Way”. Our doctrine is about understanding,
embracing, living, and even becoming for the world the very Cornerstone of our
faith. We are the Body of Christ in the world today. The doctrine we embrace is how we convey to
an unbelieving world trapped in its own darkness “the Way” out of that
condemning darkness and into the Light of Christ.
What do we mean
when we say we have ‘faith in Christ’, then?
Doctrine helps us to articulate what we mean and understand being
connected to Christ. Doctrine gives
voice to what we sometimes have a hard time expressing. So when sound doctrine is expressed
outwardly, Christ is lifted up, The Lord our God is glorified, and lives are
transformed – and The Lord our God is pleased.
Doctrine is the
“Way” of the United Methodist disciple, doctrine is the “Truth” of the Word
made Flesh, and doctrine is the outward expression of the “Life” of the Church
in the world today. And it matters.
Glory to the
Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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