United Methodist seminaries could use more of John Wesley's message

Social Gospel, John Wesley & United Methodist Seminaries

on December 18, 2015

Earlier this year, a student at United Methodism’s Garrett Seminary outside Chicago shared during graduation this biting social commentary, which was printed in the seminary magazine under the headline “inspiring words:”

The Jesus I have found at Garrett-Evangelical is strong enough to heal us from the demonic madness of consumerism—part of which is mine—here in a society whose pillaging of God’s Earth knows no bounds.

The Jesus I have found at Garrett-Evangelical is powerful enough to heal us from the crippling disease of patriarchy—part of which is mine—here in a society that continues to shame, subjugate, and silence women everywhere.

The Jesus I have found at Garrett-Evangelical is mighty enough to heal us from the scourge of White supremacy – part of which is mine – here in an America so astoundingly unrepentant of our history of slavery and genocide that we continue today to malign, marginalize, and murder our own Black, Brown, Rose, and Tan brothers and sisters!

And what does this Jesus say to me? Take up your cross and follow. My prayer tonight is that the class of 2015 will be faithful to this call, just like those who have gone before us.”

Pillaging the earth, subjugating women, murdering ethnic minorities. It’s a very dark indictment of American society, containing SOME truth, omitting the larger narrative of American justice, and largely echoing the ideological preoccupations of contemporary liberal academia, which includes oldline Protestant seminaries.

It’s the old Social Gospel writ large, focusing on perceived systemic oppressions and implied political solutions, all of which are invariably statist and likelier to worsen than correct.  There is no real mention of personal sin or need for personal redemption. It calls for picking up the Cross to follow Jesus, but to where, for what? Seemingly towards the political goals of the secular Left, premised on resentment, envy, entitlement, and a faith that the state, under the right regime, can reorder society towards an earthly perfection.

The sentiment of this brief Garrett jeremiad contrasts with John Wesley’s 1775 sermon, “National Sins and Miseries.” He chided the British people for their sloth, lies, selfishness, blasphemy, profanity, and ingratitude for their reasonably just political order. These sins risk divine judgment for the nation, he warned.

Wesley observed:

When we speak of sin as the cause of misery, we usually mean, the sin of other people, and suppose we suffer, because they sin. But need we go so far. Are not our own vices sufficient to account for all our sufferings.  Let us fairly and impartially consider this; let us examine our own hearts and lives. We all suffer: and we have all sinned. But will it not be most profitable for us, to consider every one his own sins, as bringing sufferings both on himself and others; to say, “Lo, I have sinned, I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done?

National sins are the accumulation of personal sins, requiring personal repentance, for which divine grace is available. When a sinful people individually and corporately repent, Wesley observed:

Who knoweth but the Lord will yet be entreated, will calm the madness of the people, will quench the flames of contention, and breathe into all the spirit of love, unity, and concord.  Then brother shall not lift up sword against brother, neither shall they know war any more. Then shall plenty and peace flourish in our land, and all the inhabitants of it be thankful for the innumerable blessings which they enjoy, and shall “fear God, and honour the king.”

Our United Methodist seminaries could use more of that message from Wesley.

  1. Comment by ken on December 18, 2015 at 10:13 am

    Garrett-Evangelical was adjacent to the Episcopalians’ Seabury-Western seminary – which no longer exists. The campus was sold to Northwestern U. The United Methodists seem bent on following in the footsteps of the Episcopalians in embracing social liberalism – and becoming extinct.

  2. Comment by bostic on December 18, 2015 at 2:49 pm

    Amen Ken– Our social justice is directly tied to political correctness. We had rather make the people happy that make our God happy!

  3. Comment by Just A Dude From Holston on December 18, 2015 at 5:04 pm

    This pretty well sums up my primary objection to the Social Gospel liberal types: they’re still looking for salvation in (secular) law (and regulations) and an earthly king. As much as they tend to dismiss the OT (when convenient), their outlook seems stuck in a similar thought process. But I’m just a dude from Holston.

  4. Comment by AndRebecca on December 20, 2015 at 8:22 pm

    I truly don’t know how you can stand posting the views of the underbelly of the Methodist Church, but I am happy someone does it. It is hard to read and must be far harder to write about all this heresy. Do these students really believe God wants them to think this way and act upon these thoughts?

  5. Comment by eric pone on December 21, 2015 at 11:55 am

    While I appreciate the article I don’t see how this will resolve the issue of congregations in the NCJ and Western Jurisdiction who chase out conservative pastors. They won’t even consider them and when a Bishop has the courage to assign they will undermine the pastor to get him out the door or simply leave closing for a more liberal church thus closing the building. In the Minneapolis-St Paul area, most conservatives have simply left and gone to the numerous megachurches nearby. Its a real heart issue and have to reevangelize our own people before we can grow again.

  6. Comment by Ed The Oregonite on December 22, 2015 at 12:58 am

    When ‘educators’ present Scripture as a doctrinal buffet table…where students are taught that certain menu items (teachings) are good, and others to be rejected…what should we expect? I was actually surprised that the Garrett student didn’t also give a thumbs up to the gay pride movement and the global warming alarmists.

    I don’t think Wesley was a great theologian, but some things he got very, very right…portions of which this article includes.

  7. Comment by Pastorsmate on December 31, 2015 at 10:13 am

    For so many years, I’ve staunchly remained hopeful for, and prayed for, the redemption and renewal of the UMC, “born again” to the profound, unchanging, absolute authority of biblical truth. I’ve lovingly reasoned with those UM’s who have radically departed from that truth and who would force that departure upon the whole UMNC, given the chance — but rarely have I ever succeeded in bringing them into a real confrontation with the Truth. However, I’ve continued in hope and prayer to see these straying siblings-in-our-denomination as “the lost within the church”, so I’ve continued to pursue loving and gentle confrontation, but to little avail. This straying from biblical truth has been ever-increasing since before I was born in 1946, but I was a teen in the1960’s when the UMC’s social gospel took a precipitous, unmistakable turn toward outright heresy. That alarming dive challenged my young heart to let my deep dismay motivate me to lovingly but directly challenge my friends and peers to investigate the Gospel, to investigate for themselves the truth of God’s Word instead of following the straying herd. No spectacular results, but I’ve continued for the almost-50 years since then, dismayed but still loving my profoundly erring church.

    Lately, though still praying, I’ve begun to realize that our beloved UMC may be beyond the point of no return. Could God yet intervene and work an earth-shaking miracle, a total transformation of the church so profound as to rock the world? Yes!! But the usual results of this kind of sustained, steadily-progressing, ideology-driven rather than truth-driven, blind journey are the fragmentation of whatever denomination has proceeded along this same course. I can no longer envision the foundational transformation of the UMC. I will pray fervently and profoundly for the 2016 GC and its delegates, but I fear that heresy is winning out and faithfulness is drowning in our UMC. I never thought I would reach this point, but I now believe that the most God-honoring thing the 2016 GC could do is to enact a peaceful divide of the UMC, and devote its energies and time to the massive details of working out such a divide into two separate denominations. I believe a peaceful divide would be more God-honoring than a bitter, warring, total disintegration (which is what I think will otherwise happen). The UMC’s two basic oppositional groups have boiled down to a war over the most basic of truths — is the Scripture truly God’s own Word, authoritative in its entirety over all that we are and do as individuals and as a church … or is it not? Every issue over which there is current UMC conflict boils directly down to that foundational issue which we as a church MUST settle before we can proceed any farther, and I’m surprised that those in positions of influence seem not to have realized this enough to focus on and settle that one burning foundational question — because doing so will then immediately answer and settle all the other issues of conflict. We are not fighting over individual issues. They are just the symptoms. The irreconcilable issue is over the authority of the totality of the Bible as God’s own Word. Is it truly God’s own Word in its entirety? And if it is, then as such, is it the absolute authority over the church and over God’s people? I have come to the conclusion that this conflict is at a total impasse, a “hung jury”, and that a warring destruction of the church (which will surely happen) would grieve God far more than a peaceful and civil divide.

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