Sacred and Profane Conversations: an editorial
By Melissa Lauber
Director of Communications
Diversity of thought is one of the greatest strengths of the people of the Baltimore-Washington Conference. We see nuance and complexity in everything – sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.
Historically, our differences of opinion over episcopal authority brought about a schism in 1828 that led to the creation of the Methodist Protestant Church. Our different convictions about slavery led to a split in 1844 that foreshadowed the Civil War.
Today, opposing views of human sexuality have led to the creation of a new stream of Methodism. Some pastors even joke that United Methodists will vehemently disagree over the color of the carpet in the sanctuary.
It’s no wonder, then, that when a recent issue of the e-connection appeared, I got two different e-mails within minutes of each other. This weekly electronic newsletter contained 30 items to inform, inspire, and equip church leaders; 11 of them were about antiracism ministries.
The first email response said: “If anyone is not learning, inspired, or informed in our Annual Conference, they've been under a rock. Another powerful paper.”
The second response said: “I love to get these. After I read it, it goes in the birdcage where it belongs. You people are the worst. I’m sorry I was ever connected to the Methodist church. Everything is racism and Black, Black, Black. You have totally disregarded the White members. I know you wouldn’t capitalize the word White since we are insignificant to you.”
I must first be clear about a small issue. It is our style (we follow the Associated Press) to capitalize “White” and “Black.” We also respect, honor, and love all people as children of God.
But there’s a larger issue that goes immensely deeper. How are we to be in conversation with one another when our differences seem to leave no room for shared ground for conversation?
The leadership of the Baltimore-Washington Conference has made it clear: we will never compromise on recognizing and celebrating the inherent dignity of every person. Our stance against racism is written into the very definition of the denomination.
In the Conference’s work on antiracism, however, conference leaders have intentionally broadened the conversation so that it is grounded not in one person’s ideas about race. Instead, we’re starting from a place where every United Methodist can stand: on the Lordship of Jesus and the Golden Rule in Matthew 7:12. We are to love one another as God loves us and as we ourselves want to be loved.
Does this change the conversation from charged political rhetoric to how might we live as followers of Christ? How do we show up in the world in ways that honor the image of God in ourselves and others?
The Rev. Stacey Cole Wilson, the Conference Executive Minister of Justice and Service, often asks, “What is the work we need to do to love one another well? How do we show up in a world in a way that brings God glory?”
This approach reframes our differences. But it doesn’t take away the necessity to put our beliefs into action. Justice is not something we casually pick up when headlines call us to respond. Justice is a part of who we are. God is just. God calls us to justice as a spiritual response to being alive in this world.
I get a lot of emails on this topic. When the BWC’s Action and Advocacy ministry, United Methodist Women, and Black Methodists for Church Renewal issued a call to action, several notes rolled in. Many had the message: “Please confine your area of operation to the saving of souls and stay out of politics.”
As United Methodists, this just won’t work. Telling the Good News is all of our jobs. Justice is all of our work. How we live out and accomplish this work, differs dramatically. It should. Diversity is our strength. But the “tie that binds” is that we all grow in our love of God by loving our neighbors.
As the Conference Director of Connectional Ministries Christie Latona points out, “The God within us is greater than all that seeks to divide us.” That “God within us” calls us to embrace our differences and move out into the world in life-affirming ways. Each of us will do this differently.
Politics has been described as “the art of the possible.” As United Methodists, to deny the possibilities God places in our path is to tinker with sin. The Book of Discipline, which outlines our heritage and character, insists that “Scriptural holiness entails more than personal piety; love of God is always linked with love and neighbor, a passion for justice and renewal in the life of the world.”
And as we seek to do this work of reconciliation and renewal, each in our own light, we must be open to the Spirit at work in our lives and the lives of those around us. We need to be willing to be vulnerable and to be in meaningful conversation.
“That sacred space between speaker and listener is profound territory,” Bishop LaTrelle Easterling said. We need to better claim that space. We need to listen to one another’s stories, hear and respect our differences, offer grace, learn from one another, and move into God’s blessing.