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BY ERIK ALSGAARD

There are two things in the Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church (our book of church law) that the church says are incompatible with Christian teaching. Two things: homosexuality and war.

(For those of you inclined, see ?161C for the former, ?165C for the latter.)

Keep that in mind as I invite you to join me in approaching a slippery slope.

I have been thinking about the Judicial Council?s ruling that says a pastor of a local church has the authority to decide who will become a member of the church and who will not. (For more on the story, see page 1.) I have been thinking about what I would say in response.

The first thought that crossed my mind was, 'It?s about time. Pastors of local churches should have the authority and ability to administer their congregation as they see fit. After all, who knows the situation of the local community/congregation better than the local church pastor?'

That first thought, though, falls into the trap of not seeing the whole picture, or mistaking the small piece of the picture for the whole. In other words, the first thought is idolatrous.

It?s idolatrous because, when you see only the small picture, you buy into the argument that the Judicial Council?s ruling was only about pastoral authority and you ignore the fact that pastors don?t operate in a vacuum; you ignore the fact that United Methodist congregations don?t exist separate from other congregations; you ignore the fact that the person who wanted to become a member of the church and who was denied membership was denied solely because of his homosexuality, which some people, including the church?s pastor, deemed to be sin.

My argument isn?t with homosexuality as a sin ? that?s for another column. My point is this: when you start denying people church membership based on sin, at what point do you stop?

The Bible teaches, and I believe, that all people have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It?s one of the basic tenants of my faith. I?m not crazy in love with the idea of all of us being sinners, and I?m long past believing the Adam and Eve myth as literal truth. But, it?s obvious to me that human beings have been given a wonderful gift from God: the ability to choose. And sometimes we get it wrong. Sometimes, we sin.

But thanks be to God for an even greater gift: Jesus Christ. Because of him, we are given a second chance, a bazillion times over; because of him, we have new life; because of him, we don?t have to be perfect; because of him, our sins are forgiven.

Sin, to me, is anything that separates us from God. No sin = being close to God; lots of sin = being far away from God. To me, the obvious choice is the first one.

But how do you rank sin? Is murder worse than lust? Both are mentioned in the Ten Commandments ? does that make them equal? Is cheating on your taxes worse (or better) than cheating on your spouse? Who?s going to decide which sin is where on the list?

The Judicial Council, apparently, has said the local church pastor will decide.

So following that logic, we approach the slippery slope. If membership in The United Methodist Church is to be denied based on the idea of sin and incompatibleness with Christian teaching, we can?t simply stop at homosexuality; we must include war and those involved in making and waging war.

So, again, following the logic of the ruling from the Judicial Council, do we ban soldiers returning from Iraq from becoming members? Do we also say farewell to our chaplains serving in the military? After all, they?re supporting the infrastructure (soldiers, service men and women) that wages war.

Do we also have to say 'so-long' to my son, Zach, and thousands of people like him, who works for a large defense contractor in Northern Virginia? This company provides billions of dollars of equipment and personnel to help America wage war.

Do we also have to say, 'No United Methodist Church for you,' to people who work for companies who provide raw materials and support for those large defense contractors who then help America wage war?

Do we also say to our veterans of World Wars, Vietnam, Korea, the Gulf and others, 'you?re not welcome in our church'?

Do you see where this is going? Right down the slippery slope.

I think Jesus puts the brakes on this slippery slope ride right away, though. I think he shows this when he talked to the woman at the well (John 4:1-42). Remember? His disciples were indignant. How dare he speak to this woman, a Samaritan (a sinner).

In fact, Jesus not only talked to this woman whom he knew to be living with a man who was not her husband (v. 18), he offered her 'living water.'

Jesus offered her eternal life.

Membership in The United Methodist Church must be open to every sinner who wishes to grow closer in their relationship with God through Jesus Christ, who wants to take a sip of that living water and move towards eternal life. As someone wiser than me once said, 'The church is not a sanctuary for the saved but a hospital for sinners.'

Either that or close the doors now.