Have We Ended Up with Exclusion and Rejection?

Have We Ended Up with Exclusion and Rejection?

-A Reflection on Unity, Inclusion, and the Methodist Spirit

One of the first things that catches your eye when you visit the campus of Asbury Theological Seminary is the statue of John Wesley on horseback. It symbolizes the tireless “itinerant preacher” who never ceased proclaiming the gospel. Nearby stands the E. Stanley Jones Global Leadership Center. Jones, who had a close friendship with Mahatma Gandhi, was elected a bishop but declined the office, choosing instead to remain a missionary. He devoted his life to India and became one of the most influential missionaries of his generation.

I attended Boston University School of Theology, whose campus is centered around the memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Nobel Peace Prize. One of the great strengths of The United Methodist Church has been its ability to embrace both the evangelical witness of Asbury and the progressive witness of Boston University.

When I served in Atlanta, many of my fellow pastors were graduates of Emory University, while others were Asbury graduates. In my experience, most of them have served the church faithfully and effectively. Yet last week, the University Senate of The United Methodist Church decided to remove Asbury from its list of approved seminaries, citing the Social Principles—guidelines intended to help realize the reign of God on earth through justice, peace, and the care of creation.

The Methodist spirit is grounded in a biblical understanding of salvation that holds together both personal and social holiness. The decision regarding Asbury Seminary is, in my view, a mistake that undermines one of the foundations of Methodism. Sadly, I see in some progressives the very tendencies that we once criticized in some conservatives. If the result of our long and hard struggles within the denomination is not acceptance and inclusion but exclusion and rejection, then we are becoming an impoverished and unhappy community.

Yesterday’s early morning prayer service focused on Jesus’ Prayer for Unity (John 17:20–26). Only when we are one can the church heals the wounded, stand against the powers of evil, and faithfully proclaim the kingdom of God. Yet the reality before us is that we are often more consumed by division and hostility than by the church’s true calling.

The word Satan means “the one who divides.” Jesus called Satan the father of lies. To divide the church through falsehood and hostility is the work of the evil one.

Now, more than ever, we need unity if we are to become a church that embodies the biblical vision of salvation—a salvation that embraces both personal transformation and social redemption.