Bulletin Articles: Full Article for Record Number 1040
Methodist On Truth And Unity
by Larry Ray Hafley
Methodists are deeply divided over the issue of whether or not to accept practicing homosexuals as faithful to the Lord. Though their "Social Principles" say that gay sex is "incompatible with Christian teaching," Methodists, along with many other man-made churches, are confronted with members who demand that homosexuals (1) not be "stigmatized" as sinners, (2) that homosexuals be ordained to ministerial positions, and (3) that homosexual marriages be "legitimized" if not solemnized. (When will someone simply call for homosexuals to repent and obey the gospel-1 Cor. 6:9-11)?
To his credit, "William Hinson, a prominent Methodist pastor and president of the conservative Confessing Movement, startled many General Conference participants by announcing he could no longer endure the dispute over homosexuality that has dragged on since 1972....’I know unity is important but someone said if you sacrifice truth on the altar of unity you lose both,’ Hinson said" (The Tennessean, 5/8/04, 1A, 7A).
Hinson is correct. The ministry of our Lord and of his apostles and prophets shows that they never obscured, side-stepped, or denied truth in order to unite with others. If the Lord had been willing to do so, he would never have been crucified. (Read Matthew’s gospel, particularly chapters twenty one through twenty three if you doubt it.) Peter and "the rest of the apostles" did not hedge the truth on the birthday of the church, nor at any other time (Acts 2; 3:15-26; 4:7-12; 5:17-42). Paul infuriated the Gentiles as well as his own countrymen because he would not stifle truth to build a religious "consensus" or a spiritually diverse, "rainbow coalition" (Acts 17:22-31; 19:8, 9, 26).
There would not be a Methodist Church, nor any other human denomination, if men had not "sacrificed truth on the altar of unity." The truth, the word of God, does not allow for either Protestant or Catholic denominationalism. "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Eph. 4:4-6). "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:12, 13).
The Spirit did not allow the schism of intra-church denominationalism in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:10-15). Paul roundly and soundly rebuked the Corinthian saints for their division (1 Cor. 3:1-11, 21). He showed that brethren built on truth would be unified. They would not be divided (1 Cor. 4:6, 15-17; 11:2; 14:37). That such monstrous institutional networks of divided denominations exists exhibits the fact that many have "sacrificed truth on the altar of unity," and, as a result, have lost both, for they are not of the truth; they are not guided by it, nor are they united; rather, they are fractured and fragmented into myriads of pieces, each seeking its own territory. Truth remains apart from them. It is not among them. Given their entrenched ecclesiastical hierarchy and conflicting creeds, unity is impossible.
Neither the Methodists nor any of the other denominations can speak of unity until they desire and seek truth above all else. When they lay aside every invention of men, when they bash down every wall, every high thing that exalts itself against the teaching of the word of God, when they banish every human name and every ordinance not taught in the doctrine of Christ, they will have found the truth and will be united with all others who have done the same. It is an inevitable process. If I come to truth, and you come to truth, we will be united in Christ. Truth binds and unites all who submit to it (Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 1:2; 1 Jn. 1:7).
