Why bother?

Six months ago, I celebrated my 24^th birthday by visiting my best friend Kristen, who lives in Florida.  During my stay, the conversation turned to the ordination process of the UMC, which for most candidates takes between seven and twelve years to complete.  As I described the various examinations, evaluations and other requirements I would need to meet on the road to ordination compared to other denominations, Kristen first looked concerned, then gradually became incredulous.  After I finished, she paused for a moment before asking me a loaded question:

"If the process is so complicated…why do you want to be a United Methodist?"

Good question; why DO I want to be a United Methodist?  Not three days before that conversation took place, I was at the Leadership Institute in Kansas City listening to no less an illustrious personage than Adam Hamilton telling a crowd of UM clergy and laypersons that our denomination will be dead in fifty years if present trends continue.  Who wants to be a part of that?

The reason I want to be a United Methodist has nothing to do with our denomination's future prospects or past glories.  It has nothing to do with people like Adam Hamilton or John Schol (sorry guys, it's not that I don't like you - just trying to make a point here) or my faith in our leaders to carry us into the future.

One of the biggest reasons I want to be a United Methodist is contained in a part of the Book of Discipline titled "Doctrinal Standards And Our Theological Task", specifically paragraph 104.  Sounds exciting, right?  Bear with me, because it actually is – though not at first glance.  That very important little paragraph says three very important things:

1. Seeking to learn more about God is a lifelong process.  We will never hit a point where we know all that we need to know about God.  
2. Theological study is a universal mandate.  In plain English – everyone should seek after God.   
3. Theological study is both a communal and an individual task.  Personal meditation or group Bible study alone won’t cut it – they go hand in hand and complement one another.

As basic as those items might sound, they are not basic at all – in fact, United Methodists are the only denomination that I know of that makes statements like these part of their basic doctrinal principles.  Why is that important?  Because they define us as a people and a church – a church that recognizes that the Bible is interpreted anew of each generation, a church that does not restrict Biblical scholarship to priests and seminarians alone, and a church that provides opportunities for both individual and group learning.  That, as I told Kristen, is the kind of church I want to be a part of, and the kind of people I would be privileged to lead.

This month, we will confirm 18 new members into our church.  These students have met nearly every week for the last nine months to discuss various aspects of our faith, done service projects, written papers, met with mentors and accountability groups, and participated in the 30 Hour Famine.  They have worked hard to be called full members of Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, and they are probably relieved that the demands of the confirmation process are finally at an end.  The good news (or the bad news) is that its not at an end at all – this is just the beginning of a lifelong process of theological reflection and discernment as they grow in faith, service and witness.  Alleluia!