The Moral and Immoral Methodists!

Richard Hollerman

By now probably many people have heard the plans of the United Methodists to divide! Perhaps you may think that this is surprising as well as incredible, but apparently these plans are true.

Background

If you live in the United States, you have probably heard of the United Methodist denomination. We read the following in the online website called Wikipedia:

Like many other mainline Protestant denominations in the United States, the United Methodist Church has experienced significant membership losses in recent decades. At the time of its formation, the UMC had about 11 million members in nearly 42,000 congregations. In 1975, membership dropped below 10 million for the first time. In 2005, there were about 8 million members in over 34,000 congregations. Membership is concentrated primarily in the Midwest and in the South. Texas has the largest number of members, with about 1 million. The states with the highest membership rates are Oklahoma, Iowa, Mississippi, West Virginia, and North Carolina.

The United Methodist Church was formed through the merger of “The United Methodist Church” and the “Evangelical United Brethren Church” in 1968 in Dallas, Texas. Rather recently this denomination was composed of 32,148 congregations with 12,719,550 members and 83,800 ministers (Wikipedia).

Beginning with John and Charles Wesley in England and members of the Anglican Church, as well as the “Great Awakening” in America, the Methodists expanded across the United States frontier. Today, out of a worldwide movement of 80 million members, the United Methodists would be the largest of the Methodist churches. In 2014, there were 7 million in the United States and 4.4 million more in Africa, Asia, and Europe. (Wikipedia). We must not think that these members are uniform in belief and practice. In fact, some are quite conservative and some are more liberal.

We read the following interesting and significant element of this denomination, especially regarding Africa and places outside of the United States:

By the opening of the 2008 General Conference, total UMC membership was estimated at 11.4 million, with about 7.9 million in the US and 3.5 million overseas. Significantly, about 20 percent of the conference delegates were from Africa, with Filipinos and Europeans making up another 10 percent. During the conference, the delegates voted to finalize the induction of the Methodist Church of the Ivory Coast and its 700,000 members into the denomination. Given current trends in the UMC—with overseas churches growing, especially in Africa, and US churches collectively losing about 1,000 members a week—it has been estimated that Africans will make up at least 30 percent of the delegates at the 2012 General Conference, and it is also possible that 40 percent of the delegates will be from outside the US. One Congolese bishop has estimated that typical Sunday attendance of the UMC is higher in his country than in the entire United States.

We have stated that the United Methodist Church in America is one of the largest denominations, after the Southern Baptist Church.  This is seen in many different ways. For example, notice this statement:

The Methodist Church has allowed ordination of women with full rights of clergy since 1956, when Maud K. Jensen was ordained and admitted into full connection in the Central Pennsylvania Annual Conference. This action was based upon its understanding of biblical principles.[Gal. 3:28] The United Methodist Church, along with some other Protestant churches, holds that when the historical contexts involved are understood, a coherent Biblical argument can be made in favor of women’s ordination. (WikipediaI).

Not only does the denomination allow and even encourage female leadership, but their liberal and anti-Scriptural stance is seen in many other ways. We may not only see the great divergence from Biblical organization but notice the “Order of Worship” in a typical United Methodist Church:

A typical United Methodist order of worship may include the following elements:

An Elder presides over Holy Communion

Gathering

Prelude

Chiming of the Hour

The Procession

Lighting of the Candles

Voluntary

Introit (choral)

Call to Worship

Opening Prayer

Invocation

Announcements

Welcoming/Greeting

Passing the Peace

Hymn of Praise

Act of Praise

Responsive Reading

Gloria Patri

This kind of worship is unknown in the New Testament and is far different from the loose and unorganized worship of the early days of the assembly of God.

The Coming Separation

You may have heard or read of the coming plan initiated by the leadership to create two different denominations. Apparently this plan was approved and will be put into effect in several months.

The United Methodist Church consists of very immoral elements as well as more conservative elements, especially in Africa. The liberal parts in America are insistent on allowing sexually immoral persons to be members as well as the sexually immoral to lead their congregations. The liberals support the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, and queer) agenda, while the more traditional and conservative elements of the denominations oppose this.

At a recent conference, “a group of UMC bishops, as well as progressives and traditionalists within the worldwide denomination of 12.5 million, signed a proposal that outlines the separation. It is expected to be formally approved at a general convention in May” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram).

The article went on to explain further: “LGBTQ issues came to the forefront last year after the UMC’s highest judicial body met in Evanston [Illinois] and upheld strict prohibitions against same-sex marriage and the ordination of gay clergy. The controversial measure, known as the ‘Traditional Plan,’ was passed at a special meeting of the global delegation in February last year” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram). We might add here that John Wesley in the eighteenth century would never have condoned sexually immoral membership! He was staunchly opposed to such aberrations.

Apart from the unscriptural idea of the Methodist denomination, the Methodist way of solving problems, the Methodist clergy and leadership, and the Methodist moral standards, we must see the current impasse as a very sad and unscriptural way of dealing with moral issues. Interestingly, Alka Lyall, pastor of Broadway United Church in Chicago, said “I really do think that the church as we knew it died in February 2019.” This may be true but, sadly, the denomination itself was never (spiritually” alive—it was dead spiritually).

Two Denominations?

Those who are students of the Scriptures and the early days of the disciples of Christ are aware that denominations, per se, are unscriptural and wrong. But this present issue is doubly-wrong. Do we really see how we should interpret all of this?

Scriptural is quite clear that no homosexual has eternal life and will not be able to inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; see also Romans 1:24-28 and Galatians 5:19-21). We need to emphasize this: if a person is a practicing, unrepentant homosexual, God says that he cannot inherit the kingdom of God! This would mean that no unrepentant homosexual will enter God’s kingdom. I repeat: No one who openly, willingly, and unrepentantly practices sexual immorality—whether homosexuality (sodomy) or any other sex sin—will enter God’s kingdom.

Let’s say this another way to not be mistaken: If one is a practicing, unrepentant homosexual, he is not about to enter God’s kingdom. This, of course, would be true of adulterers, fornicators, pedophilias, and all others who are involved in immoral sexuality! Of course, if one repents of this sin, he or she will be able to enter the kingdom of God (see also 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

The astonishing point that should be emphasized is this: The Methodists are officially saying that this break-up of their denomination will create two different denominations. One denomination will allow homosexuals to be members and to lead, while the other denomination will disallow this participation.

This would mean that, officially, one group knowingly is declaring that they want to go to heaven, while the other group is declaring that they will go to hell! We realize that this is harsh language but, as you can see (if you have read our discussions above), it is absolutely true.  Once again, we repeat: If one participates in sexual immorality or promotes sexual immorality or allows for sexual immorality, that person will not be permitted to enter the Kingdom of God!

Do we see the amazing result of all of this? The liberal members insist on going to hell, while the more conservative members say that they want to go to heaven! Of course, if you regularly read our website (www.Truediscipleship.com), you will see that there are dozens of reasons why Methodism in general is wildly different from the New Testament and violates a massive number of clear Biblical directives. But we aren’t discussing these issues presently, but are merely looking at the matter of sexual immorality (the various kinds of homosexuality). We could look at women’s participation, the inspiration of Scripture, and much more. But we are only focusing on sexual immorality.

We’ve discussed this sufficiently to make a point. And that is: It is bizarre for a church or denomination to publicly declare that they insist on going to hell (the lake of fire) and refuse to enter the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Romans 1:24-28; etc.).

What is it with you? What will you do with this information? The formal acceptance of this matter is only a few months away. After that, the United Methodist denomination will officially disband. The one side publicly declares that it wants to go to hell and the other side says that it wants to enter God’s kingdom. It can’t be both ways. What about you?

See also the articles on the True Discipleship website dealing with the “United Methodist Church.” There are many—perhaps as many as 20 different articles. Look these up to learn more. Just click this on “Search” and type in “Methodist Church.” This will lead to many different articles.