A Conversation About Discipleship
Two days ago, I experienced a conversation concerning the recent continuing education conference that I attended in Wyoming. The conversation (which I share with the permission of the person with whom I experienced it) went something like this:
Friend: I heard that one of the Indigo Girls was speaking at that conference you attended.
Eric: That’s right. Her name is Emily Saliers. She and her father, Don, spoke to us about music and its spiritual significance in the human pilgrimage.
Friend: I had a hard time understanding why you would go to a conference like that?
Eric: Why’s that?
Friend: Well, she’s a lesbian, isn’t she?
Eric: Uh…yeah.
Friend: I didn’t think that United Methodists approved of homosexuals.
Eric: Well, that’s not entirely accurate. The teaching of the church has to do with the PRACTICE of homosexuality and its incompatibility with the kind of stewardship over our sexuality that Scripture demands. So, its not that we don’t approve of homosexuals (as though we believed that those with homosexual orientation were somehow less reflective of the image of God than heterosexual people). What we stand against denominationally is any sexual practice that dishonors our bodies and the One who created them.
Friend: But, isn’t the Indigo Girl a PRACTICING homosexual?
Eric: To tell you the truth, I didn’t ask her.
Friend: I think she is. And if she is, why would you go to a conference like that?
Eric: I went because I was deeply interested in what Emily had to say. She is a professional musician, a superb songwriter, a creative thinker, a relentless pursuer of justice, and a significant voice from the artistic community. Irrespective of her sexual orientation and the degree to which she practices it, don’t you think that she might have something important to offer to a preacher and musician like yours truly?
Friend: But, in the Bible, doesn’t Paul tell us to stay away from sexual sinners? I thought he told us not even to have dinner with them.
Eric: Well, that’s true. In the fifth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthian church, Paul says that the Christians in Corinth should not break bread with sexual sinners, idolaters, slanderers, drunkards, or extortioners. But don’t allow the letter of that law to blind you to its spirit and intent.
Friend: Say more about that. I’m not sure that I understand what you mean.
Eric: Well, Paul was very much concerned with the ongoing development of the Corinthians’ discipleship amidst a culture that was unfriendly to the Gospel. In such a setting, he naturally placed an emphasis on the urgency of preserving the integrity of the church’s witness and the danger of developing a bread-breaking intimacy with people who are stronger in their sin than we are in our righteousness.
Friend: Yeah, that’s what I mean. Paul told us not to break bread with sinners.
Eric: But don’t lose sight of the fact that, throughout his ministry, Paul demonstrated an unwavering willingness to “become all things to all people” by developing acquaintances with all types of “sinners” (including a group of idolaters at the Aereopagus with whom Paul shared intimate moments of conversation and theological discourse). Apparently, Paul believed that his own faith was secure enough to handle interaction with the idolaters and other sinners of this world. In fact, Paul described himself as the chief sinner, meaning that he recognized the unworthiness that he shared with the very sinners he was attempting to save.
Friend: So, what’s your point?
Eric: Well, my point is that, a “letter of the law” reading of the Apostle Paul might prevent me from going to a conference like the one I just attended. But a recognition of the spirit of Paul’s ministry (and, more importantly, Jesus’ ministry) opens the door to a discipleship that is strong and secure enough to handle an engagement with the stories of people’s lives—even the stories told by gay men and women.
Friend: So, you’re saying that you want to be the kind of Christian who, like Paul and Jesus, is willing to relate to all types of people.
Eric: I’m saying that I want to be the kind of disciple who is more passionate about tasting the Bread of Life in strange places than I am about preserving the artificial purity of my private spiritual dinner table.