A Better Way
Welcome to my Substack. My name is Andy Stoddard, and I’m a United Methodist pastor in Mississippi. Saying you are a United Methodist from Mississippi in today’s world can conjure up a lot of thoughts or emotions. Many, perhaps most, will have no concept of what it means to say that you are a United Methodist. Now, some will have preconceived notions of what it means to be from Mississippi. Some well-versed in religion may have preconceived notions of what it means to be a United Methodist. Most of those notions, though, will fall along the ideological lines of our current national conflicts.
I recently preached on what I believe are the dangers of the current age of ideological polarization. In this sermon, I stated that I am a moderate, and I sought to define what I mean when I say that.
A moderate is not someone who is devoid of beliefs or opinions on theology or politics. There is a caricature that moderates are afraid to take a stand or that they do not believe in anything. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have strong beliefs about politics and about theology. I believe it is important for people to think through what they believe about these things and to allow what they believe to be shaped by scripture, as understood through the lens of tradition, reason, and experience. We United Methodists call that our Quadrilateral. I hope, I pray, that everything I believe is deeply rooted in Jesus Christ. I pray that all that I do, all that I believe, is solely dedicated to being a faithful disciple of His.
So, then, what is a moderate? A moderate is this. As much as I have my beliefs about these things, my greater belief is in the way of Jesus. I believe that the way of Jesus is best understood through what is called the Great Commandment. It says in Matthew 22: 36-40:
36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
As a faithful United Methodist and Wesleyan, I believe that the primary goal of our faith is not heaven, but to be made perfect, or to be sanctified, to be put another way, to be made holy. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, taught that grace did what? It made us holy. Well, what does holiness look like? It looks like keeping the Great Commandment. The very goal of our salvation is to love God and love Neighbor.
We believe that God gives us gifts that help us in that journey of holiness. Some are sacraments, but others we call the Means of Grace. Welsey counted several things among them, yes, communion, but also searching the scriptures, prayer, fasting, and conferencing. The purpose of these things is to give us grace, and that grace makes us holy.
I think there is something that is not one of Wesley’s means of grace, but it is just as important. That thing is relationships. I believe that relationships are a means of grace. I believe that relationships make us holy. I believe that relationships help us grow deeper in faith.
Especially relationships with those who are different from us. Those who hold a different theology or a different politic. Those are the relationships that we most need in our lives. We live in bubbles today, only watching the news we agree with, reading the takes we agree with, and listening to the podcasts we agree with. We are drowning not in a sea of grace and love, but in a sea of hot takes. And those takes feel so good, don’t they? Doesn’t it feel good to get “them?” To show “them” that they are wrong? To show “them” that we are better?
Friends, owning the libs or virtue signaling the right is not a fruit of the spirit.
I am a moderate because I refuse to give up on relationships. A moderate is not someone without strong beliefs. A moderate is someone who loves and values others more than their particular opinions on theology or politics. For a moderate, the relationship is the very last thing they will give up on.
Friends, I believe this path is a better way. It is a better way than the way that we are currently walking. I believe we all know, deep in our hearts, that this way we find ourselves on is not right. I believe we all desire something more than the polarization and division that we find ourselves in. I believe we desire to have someone, something, call us to appeal to our better angels. I believe we know that there is something better.
And I believe that the place must model this better way; above all else, it must be the church. The Body of Christ is not built upon the current American political or cultural moment. The Body of Christ is built only upon the life, death, resurrection, and return of Jesus Christ. We are made right with the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. Our very salvation is an act of the Trinity. This is what the church is built upon. Nothing else. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Not American politics, or cultural divisions, or cultural wars.
Only Jesus.
This is what the world needs. This is the hope of the world. A church that is not bound up by being enthralled by this cultural moment, but a church that is enthralled by the grace of God. A church that desires unity, not uniformity. A church with some conservatives and some liberals, some Republicans and some Democrats. The phrase for that is a “purple church.”
I’ve just always called it the United Methodist Church.
I believe that if this church is not spoken for, it could be lost to all the divisions of this moment. That is why I feel called to say this now. I want to be part of a better way. I want to stand for that moderate path, that path focused on Jesus above all else, that desires to love all, regardless of any human classification or label. There’s an old Methodist saying, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, diversity; in all things, charity.”
I believe that this better way must be spoken for. One of my dearest mentors and spiritual fathers is the retired Bishop Bill McAlilly. Bishop McAlilly, in 2004 at the gathering of United Methodists called General Conference, gave a speech that still deeply resonates with me. He said these words:
“The faithful United Methodists who are not represented or identified with any coalition group, those of us who are neither on the right nor on the left, must be included at the table. More often than not, we are silent, and perhaps that’s our sin. But we fear that if we speak, we will be labeled as ‘the opposition.’ If those of us in the middle can contain those on either side, maybe we can find the unity we seek.”
Friends, this is the way I feel called to. This way of moderation. Of Christlikeness first, before any political or theological perspective. This way values relationships above all else. This way knows that loving God and loving neighbor is, as Jesus said, what the entire law and prophets hang on.
For far too long, I’ve felt that fear that has silenced me. I’ve allowed others to speak and even lead because in this divided, polarized age, I didn’t want to offend or harm. I didn’t want to speak for fear of judgment or rejection.
But no more. I know that someone must speak for that better way. That Methodist middle way. That Moderate way. But friends, it’s not just me. It's you. It’s us. Together, by our words, actions, and deeds, we can lead to a better way, a more unified way. Not a way of uniformity. But of unity.
It’s a hard way. A dear friend once told me the only thing a bridge is good for is getting walked on. It is a narrow path. But remember what Jesus said, a narrow path is what leads to heaven.
I believe that the historic United Methodist moderate path, which seeks to rise above all the divisions of this world, as foolish as that may sound, is a better way. If you’d like to learn more, join us in person or online at St. Matthew’s UMC sometime, or sign up for my continued thoughts.
Thanks for reading. I’d love to connect with you here or through social media.