Jesus is Better than Politics

Jesus is Better than Politics

Knee deep in the church’s response to the crisis in Haiti, overwhelmed by the determination of United Methodists to respond to the suffering there, I received an unsolicited email from the folks at the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) complaining about the President’s health care plan. (Victims of Obamacare, By Mark Tooley, 1.28.10) Thousands of you are on the IRD’s unsolicited email list. From time to time I hear from you, upset about something that the IRD is upset about. They tend never to be concerned about anything that concerns the church – like the suffering of sisters and brothers in Haiti, the content of our preaching, the quality of our discipleship, the orthodoxy of our theology.

The email tirade was fairly typical for the IRD – snide, caustic, right wing conservative, devoid of any reference to the Bible or Jesus. Mr. Tooley is a good enough writer but he is utterly innocent of any theological interests. And so is the IRD. Note their title: Religion and Democracy. They never talk about Christ and they seem to think that politics and government is the answer to everything. The IRD seems to be a group of people who worship “religion” and “democracy” whereas the United Methodist Church is trying to worship and to obey Jesus. Emails from the IRD could as easily be released by Mormon Glen Beck or some Islamic Society as by any Christian church. Though their main function is to attack mainline churches, “church” is not in their name. Right wing politics appears to be their church.

Of course, I’ve been critical when left wing politics plays a greater role in our conversation as a church than scripture or Jesus. But standing there, trying to get those water purification systems out of Alabama and into Haiti, wading through the hundreds of health kits that Alabama Methodists produced in one week, with our Conference website jammed with Methodists attempting to give money to Haiti, I was once again reminded of the irrelevancy of the IRD. They may have generous funding from a few right wing fanatics, they may have some interesting things to say about politics, and Mr. Tooley may be (in certain moments) a good satirist, but they don’t have much to do with being the church. Jesus Christ ought to control the church’s imagination – not politics left or right.

I hope that you will keep this in mind the next time you receive an email from the IRD. We’re United Methodist Christians. We have more important things to worry about than the purely infatuations that worry the IRD. In a world that worships politics as divine, we have more important things to do than politics.

This week of Thanksgiving, as you give thanks to God for the gifts of religion and democracy, be sure to give thanks that we are saved neither by religion nor democracy but rather by the work of Jesus Christ!

Will Willimon

By: William H. Willimon On 11/22/2010
Topics: Weekly Message from the Conference

Comments

1. billy brown wrote on 11/23/2010 8:01:42 AM
I could be wrong but I read the article and it seems to be centered on tax funded abortion. To blend church/Jesus into polotics like this is messy business for sure.
2. Eli Briles wrote on 11/23/2010 1:41:56 PM
But who else is going to keep the UMC accountable? I agree sometimes IRD is too bombastic but nobody else is keeping UMC leaders accountable. IRD has a relevant voice.
3. Mark wrote on 11/23/2010 2:26:14 PM
4. Kevin wrote on 11/23/2010 3:19:20 PM
The primarily concern to many in the congregation is that UMC seems to believe that all problems can be solved by politics and the government. Raise taxes, socialize medicine, and redistribute wealth is the cry from UMC's Board of Church and Society. Meanwhile, the number of disciples who call themselves Methodists continues to plummit every year. It was not the IRD who endorsed in God's name the health care legislation...it was the church. GET OUT OF POLITICS I say to the Council of Bishops for Jesus in fact is better than politics.
5. Pastor Bryan Anderson wrote on 11/23/2010 3:23:38 PM
Bishop Willimon, I find your comments about IRD absurd and uninformed. After reading your reaction it made me question your integrity--something I have never done before. You have spoken with such grace and insight on so many topics that I sincerely hope this is only a red herring...
6. Karl Humphreys wrote on 11/23/2010 3:57:49 PM
Bishop you forget that we live in a country that is sometimes directed by evil. It is our responsibility as Christians to resist the fiery darts of the devil. It is our responsibility to speak up and fight evil in any form, including politics. The Community around Jesus was run by the Priests, and Christ resisted them continually, he was resisting the powers of politics. Think about it. Also not everyone has the same burden to carry. Some of us are more concerned with the Christians here in the US that need help and may feel your wrong in your direction, does that maker you evil and not a Christian?
7. Martin Thompson wrote on 11/23/2010 4:14:37 PM
8. UMJeremy wrote on 11/23/2010 4:37:11 PM
Well said, Bishop. I will admit to having some discontent with your words, but will happily wait for a followup blog before I cast judgment. Knee-jerk responses are not helpful to a theological conversation that you clearly want to have.
9. Matt Lacey wrote on 11/23/2010 4:56:07 PM
Politics aside, I appreciate these comments a great deal. I think, at its essence, what Bishop is trying to say is Jesus is much greater than our knee-jerk reactions to partisan political issues. More often than not, these issues garner most of our attention rather than hands on ministry when people are hurting.
10. Neil wrote on 11/23/2010 6:24:56 PM
11. JayRS wrote on 11/23/2010 7:16:44 PM
Why not sell the Church and Society building and put that money into eradicating malaria or buying water purification systems for Haiti? There's a fortune tied up in that pricey Capitol Hill real estate. Let the GBCS crew work out of cheaper rented quarters in Crystal City or Baltimore, and cut their budget by 70% and put the savings into more malaria-fighting and water purification in the 3d World. I think perhaps both the IRD and Bishop Willimon might find common ground.
12. Karl Humphreys wrote on 11/23/2010 8:50:08 PM
Jay...Good comment, how about this...82% of the US say they are Christians. Think about this; If we took our money just for a few weeks from taking care of the building (church) and took care of the Christians inside (the body). Think what we could do. Let's just take the major Christian religions, (no LDS); there are 99,697,301 members, if each week they give $20 that's; $ 1,993,946,020, in ONE WEEK!!! I wonder how many Christian lives could be saved or changed. What good is a nice building and a painted sign when Christians inside are suffering...
13. daniel wrote on 11/23/2010 9:13:10 PM
14. Mark wrote on 11/23/2010 11:53:25 PM
Bishop Willimon, are you bothered that an agency (the GBCS) funded by our church, which ostensibly represents our church, supports a radical abortion rights organization called The Religious Coalition For Reproductive Choice? This is an organization that even the more liberal Episcopal church has separated itself from. Are you bothered that a high ranking official within United Methodism, Mr. Jim Winkler, has misused his position to call for the impeachment of a sitting President (Bush) due to POLITICAL disagreements? Are you bothered that a UM seminary, The Claremont School of Theology, is now training Islamic clerics (see Methodistthinker.com)? If you have the slightest concern about these disturbing developments within United Methodism then you should thank God that the IRD helps bring them to light.
15. John wrote on 11/24/2010 12:15:30 AM
I am one of the many on the IRD mailouts and have found them reflective of many things including, but not limited to, modern slash and burn politics. Their views aren't ones I would want to silence, but their insistence on upsetting people and poisoning the minds of our clergy and others with hate is troubling. I see no evidence in scripture that God would have us engage in the kind of personal attacks that I see coming out of the IRD. Instead I see a God, our God, who wants to speak for Himself for the redemption of all people. Does the Methodist church need to oppose creeping Theological liberalism? You betcha. Does it need to do so by hating our neighbors by tearing them down and treating them as 'the other?' By no means. We can do better than the IRD by listening to the bishop's words and focusing instead on Jesus. Following Jesus has never looked practical or especially easy, but we know it is right.
16. Penny wrote on 11/24/2010 9:05:26 AM
Methinks thou dost protest too much! Could it be that the IRD has injured your pride? Or perhaps even convicted your spirit? Either you are completely unaware of what the IRD is really all about, or you take pleasure out of spreading hateful lies. The IRD (especially Faith McDonnell) has been active in speaking out for the forgotten and neglected people of Sudan, while the Church remains largely silent. But the IRD's main function is to be a prophetic voice to the Church, holding them accountable and trying to bring them back to the one true apostolic church. And Mr. Tooley, who you accuse of being "utterly innocent of any theological interests" is a lifelong Methodist himself. In fact, he is more devoted to the Methodist church than I am and has encouraged me to stay with the Methodist church even as I wonder if I should leave Her. Here is the message the Lord has given me to the Methodist church in particular: "I know your deeds. You have a reputation of being alive but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in my sight. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent." (Rev. 3:2-3) You may not like what IRD has to say, but perhaps you should listen before it is too late!!
17. John D. Abbott,Jr. wrote on 11/24/2010 9:23:22 AM
It seems to me that the Bishop was right on target. There are far more important ministries for us to focus on rather than the nearly always caustic rantings of IRD and other organizations. I wonder what would happen if IRD spent one month worth of writing on good and Godly things going on in the world.
18. Brad S wrote on 11/24/2010 10:04:37 AM
Here we are almost a year later arguing about a bill that has already passed and been signed into law with the Stupak Amendment was introduce. The article Bishop Willimon refers to was written in January of last year before the final bill was passed and yet we still argue over it. This is what the Bishop is talking about. We get so angry and divisive over a handful of topics and we miss out on working together to make this world better and embody the good news of Jesus Christ. If we spent half the energy we spend on arguing and making snide comments on the Internet on helping the sick and feeding the poor we could make a real difference.
19. Neil wrote on 11/24/2010 11:02:57 AM
". . . embody the good news of Jesus Christ." How about if we preach the good news of Jesus Christ? I rarely see the Liberal leaders of the UMC preach the basic Gospel: Jesus died for our sins and rose again (1 Cor 15). I'm not sure how one "embodies" that, but I do know how one can teach that boldly.
20. John McAdams wrote on 11/25/2010 11:17:46 AM
It's ironic that you say "Jesus is better than politics" when that is what IRD has been saying! Your national organization has been badly compromised by an obsession with politics, making political judgments on Obamacare, the Iraq War, and other things that are intensely political. Indeed, back in the 1970s the national organization was friendly toward Marxist "national liberation" movements! So kindly don't wax indignant on the evils of "right wing politics" when you folks specialize in left wing politics. You engage in partisan politics, expect to be called out on it.
21. Mark wrote on 11/26/2010 8:54:23 AM
Bishop Willimon, I diligently implore you to read this: http://reformedpastor.wordpress.com/2010/11/24/episcopal-temper-tantrum/
22. John M wrote on 11/26/2010 12:49:15 PM
Thank you, Bishop. I find both IRD and Reconciling Ministries Network to be political action networks with a veneer of religion over the top. The rhetoric, fund-raising mechanisms, organization, and narrow focus on "us vs. them" all reflect the values and methods of secular politics.