A few years ago, I had a conversation with a great friend. I love talking with this friend because he always challenges me, yet he does so in a polite, civilized, respectful manner, and he actually does it for the sake of dialogue, not for the opportunity to prove me wrong or something like that. He really values what I have to say in response to his challenges, and that’s why he does it; it’s definitely refreshing to talk with him. We were talking about faith this particular day, and he said something I’ll never forget: “The problem with Christianity is that it has lost its revolutionary feel.” The problem with Christianity is that it has lost its revolutionary feel.
My friends, Jesus was a revolutionary. The early Christian movement was revolutionary. Throughout history, Christianity has often been revolutionary. Can we say the same about the body of Christ today? Can we say the same about our own faith and the way we live it out, individually and collectively? Am I revolutionary? Are you revolutionary? Is the congregation you attend revolutionary? Is our denomination revolutionary? Is the body of Christ revolutionary in this twenty-first century? Is my friend right; has the church lost its revolutionary feel? I’m challenged by these questions, in part because, at least in some cases, I see such a striking difference between what the answers are and what the answers ought to be. We’re called to be revolutionary.
I've never been good at keeping New Year's resolutions, so instead of a New Year's resolution, how can we work on having a New Year's revolution?
Leland G. Spencer IV, a lifelong United
Methodist, is a PhD student in the department of speech communication
at the University of Georgia, where he researches religious rhetoric as
it intersects with gender and sexuality. Leland holds an M.A. in
Communication from the University of Cincinnati (2009). While in
Cincinnati, Leland served as the worship intern at the Wesley
Foundation. Leland served as a
part-time local pastor at Mapleton United Methodist Church in the East
Ohio Conference from 2005 until 2007 when Leland withdrew from the
candidacy process because of the United Methodist Church's exclusive
position about the ordination of LGBT persons.
Reconciling Ministries Network mobilizes United Methodists of all sexual orientations and gender identities to transform our Church and world into the full expression of Christ’s inclusive love.
