Ready…
Aim…
Fire.
William J. Abraham has never been accused of pulling his punches. In his newest book, Dialogues Amongst the People Called United Methodists, he is true to form, taking on the debate over human sexuality that we have engaged in for forty years and which will likely reach a boiling point in Portland in 2016. As the title suggests, the book takes the form of a dialogue. There are five participants:
Traditionalist – Wants to expel the ecclesially disobedient (without property) and protect the integrity of the UMC’s theological heritage and decision-making processes.
Evangelical – Fed up with the protests, rallies, and disobedience of the progressives, the evangelical is ready for “amicable separation.”
Pietist – A former evangelical who has had a change of heart on matters of human sexuality. Wants to bring everyone to a round table for dialogue.
Reconciler – Wants a plan that can accommodate both conservative and progressive positions within the same denomination. (Think “A Way Forward.”)
Progressive – Sees human sexuality as an all-or-nothing, no-holds-barred, battle, part of a larger culture war in which United Methodism is the last frontier of conquest.
Each of these characters is a “type.” Each is the distillation of certain characteristics manifested in the political life of the UMC. Of course, most people cannot be entirely described by one of these types. I am sure that Abraham would acknowledge this (though a few public figures in the UMC seem to fit quite nicely into a single category). Nevertheless, the types that he develops are helpful heuristic devices for understanding the motivations, assumptions, and tactics of the groups that are locked in a death embrace–or caught in the middle of one–in the UMC.
Abraham is a friend of many years. He was my teacher many years ago at Perkins, and I have continued to learn from him in our frequent conversations since. I don’t always agree with him (and have told him so many times), but I have never ceased to be amazed at the quickness of his mind, his analytical ability, the quality and quantity of his work, and his sheer optimism about the future of the church. This book will inform and challenge you, and probably at some point (or several points) make you mad. At times it made me squirm a bit, but I’m glad that I read it .
David F. Watson 
Your post is timely, as I presume you’ve heard that Dr. Abraham has been diagnosed with colon cancer and is scheduled to undergo surgery. At this time the severity of his cancer isn’t known. Even those who disagree with him mightily raise prayers for his speedy and complete recovery.
Indeed. Thank you for raising this concern. Many are holding him in prayer.
Too bad none of these definitions mention Jesus. The definition of “evangelical” has certainly changed in recent years.
Many of us have believed Billy Abraham to be the “secret sauce” for a future recrudescence of a renewed, orthodox and fired-up Methodism. If Billy is lost to the church due to this diagnosis, there will be big shoes to fill, indeed. He loved to tackle dialogue with difficult talking partners.
Gary, let’s just pray for a good outcome.
I hope for a day when United Methodists can move from always talking about United Methodist junk to talking about what God is doing in our churches. I ran into a fellow clergy member this week and he asked me, “What good stuff do have you heard” and then went into talking about how he does not like what the DS is doing (our new DS is focusing on mission; shame on him, right?) and how we have way too many conference forms to fill out (our conference has actually been actively working to reduce these). When I started talking to him about all that God was doing through our new family discipleship ministry and how I was excited for VBS, he short of just checked out.
Behind all of this fussing and fighting over an issue that doesn’t take long at all to figure out is a way of thinking and behaving that pushes God out of the picture. It is found among all the various groups that Abraham listed. Over the past few months, I have decided to just walk away from all of the UMC’s junk and focus on joining God in His mission. I do NOT want to be infected with the UMC junk virus. God is going to keep on doing awesome things in our world with our without the UMC.
Pingback: Books I've been reading lately - Jonathan Andersen