Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice.

Ephesians 4:31

If this were a playground bully I was facing, would I stand up and punch them in the nose?

I sort of did that, once, on the playground. The guy reached behind me and grabbed my neck. I instinctively grabbed his arm and flipped him over my shoulders. He stood up, embarrassed, and loudly said, “that was pretty cool”. He never bothered me again.

That was me in 3rd grade. Today, as a lifelong Christian and pastor of 20+ years, I ask myself: Is there a better way?

How do you respond when people are talking smack about you? No, more than just trash talking. Flat out bullying. I’m talking about bitterness, wrath, anger, and malice. All the stuff from this verse from Ephesians. It’s been directed at my denomination, and it’s breaking my heart.

The United Methodist Church gathers this week for its quadrennial General Conference, postponed for years because of Covid. Since our last gathering, a lot has happened. Most notably, a large group of some of our more conservative churches decided to leave and start a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church.

It was not an easy separation. I try to look at things objectively, but there has been consistent troubling behavior from some of the folks from groups like Good News and the Wesley Covenant Association. I have to believe that most of my sisters and brothers in the Global Methodist Church would never agree with these tactics, but there’s been widespread and deliberate misinformation–saying ridiculous things, like the United Methodist Church was going to reject the Trinity or Jesus’ divinity.

Our Bishops from Africa and the Philippines have publicly rejected the efforts of these groups that have tried to manipulate conference delegates there.

And there are those who are finished with the United Methodist Church but haven’t officially left yet–because they were voted as delegates to General Conference years ago. They are staying to try to recruit more churches to leave, and even to cause damage to our denomination on their way out.

How are adults, Christians, supposed to respond to bullying and malice? Ephesians goes on to say “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” Actually, that was written to the ones expressing malice. Maybe both sides of this dispute have been less than forgiving.

Still, I’m dismayed by the lack of graciousness I’ve seen by some of those who’ve moved on. (Or haven’t) I feel called to stand up against what I perceive as bullying, but really, the main response will be left to the body of General Conference to deliver.

We have a lot to accomplish in the next couple weeks. There are serious decisions to be made that will significantly shape the future of our denomination. I am praying for courage for the many friends I have who will be doing difficult work. I’m praying for my church–for all churches, that will be impacted by any changes that are made. If you are interested in reading more or following along, I recommend you visit https://www.resourceumc.org/en/churchwide/general-conference-2020/live-stream or https://www.facebook.com/MainstreamUMC.

Truthfully, I don’t have only good things to say about the United Methodist Church. I’ve been known to “diss” it from time to time myself. We are desperately and long overdue for some serious revival. And while we must truly listen and respond to those outside the church, we must also speak truth to lies, and hope to fear. We must tell the story of our faith loudly and proudly.

May you face your bullies head on. You don’t have to flip them over your shoulders, or even flip them the bird…

Just do your best to flip the narrative.

Have a great week,

Mitch