#VAUMC14: Connection — institution vs reality

Last updated on: July 17, 2014 at 10:17 am by Morgan Guyton

#VAUMC14: Connection — institution vs reality 2014-07-17T10:17:16-05:00 Morgan Guyton

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Part of our annual conference program each year involves a teaching study led by a seminary professor. This year we have Dr. Elmer Colyer of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Iowa. Colyer gave a provocative presentation this morning on what the Methodist buzzword “connection” should mean for us. He said that the real underlying problem the United Methodist church faces in all of our conflicts is not a lack of discipline, but a lack of connection, because discipline is only effective within the organic context of authentic connection. I absolutely agree.

There is a tendency in our world to think that institutions are the real substance that exists, while the organic relationships that we happen to have with other people because of our institutional connections are either banal pleasantries or political tools we should use for our career advancement. There is a ubiquitous rage within our fragmented, alienating world against the impersonal institutions in our lives that don’t do what they’re supposed to do, whether it’s the insurance company, the school system, or of course, above all, the gubment. I think that in this context, the church has become just another gubment, another dysfunctional institution to grumble about that we feel helpless to change instead of a body composed of real people with whom we can build relationships for the sake of relationships and not just for the sake of projects or decisions or other matters of supposed importance.

So what does real connection look like when it’s more than just an institution? Galatians 6:2 provides a simple but very beautiful summary: “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” In our project-oriented world, bearing one another’s burdens is a side item. We get together to have meetings where we make decisions and plan stuff and then at the very end, we ask if anyone has joys and concerns to share. What if bearing one another’s burdens were the centerpiece rather than the thing we tack onto the end of the meeting? People who bear each other’s burdens build trust that sows dividends when we need to have difficult conversations. That’s not to say that the former is the means to the latter; it’s in bearing each other’s burdens that we meet our crucified savior and become his body together. It’s been a disaster to think that we can be disciples of Jesus Christ as solitary lone rangers without actually proactively becoming his body every day.

I have preached before about the malaise of “benevolent anonymity” in one congregations. One thing you cannot accuse United Methodists of at least in bustling suburban congregations is being up in each other’s business. We need to be in each other’s business, not out of paranoid authoritarianism but because actually knowing each other’s deepest burdens is how “body of Christ” becomes more than just a cool idea that we talk about.

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