February 13, 2006

"The Danger of Isolationism"

As I watched President Bush's State of the Union Address, I heard him use a word which describes my concern for United Methodists in Indiana: "isolationism." Aside from any of his political comments, that word describes a danger that I have been discerning among many United Methodists here in Indiana. Some have described this danger as "congregationalism" but that word does not describe it correctly for me. There is nothing wrong with focusing upon resourcing our local congregations -- and in fact both the North and South Conference are moving toward statements of purpose which include that emphasis. Being "congregational" is not the opposite of being "connectional" -- and in fact I believe that we United Methodists are called to be both. One of the unique strengths of our denomination is that we are BOTH congregational and connectional; we are BOTH local and global; and we are BOTH diverse and unified in mission.

The danger is "isolationism" -- no matter where that danger occurs. Sometimes isolationism occurs when a local congregation becomes so focused upon its own survival that it ignores the call of Christ to reach out to its community. Likewise isolationism sometimes occurs when an Annual Conference becomes so focused upon its own survival (things like apportionments, pensions, insurance, and the like) that it ignores its mission of strengthening local churches and providing a connection for ministry together. And sometimes isolationism occurs among bishops and general agencies when we become so focused upon keeping the global church alive that we forget the local churches whose support is essential. "Isolationism" occurs whenever any of us becomes focused upon ourselves, our preferences, our needs, our own egos, and our own ministry -- rather than keeping our focus upon the mission of making disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world.

"Isolationism" is the danger. The Bible is clear that whenever we put ourselves and our needs first, then we lose sight of the claim of Jesus that "whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it" (Luke 9:24). "Isolationism" is a good word for that dangerous tendency. It happens when any pastor does ministry without concern for the impact of that ministry upon one's colleagues. It happens when any local church is concerned only for itself, not for its community or for its connection with other churches. It happens when any Annual Conference committee or program becomes self-obsessed. It happens when the denominational structure ignores the realities of local churches and Annual Conferences. Isolationism happens whenever any one of us focuses upon ourselves. What is the old adage? "No one is an island." Certainly that is true in the Body of Christ -- we are not alone, we all belong to each other because we all belong to Christ.

I was heartened to hear this week that GCFA (the General Council on Finance and Administration of our denomination) has lowered the general church apportionments to each annual conference because the new formula for computing those apportionments takes into account a decline in local church income. 2005 was a tough year for many of our churches, and so GCFA has reacted accordingly and reduced general church apportionments. That new formula is a good start at overcoming isolationism, and I affirm its recognition that we are all in this ministry together -- that's what it means to be "connectional."

I sense the danger of "Isolationism" in our culture and even sometimes in our churches. We simply cannot and must not give in to that self-obsessive feeling of caring only for ourselves and our pet projects. There is too much at stake. We are called to be United Methodist Christians who follow in the footsteps of John Wesley who said, "The world is my parish."

from Bishop Michael J. Coyner

Indiana Area of the United Methodist Church
"Making a Difference ... in Indiana
and around the world"

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