Solomon’s \u201cwisdom\u201d is the given reason for why he gets to build the Temple. Solomon’s Temple was build by conscripted labor of Jews. Solomon’s wisdom used to explain why he oversaw the largest nation in ancient Israel’s history. Of course, what that actually means is that he had very high tax rates, a successful military, and the capacity to build an empire through violent attacks on Israel’s neighbors.<\/p>\n
Solomon’s wisdom is somehow also tied up with his \u201cwives,\u201d although I can’t really figure out the connection. I think the idea may be something about political power, and indeed he is said to have had many (MANY!) wives and concubines. Those wives and concubines were political pawns, used to attempt to negotiate with Solomon and keep his military power from doing further harm.<\/p>\n
So, I get why the Bible needs to present Solomon as wise, but what I really see when I look through it is that Solomon functioned to acquire power, money, and might, and this story implies that those actions were GOOD. It seems shockingly unreflective, since the Bible emphasizes the care of the poor, the orphan, and the widow, but Solomon’s actions as king created more poverty, not to mention more orphans and widows. Solomon enriched himself at the expense of his people. That is actually NOT what I think wisdom looks like.<\/p>\n
Now that we are done with that, I can get back to the primary point. What Solomon is presented as saying IS pretty good, \u201cGive your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?\u201d (1 Kings 3:9, NRSV) Taking the story as written, that’s great! The named goal is a worthy one. A respect for the people sounds good! So does a wish to understand the best way to govern, and a wish to be able to figure out good from evil. I do worry about leaders who believe prayers like this to be answered, who then believe that whatever they decide must be divinely blessed. However, if it simply came with humility and openness, this could be a solid request.<\/p>\n
One of the great challenges of leadership, and even just life, \u00a0IS discerning a good way forward. Decisions have so many consequences that aren’t anticipated at the outset, making it very difficult to figure out what should be done. Recently I’ve been in a long series of conversations that have emphasized for me just how difficult discernment can be. Just so you are ready for it, I’m only going to give you the problem, not the answer. I don’t have the answer. That’s the struggle with discernment \ud83d\ude09 This is a story of wishing for Solomon’s fabled wisdom and God’s wise guidance, in this case for the church.<\/p>\n
In February of 2019 the United Methodist Church is having a Special Session of General Conference to act on the recommendations of The Way Forward Commission. So, let’s unpack that a bit, and look at the history. In 1968 the Uniting Conference of the United Methodist Church merged the \u201cMethodist Church\u201d and the \u201cEvangelical United Brethern Church.\u201d At that time it adopted the former Methodist Church’s Social Creed temporarily (because the EUB didn’t have one) and Social Principles Study Commission to bring forward recommendations to the 1972 General Conference.<\/p>\n
The recommendation the Social Principles Study Commission came up with included a statement on \u201cHuman Sexuality\u201d that ended with:<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough men and women are sexual beings whether or not they are married, sex between a man and a woman is to be clearly affirmed only in the marriage bond. \u00a0 Sex may become exploitive within as well as outside marriage. \u00a0We reject all sexual expressions which damage or destroy the humanity God has given us as birthright, and we affirm only that sexual expression which enhances that same humanity, in the midst of diverse opinion as to what constitutes that enhancement. \u00a0Homosexuals no less than heterosexuals are persons of sacred worth, who need the ministry and guidance of the church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship which enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self. Further we insist that all persons are entitled to have their human and civil rights ensured.\u201d<\/p>\n
At that General Conference, it was amended to instead end with \u201cFurther we insist that all persons are entitled to have their human and civil rights ensured, although we do not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching.“ (1972 Book of Discipline) Thus, since 1972, progressives have been working to undo that amendment and its subsequent impact on our denomination.<\/p>\n
Every 4 years, which means every time General Conference meets, debate over this language comes to a head. For many years, slow progress was being made towards removing it, as the votes seemed to get a little bit better each time General Conference met. Then, in 2012 the progress stopped. In fact, it actually got a little bit worse. At that moment, we realized that we were not going to get the change made through traditional channels. Time alone was not going to bring victory. The United Methodist church mirrors the governmental structure of the United States. None of the avenues of change were available to us to in order to bring justice. The Judicial Council \u2013 our judicial branch – keeps ruling in favor of the discrimination in the Book of Discipline. The executive branch Bishops, for the most part, take it as their duty to enforce the rules in the Book of Discipline. And the legislative branch, the General Conference itself, was not going to change the Book of Discipline, at least not in this generation. (The details as to why are likely more than most people want, but I’d be happy to discuss them if you’d like.)<\/p>\n
In 2012, it became clear that another strategy was going to have to take precedence. At the end of that Conference, Bishop Melvin Talbert instructed us to engage in \u201cBiblical Obedience\u201d, which happened to be church law disobedience, and to perform marriages in the regular course of our pastoral duties, for people of all genders and expressions of mutual love. The courageous and strategic leaders of MIND \u2013 Methodist in New Directions from the New York Annual Conference \u2013 had already started this with a campaign called \u201cWe Do!\u201d, but in that moment it expanded dramatically.2<\/sup><\/a> The strategy of Biblical Obedience encouraged clergy and churches to lead with God’s love at the forefront, love rather than fear. It also raised tensions with those who wanted to control the ways God’s love is shared.<\/p>\n Which is to say, it REALLY ticked off the conservatives. \ud83d\ude09 In 2016 at General Conference, the tensions that had been intentionally raised created space for a different way of moving forward, called \u201cThe Commission on the Way Forward.\u201d The Commission was charged \u201cto do a complete examination and possible revision of every paragraph of the Book of Discipline concerning human sexuality and explore options that help to maintain and strengthen the unity of the church.\u201d3<\/sup><\/a> Their preferred recommendation, and 2 alternative options, will be on the table for the 2019 Special Session of General Conference, that will be convened to deal with those recommendations. Other solutions from other bodies have also been submitted. The preferences of both the Commission and the Council of Bishops is \u201cThe One Church\u201d plan, in which official statements condemning homosexuality will be removed from the Book of Discipline, while careful protections will be put in place give homophobia deciding power and influence in locations where it is dominant. Thus, in this plan, the church has a whole stops being institutionally discriminatory, but localized discrimination is not only permitted but empowered.<\/p>\n This is how I get to \u201cdiscernment is hard!\u201d There is another plan, a better one, created by the Queer Clergy Caucus that simply removes the statements condemning homosexuality and does not protect homophobia. It is called the Simple Church Plan. (There is not actually a plan on the table that removes the statements condemning homosexuality and replaces them with the affirmations that God’s love is not bound by sexual orientation nor gender identity, which is unfortunate.) The problem is that the \u201cOne Church Plan\u201d which is ugly enough to make my stomach hurt, is very far from being guaranteed to pass, and nothing better evenhas a shot. I believe that the Queer Clergy Caucus plan is not politically viable in our current church. Clearly this is my opinion, others believe that the Holy Spirit can move even the stubborn delegates to General Conference. I haven’t struggled with this discernment alone. Many conversations have been had. There is not any clarity within the LGBTQIA+ community either about the best way forward. There is agreement that the other two plans are much worse.<\/p>\n In the words of the scripture, where is the line \u201cbetween good and evil\u201d? What is the appropriate role of compromise? \u00a0Whose lives are being compromised? Are small steps forward enough? Will we as a church get stuck in the first place we move, and would it be better to do NOTHING than to get stuck there? Since the alternative plans are much worse, is it better to seek what we can get? What if we are able to pass the One Church Plan, and it then means that the far right will exit and leave the church in peace, able to move things forward \u2013 does that make this worth it to make such a compromise?<\/p>\n I may not believe Solomon’s story happened as it is written, but I resonate with the desire for God’s help in knowing the best way forward \u2013 or maybe just the least evil way forward. Even knowing that God’s love extends fully to people of many sexualities and gender expressions, and that God wants a church that includes all of God’s people FULLY and celebrates people AS THEY ARE, (duh), how does God want us to act in this moment? Where should our energy go?<\/p>\n And what if we’re wrong?<\/p>\n In words like Solomon’s, Loving God, give us understanding minds to know how to support your people, and the ability to discern between good and evil, that your love might be known, that fear might be cast out, and that together we might work towards your kindom. Amen<\/p>\n 1<\/a>Choong -Leong Seow \u201cCommentary on 1 Kings 3:4-15\u201d in 1 Kings <\/i>in The New Interpreter’s Bible Commenatary Vol III Leander E. Keck, general editor (Abingdon Press: Nashville, 1999), 39.<\/p>\n 2<\/a>http:\/\/www.mindny.org\/mind-initiatives\/marriage-initiative\/<\/a><\/p>\n 3<\/a>http:\/\/www.umc.org\/who-we-are\/commission-on-a-way-forward<\/a><\/p>\n – <\/p>\n Rev. Sara E. Baron\u00a0<\/p>\n First United Methodist Church of Schenectady\u00a0<\/p>\n 603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305\u00a0<\/p>\n Pronouns: she\/her\/hers<\/p>\n http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![](\"https:\/\/66.media.tumblr.com\/43e04732ced7ee869c086845c08ccb42\/tumblr_inline_pdpzvuzVuO1ta4iua_540.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n