It is tempting to list all the ways the Book of Discipline is “wrong,” to delineate the places of incongruence, and to question its relevancy for today’s world. It is very tempting. As United Methodists, we are steeped in a tradition of questioning, which is a part of following faithfully. We frequently compare tradition and experience, scripture and historical/literary/textual criticism, faith and intellectual reason. We know how to look at these contrasts, and we are trained to be comfortable with the disparities, the questions, and the mysteries. We lay much at the feet of God, hoping that someday we will understand fully, while knowing that our task on this given day is to love fully even without understanding.
So while we are very tempted to pitch our answers to tough questions, I hesitate a moment before I speak out. (Internal five-second pause.) I could address incongruities. For example:
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