“METHODISTIC TENDENCIES”

FROM YOUR PASTOR
John Ross Thompson
July 30, 2007

“METHODISTIC TENDENCIES”


What do Hillary Rodham Clinton and George W. Bush have in common?

Ask that question to almost anyone, and they may have difficulty coming up with an answer.

One of the ironies of the current political scene is that these two leaders both share the same religious denomination – The United Methodist Church.

Hillary is a member of First United Methodist Church of Little Rock. George and Laura Bush are members of Highland Park United Methodist Church of Dallas.

In a recent National Public Radio interview with Carl Bernstein, he discussed his new book about Hillary Clinton, “A Woman In Charge.” Bernstein said that when he first began research for the book, a person who knows Senator Clinton well said, “If you want to understand her, you need to start with her Methodism.” Bernstein recalls how surprised he was, but discovered that faith is what propelled her into public service, as a result of her experience as a young person in a United Methodist Church in Oak Park, Illinois.

I personally heard her address the impact of her faith on her life at the 1996 United Methodist General Conference in Denver, and was impressed with the intensity of her witness.

Similarly, it was when Laura Bush brought George W. Bush to their United Methodist Church in Dallas that his life changed, and he embarked on public service. For both Clinton and Bush, a faith that touches every part of our lives, changing our own lives and the lives of others, was found through Methodism.

History recalls a man in 19th-century England who was committed to an insane asylum, with the diagnosis being “Methodistic tendencies.” It seems he was so enthusiastic about his faith, to the point of being outwardly emotional, that others thought him mentally ill.

Methodism for you and me might be only our particular choice among churches. However, for significant numbers of people throughout history its focus has been life-changing. Methodists believe in a personal experience of God, and that God’s love is given without condition or limit to all persons. Methodists also believe that the Holy Spirit can be an active force in our lives, helping us to be changed into all that God created us to be.

If you were on trial for “Methodistic tendencies,” would there be any evidence to convict you? No matter what you think of Senator Clinton and President Bush, their lives were changed for the better through their embracing this way of expressing faith.

I’m proud to be a United Methodist, and I hope you are, too.