Many have predictably taken offense to my highlighting the bad behavior of people within the denomination I left earlier this year. Many within the UMC and the GMC agree that spending time naming the sins of the past and present just is not helpful. To their mind, it only exacerbates bad behavior. If folks like me would just stop, people would finally heal and remember that they are called to act like Christians.

This piece is a response to a critique I got. I provide some explanations for what I understand myself to be doing and why I think it is needed, not just at the present moment, but for all history, if the church is to be who Christ requires us to be. It is admittedly a self-centered piece. I’m hoping folks apply it to themselves and their church contexts and consider whether their current approach is right.

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