One of the things that impressed me most about the senior pastor at my church was when he gave a sermon fessing up to his own potential evil nature. I'd send you a link to it, but I'm pretty sure it's no longer up on the church website.
I think part of why churches are less eager to talk about sin these days (and it's not just restricted to United Methodists; I did some church hopping in my college days) is because our whole society has moved away from that kind of personal responsibility; few people are comfortable copping to sin in a real and open way. Moreover, we prefer to focus on the happy things: a few people may visit church on Good Friday, but they'll crowd their way out the doors on Easter. And Christmas? As far as I can tell, most churches offer even more services than they would on a regular Sunday, just to spread out the crowds.
If you'd prefer, I'm sure you could try to trace some of this back to the Puritan ethic: trying to prove you're one of the "elect" means not only showing blessedness, but also a relatively sinless existence (no matter how sinful you might be). Why that should also hit the Methodists, though, I can't say, since we don't believe in the preordained elect.
I think part of why churches are less eager to talk about sin these days (and it's not just restricted to United Methodists; I did some church hopping in my college days) is because our whole society has moved away from that kind of personal responsibility; few people are comfortable copping to sin in a real and open way. Moreover, we prefer to focus on the happy things: a few people may visit church on Good Friday, but they'll crowd their way out the doors on Easter. And Christmas? As far as I can tell, most churches offer even more services than they would on a regular Sunday, just to spread out the crowds.
If you'd prefer, I'm sure you could try to trace some of this back to the Puritan ethic: trying to prove you're one of the "elect" means not only showing blessedness, but also a relatively sinless existence (no matter how sinful you might be). Why that should also hit the Methodists, though, I can't say, since we don't believe in the preordained elect.
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