wfn.org | Commentary: United Methodism and the Kosovo conflict

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 23, 1999	News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.    10-21-71BP{345}

NOTE: A photograph of the Rev. Bruce Robbins is available with this story.

A UMNS Commentary
By the Rev. Bruce Robbins*

United Methodists are learning the hard way how difficult it is to live
together in a diverse community -- both in the denomination and in the wider
church of Jesus Christ.  

What do we do when the practices and beliefs of others in the church are
deeply offensive to us?  We try to be committed to stay at the table and to
remember that One Lord called us there.

Several weeks ago, I went to a meeting in Budapest, Hungary, that brought
together church members from opposite sides of the Kosovo conflict. Church
representatives from NATO countries joined with church members from
Yugoslavia and other countries who supported them.

I was not the only United Methodist present. Martin Hovan, a district
superintendent from Yugoslavia, also attended. The United Methodists were
the only group to have representatives from both sides of the conflict. As I
befriended superintendent Hovan, I remembered a poem by Mark Twain about
church prayer during wartime. "Be careful what you pray for," he advised.
"Your victory is another's defeat." As a United Methodist Church, we may
have been praying against ourselves in recent months.

Nearly everyone thinks it is a good idea to talk to "enemies" -- even to
love them. But what could happen at such a meeting? What would it mean to be
successful or worth the investment of time and money? Many people asked me,
"What were you able to accomplish?"  The answers, of course, are never easy.

I learned that it is unnerving to have friends among the "enemy." I heard of
too much trauma: emphysema caused by smoke and chemical exposure due to the
destruction of refineries and chemical plants; fears that NATO was using
depleted uranium in bombs and weapons; schools closing as soldiers were
moved from barracks to classrooms; and young mothers trapped in high-rises
with infant children. Yugoslav people felt attacked by an unseen and
faceless enemy. Had I not also been horrified by accounts from Albanian
refugees, the answers would have seemed much easier.

I learned some lessons that also apply to other situations -- including
struggles within our church.  I offer three of them for your reflection:

1. 	Consider that there may be other perspectives on the truth. The
"other" is often a disciple of the same Lord as you are. CNN only gives us
part of the story. Don't give up your convictions, but consider those of
others.

2. 	Trust that those opposite you at the table are reasonable and
possess truth. The Serbs that I met were appalled by the ethnic cleansing
and by the bombing. They, too, felt helpless. I heard one Serb say: "Each
bomb dropped against Milosevic that is not on the head of Milosevic is a
crime."
	
3. 	Think boldly that God may work through human, fragile instruments.
People in Western Europe and the United States can learn from the courage of
the Serbian Orthodox Church when it called for the resignation of President
Slobodan Milosevic. I can think of no other institution in Yugoslavia that
could have done so with such integrity and impact. We can all support that
action. What further steps can we take with our own governments?	

Finally, the verse of Ephesians 3:20 kept coming to mind: "By the power at
work within us, [God] is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we
can ask or imagine." 

Given the histories of those involved, reconciliation may seem far away,
even after the bombs have stopped falling. Even so, despair or "giving up"
are not faithful options. The church or human community may seem
inextricably divided. But, after all, this is only a human perspective.

#  #  #

*Robbins is general secretary of the United Methodist Commission on
Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns with offices in New York.

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