UMC - many paths to God?

[HiLaReE320]

I just saw this commercal on TV (I think CNN??) from the United Methodist Church....

Does anyone else think their suggesting a "many paths lead to God" kind of thing???

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7eWTbCzk2q4

[dolly]

Yeah... kind of made me go :twitch as well.

[70thWeek]

It's a little ambiguous. While there are those in the UMC who believe such nonsense, the strong conservative element is keeping the denomination from officially embracing such heresy. I'm guessing that they are implying that all of us have our own stories and testimonies about how we came to God.

[Paidfor]

Yeah. It has sort of an eastern mysticism feel to it. Find 'your' path instead of 'the' path. Three basketball goals implying choice with the same result. At the end all the people come from different paths but end up at the same place. Although, they would say this represents people from different backrounds and experience.

In their defense it is an outreach to the lost. Some may respond to fear of hell. Some will respond to grace. Some don't know what they want. This seems targeted to the last group.

[Cricket55]

The commercial does kinda imply that, but not all UMC are that way. The one I attend and the one back home clearly point out that their is only one way to God and that is through His Son.

[barb43]

The UMC that i formerly belonged to wasn't preaching brimstone and hellfire, but the pastor clearly preached repentence and acceptance of Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation. I left the UMC 11 years ago, however, and have since seen 3 of the UMC churches in this town begin to put out more "accepting" messages . . . like "we're all one" and "we all have a place" (as in, it doesn't really matter so much what you believe, just come here and we'll take you as you are.") :noidea The commercial shown here supports that softer sort of message, and it is ambiguous, sadly. "Lukewarm" is the word that comes to mind.

[HiLaReE320]

Right. When I watched it at first I couldn't tell if it was talking about a church or a social club or maybe a commercial for a car... Just can't tell nowadays!