¶630 CHRISTIAN LIFE IN THE MODERN WORLD
This section arises from the experience of Free Methodists as they have lived out Christ’s command to holiness in the modern world. Therefore, it describes a Christian response to pressing issues in the contemporary world.
There is no claim made that this is a complete or final description of an appropriate Christian response to all of the important issues faced in the modern world, or that such a description could ever be written. Rather, the approach taken in the following paragraphs illustrates the ways in which a Christian must form a responsible and biblically appropriate response to contemporary issues.
A member of the Free Methodist Church adopts the following description of Christian life in the modern world as an authoritative guide to living an authentic Christian life today. The church recognizes however that a Christian’s conscience is not bound by this description as though it were a new law that is above the gospel itself. Rather, this vision of the Christian life is an expression of how we believe God’s Word leads us to live a genuine Christian life today. We trust that the following description of genuine Christianity may be used by God to help Free Methodists form their consciences according to God’s Word. We trust that the Holy Spirit’s guidance will lead each member of the Free Methodist Church into a conviction about how he or she ought personally to grow into the likeness of Christ in every part of life.
The statements of principle set out below arise out of the direct, clear teaching of scripture and have as their authority not human tradition but God’s Word [statements of principle are indicated by italicized text]. The application statements that follow each statement of principle arise from God’s Word, but we do not claim that they represent in every case the direct, clear, unambiguous teaching of scripture. Rather, these paragraphs represent the historic understanding of Free Methodists concerning the implications of central biblical principles to pressing issues in contemporary life. Therefore, the teachings of these paragraphs do not constrain us with the same authority as the principle statements, though they have the authority to instruct our consciences. Ongoing helps in applying some of these principles are available on The Free Methodist Church in Canada website.
We believe that a life lived according to all of the following statements would be a life that is “worthy of the calling to which we have been called” (Ephesians 4:1).
