I know I have mentioned previously that I was formerly a pentecostal. Because of this I know something about religious hucksterism. I have seen the religious fads come and go and have heard the sales pitch of some of the best religious pitchmen. I can smell snake oil a mile away. I know that smooth sounding engine will begin to smoke and stall just a short time after it leaves the lot. No matter how enthusiastic the pitchman might be, or how much he raves about his product, it is still snake oil medicine or a lemon of a car.
"Walking Together – The LCMS Future, Proposals and Possibilities for Consideration and Discussion, Presented by Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and Governance" is just the latest in a long list of ideas whose time should never come. There is already a lot of discussion about the particulars of these proposals on the web. Many are already commenting on the manner in which it would concentrate even more power SPK's hands. The high sounding language hides the nasty little secret--or maybe not such a secret--that this is a power grab. With such power comes potential coercion and with coercion comes bondage.
Walking together? Hardly. Walking away from the Synod's original raison d'être. Walking away from the Synod as a servant of the churches. Walking away from sound doctrine and practice. Do we really trust the firm that brought us such wonderfully thought out products as Yankee Stadium or Ablaze? Will Synod Inc. truly help us walk in the truth of God's Word and the Lutheran Confessions?
Walking together means we value the same things. Should we value SPK's leadership thus far? Mmmm? Should we wish to give him even more power and less accountability? Mmmm?
Well, if that is how things are then maybe we had better walk away. Snake oil won't cure us. That lemon won't get us there. God's Word and the Confessions show us how to walk together. The founders of this Synod truly valued them and relied on them. With those who value the Word and Confessions we can walk.
Showing posts with label synod. Show all posts
Showing posts with label synod. Show all posts
Friday, August 22, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Deja Vu All Over Again?
[Issues, Etc. Blog of the Week, 8/15/2008]
All our idols fail us. Over and over again we see idols come crashing down. In America we have many idols--celebrities, financial and commercial giants, government and private institutions, politicians, leaders, sports figures. I am sure you could rattle off many others. In each category we have seen astounding failures. Corruption, sin, and law breaking by our own favorites fill our nightly news headlines with disturbing frequency.
For a number of years I was a pentecostal. Pentecostals have their idols. In pentecostalism one of the most important components of the movement is the charismatic evangelist. These men and women have been the hallmark of pentecostalism from its earliest days. People idolize these individuals and follow their activities closely. They are like rock music stars in their popularity among adherents. The charismatic personality really sets the agenda of the pentecostal and charismatic movements. It is rather ironic that these same charismatic leaders have been and are the focus of the most public failures. The moral and financial sins of Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Baker, and Kenneth Copeland are famous examples.
Lutherans have their heroes also. Luther, Chemnitz, Walther come to mind quickly. However, the respect given to such men is different. It is their teaching, their doctrine, that sets them above many others. They are not "rock stars" in the same sense as the televangelist is among pentecostals. They are respected teachers of God's Word. So in modern Lutheranism the individual personality has not been nearly so idolized. Among modern Lutherans a greater emphasis is placed on the organization, the Synod. There is a reverence for the organization that is unlike anything I have seen before. For instance, despite the steady downward spiral of the two largest Synods in America, many people can not envision life without them. The ELCA is a few years ahead of the LCMS in is degeneration. But the LCMS appears to be on a similar path.
In any case I am wondering if there may be an underlying similarity among all these failures. Certainly individuals making sinful and foolish choices in behavior are common. Greed and abuse of power may also be shared issues. The one issue that might be most instructive, in my opinion, is idolatry. In pentecostalism and Lutheranism a very basic component of the makeup of the two groups has failed publicly. It is very unsettling to the adherents of the different groups. The thing upon which so much rests is shown to be sand, not the rock.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. Such failures confront us with the idolater who lives in our old man. He constantly wishes to worship something or someone other than God. It may be that God has allowed these public failures to take place in order to turn attention from that thing that has usurped His rightful place as God alone. Ex. 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me." If these failures turn us to God alone in repentance for our idolatry, good! If these failures refocus our trust on Jesus Christ alone, good! If these failures cause us to hold on to God's Word alone, good! If these failures cause us to rely on God's grace alone, good! We have been comfortable, even asleep, in our complacency.
Rom. 13:11-12 [ESV] Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Eph. 5:14 [ESV] Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
All our idols fail us. Over and over again we see idols come crashing down. In America we have many idols--celebrities, financial and commercial giants, government and private institutions, politicians, leaders, sports figures. I am sure you could rattle off many others. In each category we have seen astounding failures. Corruption, sin, and law breaking by our own favorites fill our nightly news headlines with disturbing frequency.
For a number of years I was a pentecostal. Pentecostals have their idols. In pentecostalism one of the most important components of the movement is the charismatic evangelist. These men and women have been the hallmark of pentecostalism from its earliest days. People idolize these individuals and follow their activities closely. They are like rock music stars in their popularity among adherents. The charismatic personality really sets the agenda of the pentecostal and charismatic movements. It is rather ironic that these same charismatic leaders have been and are the focus of the most public failures. The moral and financial sins of Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Baker, and Kenneth Copeland are famous examples.
Lutherans have their heroes also. Luther, Chemnitz, Walther come to mind quickly. However, the respect given to such men is different. It is their teaching, their doctrine, that sets them above many others. They are not "rock stars" in the same sense as the televangelist is among pentecostals. They are respected teachers of God's Word. So in modern Lutheranism the individual personality has not been nearly so idolized. Among modern Lutherans a greater emphasis is placed on the organization, the Synod. There is a reverence for the organization that is unlike anything I have seen before. For instance, despite the steady downward spiral of the two largest Synods in America, many people can not envision life without them. The ELCA is a few years ahead of the LCMS in is degeneration. But the LCMS appears to be on a similar path.
In any case I am wondering if there may be an underlying similarity among all these failures. Certainly individuals making sinful and foolish choices in behavior are common. Greed and abuse of power may also be shared issues. The one issue that might be most instructive, in my opinion, is idolatry. In pentecostalism and Lutheranism a very basic component of the makeup of the two groups has failed publicly. It is very unsettling to the adherents of the different groups. The thing upon which so much rests is shown to be sand, not the rock.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. Such failures confront us with the idolater who lives in our old man. He constantly wishes to worship something or someone other than God. It may be that God has allowed these public failures to take place in order to turn attention from that thing that has usurped His rightful place as God alone. Ex. 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me." If these failures turn us to God alone in repentance for our idolatry, good! If these failures refocus our trust on Jesus Christ alone, good! If these failures cause us to hold on to God's Word alone, good! If these failures cause us to rely on God's grace alone, good! We have been comfortable, even asleep, in our complacency.
Rom. 13:11-12 [ESV] Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Eph. 5:14 [ESV] Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
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