Familiarity Breeds Contempt

This seems to be quite an unusual title for a Christian blog. But as we have discovered by the ELCA’s actions last August, when we become so enamored of ourselves and our accomplishments, we treat our Lord with contempt and place ourselves over Him. Obviously, the leaders of the ELCA believe that we are much too sophisticated and intelligent to accept a text, written long ago, by uneducated men, as the written Word of God. Apparently they truly believe that the Bible really was meant more for the people living long ago, and not unfailingly applicable for the modern enlightened man. If we feel that we can fend for ourselves, without God’s help, we deliberately turn away from Him. The leaders of the ELCA have dismissed and minimized the outrage of the Lutheran Synods in Africa and the Hispanic Lutherans in Central and South America. Those that are new in the Spirit have shown that they are often more fundamentally true to the Spirit. We have a lot to learn by the response to the ELCA Assembly actions from these supposedly unsophisticated Christians from third world countries. Click on the link to see Tanzanian Bishop Alex G. Malasusa’s response. http://commonconfession.blogspot.com/2010/04/african-lutherans-are-extremely.html

Our self righteous, enlightened leaders of the ELCA have, in their infinite wisdom, devised a way around Scripture to embrace secular values and make excuses for disregarding God's Word. Genesis 11:4, “Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’ The plan to build the Tower of Babel showed how egotistical and full of pride the people were. Their arrogance was evidenced by their intent to build a stairway from earth to heaven itself. By doing so, they assumed that their authority was equal to or above God Himself. But God confused their languages so they could not understand each other, and did, in fact, scatter them throughout the earth as punishment for their arrogance. When we try to take our future into our own hands, we rebel against God and His plan for us. This attitude permeates the leadership of the ELCA. By placing a premium on social justice and diminishing the role of guiding people to the Gospel, the ELCA is building their own Babel, proudly proclaiming their role in the secular world, while diminishing the Lord’s role in their ministry.

So, what is our responsibility as Christians to help the ELCA see the error of its ways and come back to the Lord? We are called to stand up for our faith, to correct those in error, because if we stand idly by, many will be lost to the evil one. Proverbs 10:17, “Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.” Not only those who disregard correction are at risk, those who refuse to correct their brothers and sisters in Christ also place themselves in spiritual peril. If a loved one was in danger or behaving in way that endangered themselves or others, would we not try to prevent the loved one from harming him or herself? It is the same when one of our brothers and sisters in Christ are at risk. For our Lord gave us a new commandment, “That we love one another as He loved us.” So, to act as our Lord commands, we are to endeavor to help lead those astray back to the Lord. We must take up the Lord’s charge and get involved to combat this false doctrine of bound conscience. Standing by idly while so many are led to the path of destruction makes us no better than the leaders that contrived this false gospel.

We need to stand up and volunteer to be delegates to Synod assemblies and have the courage to speak out for our Lord and His people. We need to shout from the rooftops and speak to everyone who will listen about this bound conscience and how it is turning people away from God. Evil hides in the darkness and those that ignore or acquiesce to this evil will only serve to allow this false gospel to continue and grow stronger. We need to help bring this errant doctrine out into the light so that everyone will know that it leads those that follow it on a path away from our Lord.  Without our Lord we are nothing, but if we do God’s will, nothing is impossible. It may take time, but your voices will be heard. We cannot let the misguided leadership of the ELCA lead the church away from the Lord and into the darkness.