Our current economic crisis has left almost 10% of United States workers unemployed and 17% under employed. Personal wealth and investments have plummeted, leaving many retirement plans underfunded and causing much consternation and worry. The tax and spend policies of our government has caused the national debt to soar. News reports indicate that a 10% unemployment rate will become the new “normal”. The doctrinal shifts of the ELCA mirror the U.S. economic upheaval. The leadership of the ELCA has determined that passing their radical social agenda is worth losing up to 20% of their membership. Pastors and congregations that remain true to the Word are leaving the ELCA and flocking to traditional, faithful Synods like LCMC and NALC at numbers that just may dwarf the ELCA leader’s estimates. These progressive leaders of the ELCA are exploiting the benevolence of ELCA members to promote their idea of social justice. This is causing many congregants to redirect their giving to other ministries that remain true to the Word of God. The combination of the economic downturn and redirection of benevolence has caused the ELCA to slash their budget, cut retired ELCA pastoral pensions by 27% and eliminate almost 40% of their staff.
One would think that this would give pause to the leadership of the ELCA and perhaps cause them to reassess the course they are charting. Not these enlightened leaders and scholars that know better than our Lord. It’s damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead with a progressive, liberal social agenda, leaving our Lord behind! What you learned in Sunday School and in Confirmation classes is no longer deemed appropriate by the leaders and scholars of the ELCA. They profess their faith in the creeds and confessions on the front page of their web-site, but then publish essays that cast doubt upon the tenets of our Christian faith, directed at those that are "new" or "returning" to church. Just like our economy will mean less jobs and more taxes, the ELCA gives you less Jesus and more justice. This new “normal” for the ELCA means that you needn’t trouble yourself with that bothersome resurrection thing. You no longer need to have faith in the Risen Christ. Everyone is saved no matter what you believe. They believe and teach that there are now many paths that lead to your salvation.
This new “normal” in the ELCA means that that troublesome book with all those inflexible rules, also known as the Bible, can be disregarded and replaced with your “bound conscience”. The ELCA’s new Lutheranism is easy. Don’t like the fact that God looks upon homosexuality as a sin, not to worry, the ELCA will put together a task force and have the Church Wide Assembly vote to ignore Scripture and adopt doctrine contrary to God’s law, because, of course, we cannot truly love and accept someone if we don’t also accept their sinful behavior. The old adage "love the sinner and hate the sin" is no longer valid, because the ELCA is in the business of eliminating sin. Never mind what God says in His Word, He didn’t really mean it because the ELCA scholars have discovered that He is now saying something new. Upset that God refers to Himself in masculine terms, no problem, the radical feminists have that one covered with their “mother within us” Lord’s Prayer. They have not only eliminated all references to the masculine God, they have replaced Him with a pagan goddess. In this new and enlightened ELCA, anything goes. Apparently the leaders and scholars of the ELCA believe that since we are under grace, the law is no longer of any consequence so they advocate ignoring God’s Word if you find it bothersome.
Romans 6:15-18, “Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey – whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed you allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and become slaves to righteousness.” Those that wish to remain faithful to the truth that is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will have a tough road to follow should they choose to continue in fellowship with this wayward denomination. As the leadership of the ELCA adopts doctrine that drifts further away from the path that the Lord has set before us, eventually it will take a toll on its’ membership. Faith saves, but misguided love can deceive. The ELCA is deceiving its’ membership in a never ending love affair with the things of this world. Remember, this world is the dominion of the evil one. We are to resist the desires of worldly things and to hold fast to the promise that is our Lord. Those of you that remain true to the Lord, know this; The ELCA has already left you and if you decide to remain, you may eventually learn to accept this new “normal” that denies our Lord and Savior.
There is one common thread in the ELCA's actions, and that is its elevation of secular politics over God's commandments. I believe that many "progressive" Christians sought political power out of a desire to serve the Lord. Over time they fell in love with the power itself, and that has led them to reject the Lord since He interferes with their desire to transform society into their own image. The god of secular politics is a jealous god.
ReplyDeleteJesus warned us about this when he told Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world." I am not suggesting that Christians avoid secular politics altogether, but the ELCA's spiritual disintegration should serve as a clear warning of the corrupting influence secular politics can have on faith.
Taxing and spending does not create debt. Not taxing at the rate we are spending causes debt. The national debt has increased after each tax-cut. Having one's cake and eating it, while a consummation devoutly wished, rarely works out in the real world. My point is that secular conservatism in the church is not the antidote to secular liberalism in the church. We accuse the ELCA of being dominated by secular liberalism and they accuse their critics of being dominated by secular conservatism. We should go to great ends to prove them wrong and to stand on the Word Alone!
ReplyDeleteA good article, none-the-less!
Taxing and spending does not create debt. Not taxing at the rate we are spending causes debt.
ReplyDeleteThat statement is ... startling, to say the least. In the real world spending does in fact cause debt, since (unlike the government) I do not have the luxury of increasing my salary whenever I wish by taxing the heck out of my employer.
I am not sure where Anonymous got the idea that secular conservatism is being proposed as a cure for the sickness in the church. Radical leftist politics has ruined the ELCA, since it has replaced the Gospel as the church's primary mission. I for one am not eager to embrace the same problem under a new name. There have been justifiable complaints about the so-called Christian Right's activities, but few in the ELCA seem willing to admit they have the same problem on the opposite side of the political spectrum.