1. Matthew Becker needs to go. There are plenty of churches out there that agree with his stances on ordination, evolution, and sexuality. Why he insists on sticking around and attacking the LCMS is beyond me. I can only assume it is because he views himself as a modern day Reformer who is going to Reform the LCMS at all costs. That's an assumption, but it's probably valid. An honest man would simply step on out and head on over to the ELCA or another church like it. We do not believe like you on these things, Mr. Becker, and you will not change our church. Stop trying. Heresy has no place here.
2. If our Synod cannot oust false teachers like this, something is wrong with our bylaws. To put it even more direct, something is wrong with our church structure; our ecclesiology. If we do not have steps in place to remove false teachers from the Synod, we have a major problem on our hands. If this is the case, we either need to change it now or give ourselves over to the culture, as Becker and his liberal ilk would have us to do.
Perhaps the bigger problem is that somewhere along the line, the Synod has allowed a plethora of error to creep in unchecked. The Becker incident is the latest one; even to the point of a panel absolving him.
Our polity stinks. Somewhere along the line we have not adhered to the proper checks and balances in our ecclesiastical structure to keep the major influx of liberalism from entering the LCMS.
I am LCMS by choice. The pure truth in Word and Sacrament is here. The Confessions are here. But unless the LCMS cleans house, the LCMS is going to eventually look like a mish-mash of the ELCA and the LCMC. We don't want that, because neither of them are distinctly Lutheran. And by that I mean, neither of them are distinctly Confessional or mimic traditional and orthodox Christianity in any sense of the word.
My advice is to hear out what the men in the ACELC are saying.
It's time we revamp our polity. Ecclesiology and polity are not adiaphora. We can and must do better in this realm. We must have better ways of rooting our error and eliminating the leaven. We had best do it soon, lest we allow the festering to continue and get even more out of hand than it is.
I also came from Evangelical to confessional Lutheran faith (LCMS), and left one church because the pastor supports the "FiveTwo" program from Pr. Bill Woolsey, a group whose leaders consulted with an Episcopal mystic in their Church Growth program. At Crosspoint Church in Katy,TX, they have even played AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" in their Contemporary Praise "worship". I'm no pietist, but seriously, "Highway to Hell" in CHURCH?
ReplyDeleteMy new LCMS church is liturgical 100%, but they use the ELCA liturgy and gender-neutered Psalms. And Pastor was in a huff because our Northern Illinois District made a statement against Becker. Becker teaches at Valpo, where Pastor's son went to college.
I actually wish I could go to St. Matthew in Lemont, IL, where my great-grandfather was confirmed. The pastor there actually does real Law-Gospel sermons, is pretty firm in the Liturgy, and most definitely believes Jesus is the only way and that way is one of monergism. But that church is an hour and a half away from my home.
I really have to pray everyday for the LCMS, that she would forsake the false doctrines of neo-orthodoxy and synergistic "Evangelical"teachings, including Contemporary Law-based worship. Our Synod is in a big mess...
I still consider myself evangelical in that I believe the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Grace alone for my salvation, the Bible is inerrant, and I desire to see the lost reached by Christ. But I've forsaken the semi-Pelagianism and Enthusiasm of modern-day Evangelicism for confessional Lutheranism, which is both evangelical and catholic.
Thank you for starting this blog. Keep fighting for the Lutheran faith, which in its true form is the closest we can get to the belief and practice of the Apostolic Church, the faith which was delivered to the saints once and for all.