What Would Isaiah Say?By Chris Martinson 3-17-09
The Appleton Post-Crescent of Sunday, February 22 contained a front-page news article that I believe is quite sad. The article described how a task force of The Lutheran Church has decided that some of the morality shifts brought on by rising secularism in our culture may be acceptable. This task force appears to believe that the ancient wisdom contained in scripture, the creeds, and in some of the almost 500-year-old historical confessions of the Church should no longer necessarily apply to modern Christians. In addition, an ordained Lutheran Bishop was quoted as saying (in contrast to Scripture and the Confessions of the Church): “People of goodwill and great love disagree on matters of human sexuality…God’s design favors diversity…I see this challenge as an opportunity for us to give witness to the world that we can hold different views while standing together to praise the one risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Some of the members of the Task Force are ordained Ministers of the Word and Sacraments. Below is part of the ordination vows taken by all pastors and bishops in the Lutheran Church. “The church in which you are to be ordained confesses that the Holy Scriptures are the Word of God and are the norm of its faith and life. We accept, teach, and confess the Apostles', the Nicene, and the Athanasian Creeds. We also acknowledge that the Lutheran Confessions are true witnesses and faithful expositions of the Holy Scriptures. Will you therefore preach and teach in accordance with the Holy Scriptures and these creeds and confessions? “ “I will, and I ask God to help me.” It is sad for me to hear ordained clergymen who have taken vows apparently lose faith in them. This is not the first time in history that something like this has happened. When faced with a movement that puts more faith in “human wisdom”, then it puts in God and His word, at times some Christian leaders have elected man’s wisdom. The majority of Churches in Germany’s Third Reich cooperating with Hitler’s Nuremberg Laws in the 1930’s is just one example. The great prophet Isaiah, who preached and wrote during the 8th century BC, faced similar movements during that time. Many clergy and leaders of the Jewish people of Isaiah’s day worshipped in the temple, celebrated the Jewish holidays, but also practiced “diversity” by worshipping at the altars of the pagan cultures around them. Many were often putting more stock in the rituals, than in the spirit of loving and honoring God, and loving their neighbors. Concerning this, Isaiah said (in Isaiah 29: 13-14): “The Lord Says, ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder: the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.’” Has the Church sinned in its treatment of homosexuals? Have Christians been quick to offer God’s grace to more “normal” sins, such as adultery, promiscuity, pornography, and quick to leave those struggling with same-sex attraction out of our evangelistic efforts? Many would say: “without a doubt”. If we believe that our Savior can heal the sick, and make the blind see, and raise the dead, we can certainly have faith in His power to heal sexual brokenness. What would Isaiah say to a Church that is trying to stray from its vows to uphold his Word? Well, maybe he said it in Isaiah 55: 6-7: “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found! Call ye upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord and He will have mercy, and to our God and He will abundantly pardon!” These are comforting words to us sinners. Suggestions on actions in response: 1) Churches who are associated with ELCA and who wish to remain identified with traditional Biblical Authority may want to make it very clear to the communities in which they are located that they do not approve of this report or any actions that would implement it. To do this, the Churches may wish to use resolutions, letters to the editor, etc. 2) Assuming the Post Crescent quoted the Bishop correctly, Synod representatives may want to request the Bishop apologize for his statement to the newspaper. 3) At the very least, Church Councils who agree with the Authority of Scripture will likely want to clarify to their congregations where they stand on this, and make their witness known to Representatives attending the summer Assembly. UPDATE: (the previous article was written before the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August 2010. Based on that, the author now offers these suggestions. . .) - the best alternative is to leave the ELCA as a Church (unless there is a viable movement to leave as a synod), and then to leave to set up a Bible-believing Church or to join one. |
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