There is a fault line dividing Christianity. Those who choose to embrace our culture, while losing their grip on the Word of God, bit by bit. And those who embrace the Word of God, even the uncomfortable bits, and reject culture, bit by bit. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) are on opposite sides of this divide.
The criticisms I write, or quote in writing, are not borne out of animus, malice, or hatred. I’m grieved and afraid for the souls of those who are taught by the false teachers in the ELCA. To be perfectly clear, I’m certain many of our friends and family in the membership of the ELCA are indeed Christians. But, I am also certain the leadership and clergy of the ELCA have abandoned the scriptures in favor of worldly sociological and political positions, which are not compatible with God’s Word.
We believe teach and confess in the Lutheran church that those who hear the Word of God can still come to and retain saving faith contrary to what they are taught. This teaching is called the Felicitous Inconsistency. It is so called because the faith exists in opposition to what is taught. We also teach that no one should rely upon this possibility. Neither, should we encourage our loved ones to remain where false teaching prevails based upon the felicitous inconsistency. Continually hearing false teaching will eventually corrupt Christians and drive them from the faith. Sadly, they could easily remain in the ELCA as unbelievers without discomfort.
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” [Romans 10:17]
The history of the downward spiral of the Jewish people in Judges and the fall of the divided kingdoms of Israel (Judah and Samaria) stand to teach us against this path. Embracing popular paganism in an attempt to mingle it with the true faith only ends one way. The true faith is lost and destruction and suffering come to those who mingled it.
In Judges we find, “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger.” [2:11-12] “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” [17:6] “And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance. In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” [21:24-25]
And, in 1 Kings, “So [Jeroboam] the king [of Samaria] took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, ‘You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’ And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan [both in the Northern Kingdom].” [12:28-29]
“And Judah [under King Rehoboam] did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.” [1 Kings 14:22-24]
We sometimes think of America as a burgeoning atheistic culture, but that’s not a fair assessment. We are certainly a post-Christian culture. Political battles exist in our society, attempting to reject or regain the cultural elements that were the effect of Christianity‘s influence on our culture. But, Modern America is a religious culture with a god.
The big difference is that our god has no temple, no formal liturgy, no written scriptures. The god of American culture is the “me” in each one of us. Each person believes, thinks, and does what is “right for me.” The culture surrounding us worships itself, individually and collectively. Concisely, if my internal thoughts and feelings are the primary driver in a decision, the conclusion is probably flawed.
Now, this god can be right from time to time. Even a broken clock can be right twice a day. Even a broken escalator may still be a staircase. But, in the long term, this god will lead me to destruction.
This god is a selfish and capricious god. No evil deed is beyond its teaching. The internal self-justification of doing what is right in our own eye will authorize any act that benefits me. This may take days, months, or years. But, we will eventually abandon morality of any sort.
The only thing standing between us and abject abandonment of the faith, which we see in the leadership and clergy of the ELCA, and the culture it embraces, is the very Word of God. In His Word God condemns sin and teaches us to abandon it. But, it does more than that, He also gives us faith to hear and receive His forgiveness, through Jesus Christ.
Apart from acknowledged sin and forgiveness in Jesus, there can be no Christianity or salvation.
Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX
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