Everybody's Got an Opinion

It is, in a way, exciting for a new Lutheran museum to open up in the headquarters of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. I like museums of most kinds--even the SPAM museum. I'm one of those unusual people who enjoy learning about various parts of history, and yes, I do read most of the signs posted around as I look at the exhibits.



Anyway, you can read about the opening at the Post-Dispatch website, and see some pictures. Go soon--most newspaper websites will allow content to be seen only for a while before a person has to subscribe. Before you leave the news story and look at the pictures, however, take a gander at the comments left by readers. As of the writing of this post, there are twelve comments.



The comments start off commendably, thanking the LCMS for the work the Human Care arm does. From there, it degenerates. Only few of the twelve followed Thumper's advice: "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all." It seems to be an exposition of post-modern society. We cannot dialogue like civilized people; we have to insult and make blanket statements with nothing to back it up. We blurt out whatever we want without showing someone in love (or at least tact) how and why we disagree. If one wrote similar comments about a disenfranchised, minority, oppressed, or racial group, there'd be an uproar; maybe it's just okay to do it to the Lutherans. . . Maybe the SPAM museum is a cult museum too. . .[walking away humming, "SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM; SPAM, wonderful SPAM. . .]

Call Day

Call day at the seminary. The angst is over, but then again it is just beginning. I remember call day 10 years ago and when the congregation location was read, I thought, "Where's that?" Ten calls days have now passed. Graduates from St. Louis and Ft. Wayne have been sent across the country and around the world. Now a new group have been assigned, they are looking toward graduation, ordination, installation--and then, the immense task before them. There's only one thing wrong with the church today: It's full of sinners. As a wise pastor perpetually repeated, "They are sheep." I think of what these men may face in the parish. Maybe the angst hasn't subsided quite yet, or maybe it has morphed into apprehension.
Theories are fairly easy to handle. It's that whole "putting in to practice" thing which is a challege. Sitting in the church as the whole congregation boldly sings Easter hymns to raise the roof is quickly replaced with sitting at home watching the news which informs us that 17-year-olds may now buy the "morning after" pill.
The Lord is still Lord of the church, and he knows the men who will be "in the stead and by the command" and serve His people. Regardless.

In Memoriam

There was a shooting at a church in the greater metro area today. The shooter killed the pastor during his sermon. I cannot even remotely fathom the fear and depth of grief of the people. My heart goes out to the family and members of that congregation.
There will be much said over the next few days regarding church and forgiveness. There will be much speculation over motive and why. It will bring up the questions of why bad things happen to good people and why someone would want to kill a pastor and what about evil. There will be discussions over the man's sanity. There will be debates over whether he was did such a thing because of something in his past that he became that way or not.
My sympathy goes out to the people who will be in the middle of this investigation.
The main thing to remember is that no matter what happens in this world, it is still Christ's church and He knows His own.

Get Your Programs Here

Could someone explain to me why we need programs to get people in the church door? Sure, be welcoming (nobody likes an unfriendly bunch). Sure, invite the community in. Why, however, does the church need to market itself like another commodity supplier? Why does it have to have community open house events just to make its presence known?
Maybe I’m being too harshly critical at worst, or idealistic at best. In a theoretical world, people would show up at our churches seeking pure doctrine and Christ crucified. That is not reality, of course. I’d say that we Lutherans have a pretty good thing going here. Too bad that stuff called original sin has to muck it all up.
It just appears that we seem to be missing the point. It’s not about numbers—either in the pews or in the plates. Okay, reality check again. Without numbers in the pews or in the plates one cannot sustain. On the other hand, whose job is it to grow the church? That’s a rhetorical question, in case you’re wondering. You know the answer is not people.
Okay, I can hear it now: “What about the great commission?” Sure, but one has to remember--going and making disciples isn’t like going and making a bird house. Yep, here’s your disciple; let me make another for you. A pastor who is much smarter than I explained it to me once: Making disciples is actually a verb. Go and disciple (discipling, discipled, had discipled, if you want to conjugate it). It’s a process that is continual. How? Word and Sacrament. Catechesis. It is the cooperation of the laity and the pastors. The laity have the workaday world contact with people. They are the ones who can initiate the connection. That should be the contact to get them in the door. Then the pastor can do his job.
Programs and bait-and-switch tactics cannot sustain a congregation. If a person is looking for single parent support groups, pick-up basketball games, and community dinners; let me direct you to the community center down the road. I won’t go to them looking for forgiveness; why should they look to me for a synchronized swimming program?

Self-Taught may be Hazardous

To be misinformed is more dangerous than to be uninformed. Too many people in the church are misinformed, as well as uninformed. It goes back to the wrong application of all God’s people being ministers. The doctrine of vocation has nothing to do with being self-taught in matters of theology.
Why bother with a pastor? It’s like the commercial where the man is on the phone and the doctor on the other end is telling him how to perform surgery on himself. The man skeptically looks at the knife and says, “Shouldn’t you be doing this?” How can we learn without a teacher? In most skills, when one self-teaches, one runs the risk of mis-learning. I would never expect one of my students to read multiple books on how to use a comma and assume they will pass a test without having guided them through the material; however, in the church we think that learning without a pastor to guide us is what congregations should be doing.
We allow ourselves to read and interpret scripture based on our own reasoning. We read a part of scripture and decide for ourselves what it means, even if it is contrary to what scripture really teaches. We allow ourselves to listen to all sorts of teachers through books, radio, television, others, even culture and develop our own personal theology based on the varying messages our varied teachers tell us. Then our pastor has to undo the incorrect teaching and we say, “No, I disagree with you.”
One caveat here is that there are untrustworthy pastors our there who are doing more harm than good; but a pastor who is trustworthy will not lead his people away from the truth, but rather always pointing them to Christ.We always need to be on guard as to the false teachings out there. You know what the FBI says—the best way to spot a counterfeit bill is to study the real ones. The best way to spot bad theology is to study the real deal. This means we can’t make up our own theology to fit our mood. We need to be solid in what we believe so we can say “no” to bad theology, not to our pastors who are trying to lead us farther into what we believe, teach, and confess.

Having it Both Ways

On Fridays on Issues, Etc., they read and respond to e-mail in the first half hour of the program. Today they read an e-mail from a man who was conflicted. He wishes to attend a church where the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, but he also wishes to attend a church where there is activity. He struggles to find a church with both. He mentioned congregations that were active versus ones that are dying. I understand what he means. There is a real disparity in our church body, the LC-MS, regarding congregations.
I live in a metropolitan area where there are many LC-MS congregations; about 105 within 20 miles of my zipcode, according to the LC-MS website. There are small mission congregations, rural, inner-city, megachurches; you name it; included in that 105. There are more in the area; I just didn’t go far enough out from my zipcode.
Of the aforementioned 105 congregations, I know of many that are confessional. Many of those are smaller rural parishes who are struggling with smaller rural parish issues. The young people are moving away, the older members are transferring to the church triumphant, and they can’t convert the cows to add to their books. The confessional urban parishes are struggling because they don’t have the base of members like they used to, and so they have limited activities—choirs are shrinking, ladies’ groups are disintegrating, and youth groups, well, who has time for that?
There are many of those 105 congregations that are young, vibrant, and growing; they’re not always confessional. Many of them have sacrificed theology for numbers. There is at least one, of them who have removed the “Lutheran” part of their name so as not to offend newcomers. (One is considering a similar move.)
Then there are the middle-of-the-road congregations which are neither hot nor cold. One of which is the church I attend. They want activities, they want numbers; on the flip side, they are fighting the youth flight and the elderly passing problems.
What’s a person to do? Where are the congregations which have schools, choirs, men’s and women’s groups, youth groups (Higher Things, of course), and solid preaching with many people of many ages?
Okay, let me back-pedal for a minute. I’m not saying a church can’t be small. I’m not saying that confessional equals a perfect congregation. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being old. I know the struggle of trying to be active in a church when all the other participants are old enough to be my parents. I understand the vexation of sitting in the pew weekly waiting for the pastor to show us Jesus.
I leave this question hanging out there: Why are there so few congregations that have both solid teaching and activities?
I guess it goes back to why are there so few Lutherans when Lutheran doctrine is the clearest exhibition of Scripture. (I hope you know what I mean by that last statement—I don’t know how to word it.)