Churches that maintain traditional stances on various and sundry doctrinal and moral issues are increasingly looked upon as judgmental, not only by the secular culture (which as doubtlessly always thought as much) but by Christians as well. This article in the Des Moines Register Sunday illustrates this well: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012306030007
Missouri Synod Lutherans in particular are seen as being too rigid, narrow-minded, and not open to dialogue by many both outside and inside the Church. But why are we surprised by this? There was a time when there was some general agreement between the Church and the culture in moral absolutes. Christian or not, it wasn’t right to sleep around. So, it is only natural as the culture itself has grown more permissive and more tolerant of aberrant behaviors and philosophical views that any church that does not change and adapt will be viewed as judgmental and strict.
Over a century ago, poet William Butler Yeats saw the writing on the wall in his poem “The Second Coming:”
TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of i{Spiritus Mundi}
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
Yeats describes what he saw happening in the human condition in his day: “the centre cannot hold.” How prophetic, in a way. Which brings me back to the initial point of this post: why doctrinal churches seem so judgmental to people today, well, it’s obvious. God’s Word does not change. And, as long as there was some sense of absolute truth and morality in the culture, the Church didn’t seem so counter-cultural. Now that there are no moral absolutes, any church that says there are is going to be labeled as judgmental, strict, and rigid.
Of course, this is not an excuse for the Church and her members to look with disdain and hatred at others. It is no excuse for Christians to act in a “holier-than-thou” manner. Actually, if a person is truly a Christian, he will look with some pity upon his fellow citizens, as those who have been deceived by the prevailing culture, as one sinner to another.
One Lutheran...Ablog!™ 
“God’s Word does not change. And, as long as there was some sense of absolute truth and morality in the culture, the Church didn’t seem so counter-cultural. Now that there are no moral absolutes, any church that says there are is going to be labeled as judgmental, strict, and rigid.”
INDEED!
Yet when those churches succomb to compromising their faith to met the cultural changes, that is sadder still. Looking on with pity, for sure, but I tend to point out to those who attend or agree with the compromise, that “GOD’S WORD DOES NOT CHANGE.” I try to direct their attention to the Word to show them where there are in error. If they see this, with the help of the Holy Spirit, then they will pass that on to others, too.
I just can’t let it go to pity alone. This is especially true in my wittness to Mormons. They have to see that the Bible is correct and the Word stands alone. The people ask why there are so many denominations. In love, I need to explain that.
Wonderful post, Pastor.
Thanks for the reply. I didn’t mean that we should only have pity and do nothing else. But that is simply in contrast to the kind of self-righteousness that Christians can be tempted to fall into. We should, out of pity, out of love for our neighbors, seek to correct them with the Truth of God’s Word, but not in a way that is belligerant.
AMEN!!
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I was a member of a MS Lutheran church after moving to the Metro Nashville area. I joined mostly because of ” passive pressure ” from my uncle & aunt ( who have now left for the Anglican church, possibly ironically enough ). I was interested in MS Lutheranism at 1st , but as I saw how rigid & inflexible the church was / is, I gradually began to question & regret my decision. I left approximately 2 years later & have given precious little thought to being part of Lutheranism or indeed organized religion on the whole. The pastor was completely dismissive of other denominations or concepts deviating from the norm, gave windy, verbose sermons & didn’t believe in using any hymn under 200 years old. This didn’t help matters any, especially when he looked disapprovingly at my collection of Buddhist, Native American, & Ethiopian folk art.
You didn’t mention anything about taking Lutheran Catechism classes before joining. By the end of an adult Catechism class, people get to see what we’re all about and why, and, if they don’t like it, they are free to go their way. If they do, then they join. It sounds a little like an exaggeration when you say the pastor wouldn’t use any hymns under 200 years old.
Uh, I think I should’ve taken a long hard look during Catechism rather than going into it as if I had no idea WHAT I was getting into. Even my cousin here ( not a Lutheran ) asked me if I was joining because I felt a genuine pull towards the Lutheran denomination or agreeing to join just to please my uncle & aunt, who, as I said, joined the Anglican church not long ago.
Some denominations – not just the Lutherans / MS Lutherans – need to ” loosen up ” at least a little, or else they’ll find themselves losing members. Remember what happened w / Anne Rice returning to the Catholic Church & then denouncing it as being too intolerant again. I think there is a lesson to be learned there.
I do apologize if I come across as maybe a tad antagonistic, but my own experience plus the experiences of others have made me lose much of my desire for organized religion.
What exactly should we “loosen up”? Should we go for the modern Gospel music with guitars, etc? Should we allow gays to be pastors, perform same-sex marriages, etc. to be more like other churches of today? Do we have a sort of DIS-organization in or churches-loosesly run with no set of rules in the doctrine, etc?
One thing you can trust with LCMS chrches is that we believe in: Scripture alone, Faith alone, and Grace alone.
We are teaching what is in the Bible and not someone’s idea of what we should or should not do. Music? Do we come for entertainment? Think about it and visit all the Christian churches, write down the PROS and CONS in columns for each. Weigh things out and then that’s the church you want to attend-the one that’s closest to what you believe in. There’s a warning, however, for the non-denominational churches, you will have to constantly check what they do and say with the Bible.
You will need to find out the doctrines, compare then, etc. before you choose. Many people of other denominations have obtained the Small Catechism for themselves. Why? This book contains a compact doctrine of the Christian faith with proofs in the Bible. You won’t find anything like it.
Epicopalian church? They allow homosexuals to be pastors which is against what the Bible says. If you are going to be a Christian, then the Bible is the Book you follow for your life. Do you go to a church that changes the Word of God around to today’s social stance of do you believe in an unchanging God.
Yes, the choice is yours. As for me and my house, we will worship the Lord.
Oh good grief, how in the world do you get from point A to point B in that last post? Sizing up a potential church home on the basis of their adherence to the inerrant Word of God? Absolutely. Faithfulness to Lutheran doctrine as outlined in the catechism? Rejecting a church based on its liberal stance on sexuality? You bet. At some point, though, you make an illogical leap to the assertion that an otherwise sound church would be out of consideration to a true follower of Christ on the basis of whether or not it uses guitars in their worship services. Wow. That’s interestering. Your charge that such music is merely for the “entertainment value” of the worshipper rather than the expression of music that that particular pastor has determined will best represent our God to the demographic in his community is not only inane, it’s shamefully judgmental. The last time I checked, an autonomous congregation has not only the right but the obligation to vary its delivery of the timeless gospel to its community. The gospel message must remain pure, that’s for sure… but it is in now way compromised by the use of a guitar. You would have probably been numbered in the group that I’m sure was there when Luther was criticized for his music choices.
Some people go only for the entertainment NOT that the use of guitars, etc. is wrong. They choose a church based on this modern presentation ONLY. There have been a few people who left our church for his reason!
When you say that people choose a service, or in some cases, choose a church itself based on musical preference, I agree. We have some who prefer modern, some traditional. That is normal human behavior, and I see no reason to bar a sincere Christ-follower from this choice. To be fair, you must admit that some people also go to church because they really like the way the choir and organist seem to be able to enhance their worship. I assume you would also condemn that kind of thinking. I guess we could just ban music altogether.
The MS Lutherans need to loosen up, & refer to the teachings of Jesus more than the writings of Martin Luther. The church I attended treated Luther’s writings like sacred writ. I’m done with them.
You took this entire music thing out of context of what I was saying in reply to the poster previous to me. It was not specifically regarding music! The reply was regarding what he wanted the LCMS to “loosen up”; therefore, I’m not going further with this thread.
Arguments about musical style are just a smokescreen. The real issue is doctrine. Do you believe that what we teach is in accordance with God’s holy Word, or not? If not, then what about our doctrine is not Scriptural?
Secondly, you can’t divorce doctrine from worship. One drives the other. Our doctrine (what we teach and believe) is seen in how we worship. And the way we worship forms our faith. I have nothing against using other instruments in worship, as long as they are used to lead the congregation in singing Lutheran hymns. Last week at the Higher Things youth conference there was organ, strings, brass, wind instruments, and a choir. At our District Convention there was even a tympany used during one of the hymns. Last Monday a girl played Amazing Grace on a guitar and sang during a Funeral procession into the church. It was reverent, and appropriate for the sacred space. No one is going to pin me down on a particular musical instrument.
Show me, from Scripture, where Lutherans are wrong in our teaching. Stop making false accusations about our attitude towards music and worship, and our use of the witnesses of other Christian teachers like Martin Luther. We hold to the Catechism and other writings of Luther because they are a pure exposition of the holy Scriptures. They are faithful witnesses of what Scripture teaches.
What the MS Lutherans & other churches tightly bound up by doctrine need is an equivalent to the Catholics’ Vatican II. & to come into the early 21st century.
That would mean changing the doctrine. Our doctrine is that the Bible is the true, unerring Word of God. By changing the doctrine on that, for example, we would be like many other churches who now accept homosexual marriages pastors, that whatever a person decides the Bible means to them is fine, etc.
That would also mean that we would not be following the Bible. Martin Luther interperted the Word and we agree with his interpertation. I investigated many denominations and LCMS is the closest to what the Bible teaches. We agree that the way Martin Luther interperted God’s Word is what is meant. He said that the Bible is the unerring Word of God, and we agree with him on that.
He concisely wrote the Large and Small Catechisms so we have the doctrine of what we believe in to teach our children and others, Other churches have their doctrines, too, but some are not all written out for members to read. Many people of other denominations get the Sm. Catechism as it has the doctrine of the Christian Church in a handy form. The Bible references are in that too.
In other Words, we use the Bible foremost and the Cathecism as a guide to explain to us more clearly what the Bible is saying. Our Synod does meet annually and go over things that are currently happening. The Pastors do vote to keep or change some rules. But the basic doctrine of the Church stands as it is the closest interpertation of the Bible’s meaning.
I found many things in the other denominations that were not close to the Bible. In Vatican’s II meetings, many of their changes were in traditions. Don’t forget that the Catholic Church does not hold the Bible to be the true, unerring Word of God. They hold the Bible belief but if there is a conflict with their traditions, then the traditions rule. Methodists and Presbyterians hold that Holy Communion is for remembrance only. We believe that in, with, and under the Bread and Wine is Jesus’s body and blood.. The Catholics believe that Christ is sacrificed in the Holy Communion over and over again.
So we would not be changing the meaning of Holy Communion as Martin Luther interperted from the Bible. Every person needs to find out what they really believe about the Bible then find a church whose doctrine Is closest to what they believe in. Also, there are other LCMS churches that do use a newer service, for example, but all LCMS churches adhere to the same doctrine.
Take the Small Catechism and see what is in there that you don’t agree with. Check it against the Bible. Check them agaist the other church’s doctrines online and in person. It may be that you agree with the LCMS doctrine but are looking for a more modern worship experience. You can find a larger church that has several services. I went to one outside DC in VA a couple of years ago. There we 3 services each Sunday and the one that I attended was the modern one.
Please don’t judge LCMS on one church but explore the doctrine, compare it to what you believe and compare it to the Word of God.
Is the number of MS Lutherans increasing or decreasing significantly ? One could very well associate a decrease in practicing members with the rigid adherence to doctrine. People don’t always like rigid, inflexible adherence to doctrine & intolerance towards any group or sub – group who doesn’t fit or is considered significantly ” different “. I didn’t. Despite minor differences we are all the same in God’s eyes.
This deends on the area for increase or decrease I talked to a Pastor recently in WA and his church had an increase. People are leaving the ELEC due to their stance on gay pastors. (ELEC does not believe in Scripture Alone or the unerring Word of God. )
But again, if you are saying acceptance you maybe a gay person looking for a church to accept you as you are. LCMS loves gay people but love according to the Bible.
Rigid adherance? We should change and only follow what like in the Bible and not everything? God does not change. His Word is forever. We are not going to change what God says due to changesw in social mores. What kind of doctrine is that? When we are shown our sin than we confess it and receive the forgiveness Jesus gives us in His Grace (undeseverved love). We then have the power and strength of the Holy Spirit to live a better life.
We may e “rigid” in following what God says but this is what He wants from us. Where in the Bible does God say: You have a choice to follow some of whatI command, and do what you like, or follow all of it?
To find out exactly what we believe in many areas, homosexuality, etc.:
http://www.lcms.org/page.aspx?pid=388
The “What about…?” subjects are in PDF form
I am a new member of a LCMS and the doctrine is pure to the Holy Scripture, Faith alone, Scripture alone, grace alone and I love the music.
Reblogged this on Compendum of Christian Blogs.
I don’t even agree with most mission statements … My BEING Lutheran is more a result of my being born into a Lutheran family than anything else . My faith is a journey that changes – Occasionally , I “sneak out” to the back pews of other churches… ( I seem to always come back to my comfortable Lutheran pew ).
I love the concept of ” The Communion of Saints ” and I wish there was more congregational involvement .
I know this is an old thread. But I have to put in my two cents. I’ve been a reluctant Baptist for nearly twenty years. In the last church that I attended I was on the pastor search comity and was quite adamant that we hire a pastor committed to pure biblical doctrine. I did lock
horns with some on the comity but that church now has a God fearing and faithful to the scriptures pastor. In the meantime I was part of the music team for that church. Our new pastor was of the opinion that in order to grow the church we would need to “modernize” our music. I was expected to do that. Being the hillbilly that I am I was not able to do that, so a big fuss ensued, and I was asked to leave. Taking the hint as word from Holy Spirit , I went back to the town where I live. Because I believe that we should endeavor to be a light in our own communities first. And He lead me, and my family to the local LCMS. I was astonished at the care that was given to be true to the Holy Word of God.
Now I want to point out that in Lutheran circles I am considered quite modern in my music.
But by Baptist circles very old fashioned. I think however that I would prefer the oldest music in the Lutheran hymnal. Although I am now on the more modern music team. This is because The Gospel should NEVER be outshone by ANYTHING? It must ALWAYS be front and center of everything we do as Christians. The minute we try to use anything aside from Gods own word and his actions toward us sinners, as “drawing points” we begin to insert ourselves into the place of Holy Spirit. Music is probably the largest abuse. The old Lutheran hymns may, or may not have the musical intricacies, or feelings that we are used to. But they were written for a purpose and that purpose was to teach us laymen sound doctrine which we direly need. That is the very element that is completely absent in a high percentage of contemporary Christian music.
I firmly believe that as long as the LCMS maintains its stances on doctrinal issues. That it will steadily grow. This is because it is the only place (that I know of) where Gods word is strictly adhered to. I’m not a reluctant Lutheran. I wholly support it. At least on doctrinal grounds. As for other issues, we are only men doing the best we can and the Church cannot be perfect, at least not as long as I am a member.
Another noteworthy observation is that in a town with a greater Mormon population per capita than even Salt Lake City and a total population of roughly 4000. It is only the LCMS church that is actually flourishing. The other “evangelical” churches are just about withered up and gone. Doctrine Doctrine Doctrine. Upon that alone will the Church of God sand or fall
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