Why We, as a Denomination, Must Not Vote to Ignore Scripture

The upcoming August 8-14 national Churchwide Assembly and its impending decision to allow openly gay/lesbian/bi-sexual/transgendered ("GLBT") clergy to serve in the church and permitting the blessing of gay marriage is now upon us. As a few people mentioned in our Adult Forum on the Sexuality Study, held this past July 24th, I seem to have given up on the ELCA and its ability to make sound, scripturally based and confession-based decisions on ANYTHING. I confess that this is largely true.

"Can’t we write? Protest? Submit resolutions? Call the Bishop? Go on a coffee strike?" Ok, I made that last bit up – that would be un-Lutheran! But I'm afraid that it's long past the time when we, as members of the church, have any real input in the life of the denomination.

Why do I say that? Am I being defeatist or apathetic? No, I would say I'm trying to be more of a realist (by looking at how things have worked in the church), and a pragmatist – we honestly have tried the avenues made available to conservative clergy and laity and have found that the course is set – why waste time playing a game that is already lost?

* Of the 28,000 responses received by the church on this issue, only 3,956 (14%) were checked!!!! While they are careful to state that "all were read," and that this sampling gives us a supposed 95% (+ or – 1.5%) accurate result, this assumes that there was no "cherry-picking" of responses – an assumption I am NOT WILLING TO MAKE given the way that research, sociological trends, statistics, and scripture itself have been cherry-picked to make the case for gay-rights (not to mention the outright misrepresentations made by so many to promote this agenda). I simply do not trust the process or those involved with it. When lies, manipulation of facts, abuse and distortion of scripture, and abuse of power and process are used to accomplish something, it simply cannot be good or glorifying to God. These are not godly means to a godly end, and it speaks volumes about the agenda and those promoting it.
* While this statistical methodology may be valid for questions involving preferences of Coke over Pepsi, for deeply held religious convictions on volatile and complex issues, this is not a wise or statistically valid process. EVERY response should be taken into account. Since millions of dollars were already wasted on this nonsense, how much more would it have cost to really value the responses and take them into account? If indeed our opinions actually mattered...
* Even by their own statistics, only 18.2% of the respondents are in favor of blessing gay marriages and rostering openly gay clergy. Does the leadership of the church not see the coming disaster? There is so much angst over this issue and pressure to make this happen, what the actual church members really think and believe doesn't matter.

The Camel's Nose Is Under the Tent Flap
Many conservative Lutherans believe that this vote will result in something like the old saying of "the camel sticking its nose under the tent flap"– that is, soon the whole camel will be in the tent and drive everyone else out. This issue is so divisive and painful that it is going to make a mess, and it will be virtually impossible to get the camel out of the tent again without destroying it.

How did we get here?
Now we get to the real issue – and it has almost nothing to do with statistics, social trends, committees, study groups, parliamentary procedures or surveys (or camels' noses). It has to do with Scripture. It is only through the Bible that we know ANYTHING about God, Jesus, grace, sin, our condition before God, and about faith. Not from studies, not social trends, not manipulated statistics, and certainly not our own experiences and wishes – ONLY through the scriptures do we learn God's will for us and for the church. Without the clear witness of scripture on these issues, we are just making up things to make ourselves feel better about our problems and to market the church. It is all meaningless and harmful nonsense without scripture! And if we ignore this part of it, why not ALL inconvenient parts? Sin? Nah! Who needs it? Judgment? We don't like that part! Service? We'd rather be served! Sacrifice? Doesn't sell well! Salvation through Christ alone? Oh, dear, we might offend someone!

So, here we are, and yet another special interest group has maneuvered itself into a power position and manipulated a vote on nothing less than important than ignoring the clear direction of scripture on an amazingly divisive and important issue. What arrogance to think that WE can decide what parts of scripture to ignore!

Make no mistake. By approving openly gay clergy and approving the blessing of gay weddings – even if only on a limited, strictly controlled basis (there's that camel's nose again!), we are approving, for all of the world to see, what the Apostle Paul labels as a punishment from God for ungodliness!!!! From Romans 1:18 and following:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth... So they are without excuse; for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. They know God's decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die - yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.

Could Paul be any more clear???? "God gave them up..." is a horrible, frightening phrase. We do NOT want to be in that position, either as individuals or as a church, yet here we are, about to vote on whether or not we want to go there.

I'm sorry that scripture is so harsh on this – clear, but harsh. To some (apparently), it is quaintly out of date, out of step with our modern ("wise," as Paul says) sensibilities. But scripture means what it says, and it is not up to us or any study group or any churchwide assembly to negate the word of God.

And here we must be careful. I'm not talking about how the country is governed and what legal, political and social rights gay people have in our culture. That is another issue for another day. I am talking about the management and governance of the church, and the leadership of God's people. Since when do the winds of culture (which change from day to day) dictate the life of the church? Or since when do we allow inconclusive and contradictory scientific studies (many misquoted or taken out of their original contexts) inform our church culture and policy? According to our (ELCA provided!) church constitution, "This congregation accepts the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life." Really? Or did something change and we missed the memo?

Those who do not wish to follow scripture should find a nice social club that has no rules, no membership requirements, and no connection with the Bible or God. But for Heaven's Sake!!! This is the Lutheran Church, founded precisely because Luther rediscovered Scripture and through them, what grace and faith are really about. Does Luther's doctrine of Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) have no meaning to the leadership of the church?

In response to demands by the church and government to change his views at the Diet of Worms (1521), Luther said (Luther's Works, vol. 32)

"Since then your serene majesty and your lordships seek a simple answer, I will give it in this manner, neither horned nor toothed: Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me, Amen."

So we pray, and we trust and we read, and we speak out ("neither horned nor toothed," as Luther said), and hope that God's church will re-rediscover his Word. Amen

Blessings and Peace,

Pastor Larry Becker