{"id":2684,"date":"2024-09-04T13:59:55","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T17:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/?p=2684"},"modified":"2024-09-04T13:59:57","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T17:59:57","slug":"not-that-kind-of-lutheran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/not-that-kind-of-lutheran\/","title":{"rendered":"Not That Kind of Lutheran?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Conservative Lutherans compare ourselves to liberals like the ELCA, we’d like to think the key difference is that we adhere to timeless Biblical principles and they do not. Unfortunately, the recent reality in the LCMS does not at all live up to the ideal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From my latest at American Reformer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Walz\u2019s congregation is, for example, committed to \u201cAntiracism work\u201d and \u201cde-centering whiteness.\u201d But last year, President Harrison of the LCMS sent out a letter<\/a> to our entire church body to \u201ccategorically reject the horrible and racist teachings of the so-called \u2018alt-right\u2019 in toto.<\/em>\u201d He even demanded the excommunication of those who falls under that defunct and ambiguous<\/a> label of \u201calt-right\u201d or under meaningless labels like \u201cracist\u201d or \u201cNazi\u201d which leftists use to slander conservatives every day. And yes, it has resulted in a number of individuals being unjustly expelled from their congregations<\/a>. This work of antiracism is the only doctrine for which I\u2019ve seen our leadership go the mat so hard since the \u201cBattle for the Bible\u201d in the 1970\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hardly an isolated instance either. For example, President Harrison also wrote a lengthy statement<\/a> on George Floyd\u2019s death and the subsequent riots. Therein he denounced racism as \u201cAmerica\u2019s original sin,\u201d demanded repentance from all of us, and pleaded for new policies to end racial injustice. In 2017, Synod added racism to Luther\u2019s Small Catechism under the 5th Commandment despite racism becoming an increasingly meaningless term<\/a>. Our recent Large Catechism with Annotations and Contemporary Analysis (LCACA) likewise included an essay reframing the 9th & 10th Commandments using the concepts of Critical Theory<\/a> to condemn sins of \u201cprivilege\u201d like gentrification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when it comes to \u201cde-centering whiteness,\u201d LCMS leadership is quickly getting on board. Parishioners and leadership alike often complain that at 95% Caucasian,<\/a> our churches are simply \u201ctoo white<\/a>.\u201d In the face of our demographic decline, President Harrison has dismissed<\/a> the idea that having children again will improve our numbers and favored programs that diversify the LCMS through outreach to immigrants and \u201cdiverse communities.\u201d And on the website for our National Youth Gathering<\/a>, the first and most prominent image representing our \u201coverly white\u201d Synod only features people of color (with a couple white youth barely visible in the background.) It seems that much of our leadership would prefer our congregations to be statistically random samples of the United States\u2019 diversity rather than the non-random people God has actually entrusted to us.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

You can read the entire thing here: https:\/\/americanreformer.org\/2024\/09\/not-that-kind-of-lutheran\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Conservative Lutherans compare ourselves to liberals like the ELCA, we’d like to think the key difference is that we adhere to timeless Biblical principles and they do not. 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