Mike, a young and relatively new Lutheran, sends greetings to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and all those who feel impacted by recent ELCA decisions: whether you are joyous or disheartened, may God’s grace and the peace that passes all understanding be with you during this time of turmoil.
I thank God for the ELCA and its impact on my life. This church’s members, lay leaders and clergy live out the Great Commission on a daily basis, making disciples locally through congregations, regionally through synods, and across the globe through world missions. In congregations all over the world, ELCA churches minister to both members and their surrounding communities. In churches I’ve personally been a part of, I’ve experienced the love of Christ through both members and leadership, laity and ordained. I’ve observed and been a part of community projects where the love of Christ has been spread to surrounding areas. I’ve personally born witness to and participated in the ELCA’s active fulfillment of Christ’s call to serve throughout the world. The hungry have been fed. The sick have been healed. The naked have been clothed. The outcasts have been loved. “God’s work, our hands” has been more than a mantra, it’s been a state of mind within the ELCA for as long as I’ve been a part of it.
Debate and division now threatens the ELCA. Decisions made during the recent church-wide assembly are already creating a rift both within the ELCA itself and within the larger body of Lutheran believers. It is too early to tell the full scope of this rift, but some have already drawn their lines in the sand. Some are thrilled at the outcome. They are overjoyed that the church can be inclusive in the spirit of Christ’s love for all people. Others are saddened that the church is seemingly ignoring historic scriptural interpretation and embracing what they see as unrepentant sinful behavior.
The social statement produced by the ELCA addresses the rift directly. Both views are supported by an argument that they are derived from conscience-bound scriptural interpretation. The social statement makes it clear that “consensus does not exist”. In other words, the social statement addresses that the division already existed in the church. Last week’s assembly didn’t create the division. It may be a surprise to some of you, but if you’re a member of an ELCA congregation, you’ve already been living in a house divided. And even with this division existing among you, God’s work has been done through your hands.
I was blessed by the grace and peace exhibited during the assembly, both by ELCA leaders as well as speakers on the floor. Brothers and sisters in discord on a single issue, yet united as one in worship and prayer. It was beautiful. Not so beautiful are the conversations that inevitably surfaced among observers both during and since this assembly. Many of these conversations lack even a hint of the grace and peace demonstrated by assembly members. Strong emotions exist on both sides of the divide and, as a result, strong words are being used. Some of these words speak to the heart of the matter, but many are completely out of place. Let me address some of this rhetoric directly.
Agendas. I heard many people chastise and disregard speakers at the assembly for ‘having an agenda’. The truth is, we all have agendas. We’re human. We have both intellect and opinion. The question is, what do we do with these agendas as we discern truth from the scriptures? I fear the reality is that many people seek support for their own opinions through scriptures. The emotion and angst I hear from some of you is a testament to this. If people were simply seeking truth without regard for personal opinions and agendas, would such emotion be evident? Is it even possible to read scriptures through a transparent and spotless lens? Fortunately for all of us, the Holy Spirit is just the spotless lens we need. I pray we all set aside opinion and seek truth from the scriptures through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Abandonment of scripture. Both sides of the divide are using scripture and their conscience-bound interpretation of it to back their arguments. I could pick a side and easily argue for or against it using the same Bible. For those who say that the answer is clear in the scriptures, it’s obvious that it isn’t or we wouldn’t be having this discussion as a church body. Each side believes the answer is clear, and yet each side arrived at a different answer than the other. Neither side is abandoning the scripture.
Inclusiveness. I beg you to put aside talk of inclusiveness. The ELCA already includes people of all sexual orientations, a fact made even more evident with the result of last week’s debate and subsequent votes. People of all sexual orientations have already been members and lay leaders of ELCA churches. If you’re a member of an ELCA church, you’ve already been a part of a church who is ‘inclusive’ of people of all sexual orientations. If you’re considering leaving the ELCA now, perhaps you should ask yourself why you haven’t left already. Likewise, if you’re joyous now, perhaps you should ask yourself why it took you so long to become so.
Love and compassion for others. There are those who say, ‘God calls us to love all people,’ and they’re right. But to use a statement like this to attack someone else as being hateful is just wrong. Not everyone who stood behind a red microphone is a ‘hate monger’ just like not everyone who stood behind a green microphone is a ‘liberal crackpot’. Yes, hatred exists in the world and even in the church. But there are many who love our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters yet still believe they are sinning based on conscience-bound interpretation of scripture.
Rhetoric weakens us. All of us. Rhetoric is the language of politics. It’s the language of generalization. It’s the language of marginalization. It’s the language of assumption. It has no place in Christ’s church. Rhetoric weakens us because when we no longer see Christ in the brother or sister we disagree with, we can too easily tear them down.
Worse yet is that many of us are no longer even trying to see Christ in the brother or sister standing across the divide from us. How must God feel to see His children ripping each other apart?
I beg of you all: rise above such behavior. Do not conform to the patterns this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. The world may bicker and squabble and throw stones across the divide. The world may point fingers and call names. The world may turn its back and walk away when disagreements arise. But we are not the world.
I pray that we learn to set aside our own agendas. I pray that we learn to set aside rhetoric. I pray that we learn to seek out Christ in others, even if we disagree with them. May we remember that our church was divided and broken before these votes were cast. May we remember that our hands are called to do God’s work regardless of our brokenness. May we remember that it is He who unites us, not that which divides us, that makes us the church.
May we learn to accept our brokenness and get on to the work we are called to do.
“Now may the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
