This Might not be a Bad Thing
From the 12/1 Indianapolis Star:
House prayers can’t invoke Jesus
by Richard D. Walton“A federal court judge Wednesday barred prayers that mention Jesus Christ or endorse any religion at the opening of each daily session of the Indiana House of Representatives.
Judge David Hamilton found that the House practice breached the clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibiting government establishment of religion. While not banning prayers in the House, Hamilton ordered that any person chosen to give the invocation be instructed it must not advance any one faith or be used in a bid to convert listeners.”
Now, I’m neither all that surprised, nor all that disheartened, that this has come to pass.
Why, you ask?
Well, I’m not surprised because our society/culture is fallen, and it can’t get up — at least not how it thinks it can. And a goodly portion doesn’t even want to get up out of the gutter, as they’re there on purpose, and they like it.
I’m not that disheartened because something like this actually removes a harmful ambiguity. It takes away the temptation to think that such situations — where unionism & syncretism are almost too difficult to avoid — are “manageable” and/or can be evangelism/outreach opportunities despite any/all compromises.
I hope that some folks are shocked out of their “can’t we all just get along” stupor (wherein they usually tend to justify things my eisegeting 1 Cor 9:21-23 & Gal 3:26-29 …).
I hold no illusions that this will stop folks from going where they shouldn’t be (Yankee Stadium, after all, will always be alluring — houses of ill-repute often are…), although I confidently pray that God will use this to best further His Will.
It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out. I imagine that there will be a great hue & cry from the American Evangelical Right, along with those who have become enamored with the acclamation (if not always power) that comes from being a high-profile “player” on the contemporary local/state/national scene. It’ll be fun to watch. 
Update: This is also being discussed over at the Cranach Blog…
-ghp
Knowing Thyself is the First Step
Ok, now to my mind, there are a great many things not to like about how the ELCA does business: Priestitutes, formalized unionism & syncretism, and capitulation to Rome (via the “Augsburg Concession” aka the 1999 JDDJ), enter the mind quite quickly. These things, however, are only symptoms of the underlying problem:
The very postmodern desire to analyze & deconstruct any/everything, playing a never-ending game of “Did God really say/mean ____?”
Aside from the obvious road to hell that such sinful philosophy causes one to travel, it is also sad in that it seems to blind folks to the path upon which they are traveling.
A good illustration of this is contained in a quote from the recent Forum Letter, published by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, a left-leaning group with a goal of fostering “renewal not only within the present Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada but also Lutheran churches abroad and the wider ecumenical community.” I got this quote from page 5 of the October 15, 2004 issue of Christian News, which had reprinted it from the October 2004 Forum Letter (formatted by me to enhance readability):
“On the dilemma ELCA pastors face on gay ordination next year, and what to do about it afterwards, this note from an ELCA pastor: “What is my take on the ELCA these days? Almost embarrassment. I avoid ELCA clergy gatherings as much as I can. I swear it’s the Democratic party that writes our theology and practice. If I weren’t in my late 50s I might even consider the LCMS. I’m not fundamentalist but I still believe the Bible ought to be the basis for our teaching and practice. Sometimes I muse:
Do I want to belong to a church that denies communion to non-Lutherans, or do I want to belong to a church that passes communion like a pez dispenser?
Do I want to belong to a church that doesn’t ordain women, or do I want to belong to a church that ordains practicing homosexuals?
Do I want to belong to a church that believes in the literal interpretation of the Scripture or do I want to belong to a church that practices biblical gymnastics to make it say what it wants it to say?
Oh, please tell us there’s a middle somewhere.”
Now, it’s all too clear to me (ironic & sadly humorous as well, but nonetheless clear…) that the author of this quote obviously doesn’t see the connections between past choices and current situations/problems. Neither does he (and I’m assuming the writer is a “he” because there is consideration, however slight, given to going to the LCMS) see that logic & theological integrity make the wished for “middle” an impossibility.
“Biblical gymnastics” enabled the ELCA to do things like ordaining women and practice open communion. Indeed, distinguishing communing non-Lutherans & passing the supper out like pez is a distinction without a difference. Either communion is Biblical (i.e., closed) or it is not. Slightly “open” communion is like being “slightly pregnant.”
The “Biblical gymnastics” necessary for justifying the usurption of the Pastoral Office by women, is exactly the same for justifying homosexual usurption of the Office. Once Pandora’s Box has been opened in the slightest, EVERYTHING that is inside can come out. The proverbial “slippery slope”, however negatively it is viewed as a warning these days, became proverbial because it speaks to the truth.
I pray that those erring folks in the ELCA will be led repentantly back to the proper path of Orthodoxy, and that those in the LCMS who are so desirous of what the ELCA has, will also experience such a Spirit-driven repentance-laden renewal. I also pray that I be kept on the straight and narrow, lovingly rebuked & called to repentance by my orthodox Lutheran brothers whenever necessary.
-ghp
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