Why Language Matters

The old adage says, “The devil is in the details,” but it is equally true that God is in the details. Especially in theology—literally, words or talk about God—precision in language is essential and it presents many challenges. One is simply finding the right words to express Christian truth, since God defies description and the central convictions of our faith—incarnation, atonement, resurrection and many others—remain deep mysteries.

An opposite challenge is that theological efforts to find those right words to express Christian truth often strike people as mere quibbling. In trying to explain why reform is needed in the ELCA, I often find myself trying to show how apparently minor issues of language are really the tips of much larger theological icebergs, and just as often find my explanations met with exasperation or glazed-over eyes.

Yet, what we say about God and how we say it really does matter. Here is one example. The synod where I serve recently announced the theme of this spring’s assembly. It will focus on evangelism, so the theme was taken from the title of a new hymn included in the new cranberry hymnal, “Will You Come and Follow Me?”

I am all in favor of emphasizing evangelism. The ELCA could use much more of that. But this theme is just inaccurate. None of the four Gospels ever record Jesus asking prospective disciples, “Will you come and follow me?” Instead, he issued a command, an order, a call. “Follow me,” he said, and those first recruits immediately dropped everything, left all behind and followed him.

So, the command was turned into a question. Why is that a big deal? It probably just fit the music better, right?

No doubt it did. But this switch in language is more significant than that. It presents a very different picture of Jesus. Rather than the Lord of heaven and earth, breaking into the lives of the first disciples with a compelling, life-changing call to follow him, turning his words into a question portrays him instead as merely making an offer, a kind of sales pitch to see if there are any takers, or pleading like some sort of  divine panhandler, “Brother, can you spare a dime?”

The picture we have of Jesus, in turn, affects how we proclaim him. Do we present the Gospel as just an offer, as one among a host of competing claims, hoping that someone will agree to follow Jesus? Or do we declare the electing word of God that Jesus did, breaking into people’s lives with a sure declaration that he is Lord and Savior? Do we embrace decision theology, seeking to make winsome proposals that will appeal to sinners? Or do we cling to a theology of the Word that accomplishes what it declares—“your sins are forgiven”? (Mark 2:5)

A lot is at stake in what we say about God and in how we say it. That’s why Lutheran CORE is deeply concerned about language being used in the ELCA and other parts of Christianity today. When we address God as “Holy Trinity,” using the name of a doctrine, instead of the name of God, it makes a difference. When the second article of the Apostles’ Creed is changed from “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,” to “I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,” severing any grammatical or Trinitarian connection between the Father and the Son, it makes a difference. When church leaders talk about “Lutheran approaches to Scripture,” rather than a “Lutheran  approach to Scripture,” making room for varying levels of honoring or rejecting its authority, it makes a difference.

As we pursue this call to bring reform and renewal to the ELCA and the broader Christian Church, it is vital that we pay close attention to language and what is at stake in it. When it comes to theology, God is in the details—and so is the devil!

Pastor Scott Grorud, Lutheran CORE Steering Committee and WordAlone Board Member

Newsletter 2.1

Lutheran CORE News 2.1

February 12, 2008

(Please copy and distribute as widely as possible.)

New web site!

Lutheran Core has a new web site - www.lutherancore.org

Thanks to Jerry Youngquist in North Branch, Minn., for designing and building the new site. Your feedback and suggestions for improving the site are most welcome. Send your comments to info@lutherancore.org

We would like more information added to our blog - www.commonconfession.blogspot.com, which is linked to the "News" menu on our web site. Please read the blog, comment on anything there, and pass it on to others.

There is also a Lutheran CORE group on Facebook – www.facebook.com! We urge you to join the 29 members now in the group. It is a great way to interact with some of the younger folks who also are dedicated to reform within the ELCA.

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New Advisory Council

We welcome a group of outstanding leaders in the ELCA who have agreed to serve on our Advisory Council. Surely you will recognize some of the names on this list:

• Mr. Alan Beaver, Salisbury, North Carolina, member of Lasting Word, North Carolina Synod

• Rev. John Beem, Miltona, Minnesota, former Bishop of East Central Wisconsin Synod

• Dr. Robert Benne, Professor Emeritus Roanoke College, Virginia, and Director of the Center for Religion and Society

• Dr. Carl Braaten, Sun City West, Arizona, Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology and Senior Editor of Pro Ecclesia

• Rev. James R. Crumley, Jr., Chapin, South Carolina, former Bishop of the Lutheran Church in America

• Rev. Paul Gausmann, Pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, York, Pennsylvania and member of Lutherans Reform! in the Lower Susquehanna Synod

• Rev. Jeffray Greene, Pastor of American Lutheran Church, Rantoul, Illinois and Editor of FOCL Point, Fellowship of Confessional Lutherans

• Rev. Gary Hatcher, Pastor of St. Peter Lutheran Church, Greene, Iowa and member of call to Faithfulness in the NE Iowa Synod

• Rev. George Mocko, Towson, Maryland, former Bishop of Delaware-Maryland Synod

• Rev. Dennis Nelson, Pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, West Covina, California and member of the Evangelical Mission Network

• Dr. James Nestingen, St. Paul, Minnesota, Professor Emeritus, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota

• Rev. Richard Niebanck, Delhi, New York, Former Secretary for Social Concerns, Department of Church in Society, Division for Mission in North America in the Lutheran Church in America

• Rev. Russell Saltzman, Pastor of Ruskin Heights Lutheran Church, Kansas City, Missouri, and former editor of Forum Letter

• Rev. Kenneth Sauer, Columbus, Ohio, former Bishop of Southern Ohio Synod and Chair of ELCA Conference of Bishops

• Rev. Beth Schlegel, Pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, York, Pennsylvania

• Rev. Fred Schumacher, Manchester, New Jersey, Executive Director of the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau

• Rev. Morris Vaagenes, Shoreview, Minnesota, Pastor Emeritus of North Heights Lutheran Church, Roseville, Minnesota

We will gather this group for an initial meeting in late April and invite them to consider how they can support the work of Lutheran CORE. This group is particularly qualified to comment upon the draft social statement on human sexuality and the Bible study materials being released for congregations. We are hoping that they can add ideas from their own areas of expertise.

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Steering Committee

The Steering Committee has met twice since our last newsletter, once by conference call and once at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church near Columbus, Ohio.

We clarified some administrative issues and reaffirmed our financial commitment to reimburse the WordAlone Network for their services to us. Lutheran CORE steering committee members also will attend meetings of the ELCA church council.

In October 2002 the ELCA outreach office in Chicago acknowledged a relationship with an independent Lutheran organization, Lutherans Concerned/North America (a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered group). Lutheran CORE is seeking similar recognition by a churchwide office. The appropriate paperwork has been submitted and we have sought advice from appropriate ELCA officials on how to apply for this status. It will not constitute endorsement by the ELCA, nor will it establish any control by the ELCA over how we operate. It may allow for donations to be made to Lutheran CORE using the Simply Giving program.

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Annual Gathering

The annual gathering of Lutheran CORE will again be held in conjunction with the WordAlone Network annual convention. We will meet during the first workshop time on Monday afternoon, April 14, at Calvary Lutheran Church in Golden Valley, Minn. The Steering Committee will meet Monday evening and Tuesday morning after the event. Our friends and supporters are always welcome at steering committee meetings.

You must pre-register with WordAlone to reserve a lunch on April 14. For registration information for the WordAlone convention, please watch their website – www.wordalone.org

The annual gathering of LC3 will be held during the second afternoon workshop session at Calvary on April 14.

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Unauthorized ordinations

We are concerned that some ELCA bishops are doing nothing about unauthorized ordinations of persons not in compliance with the ELCA’s standards. In particular, there appears to be no discipline for congregations who ordain and call these persons. As we receive information, we hope to publicize it in this newsletter. Please email specific, verifiable information to Pastor Steve Shipman at prsteveshipman@gmail.com

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News from the field

In spite of icy road conditions that kept several Lutheran CORE representatives and a number of people from greater upstate New York from attending, about 80 persons met in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday, Feb. 2 for the WordAlone Regional Mission event. Surely the groundhog saw his shadow if he dared to come out of his home. Paull Spring sent a manuscript he had planned to present in person and there was much discussion afterwards.

Lutherans Reform! in the Lower Susquehanna Synod in Penn. met in January. with seventeen people in attendance. Updates were made to the suggested list for nominations for various synod and churchwide offices. The group’s new web site is www.lr-elcf.org  A synod wide event is planned on Mar. 31 at Messiah Lutheran Church in Lebanon, Penn., which will introduce congregations to the reform group’s work. Contact Pr. Paul Gausmann at Pastor.Paul@comcast.net for more information.

The Indiana-Kentucky Renewal Network sponsored an open forum on Feb. 9 at Christ the Savior Lutheran Church in suburban Indianapolis. The theme of the gathering was "Speaking the Truth in Love - Reforming the Reform." Paull Spring was the keynote speaker, and there were additional presentations and workshops on the network’s ministry and its goals for the ELCA. More than fifty people participated. The group is an organized, active, and growing renewal movement within the Indiana-Kentucky Synod. The group has also asked to be a member group of Lutheran CORE, bringing the total to nine member groups.

Please email the editor with reports of local gatherings. We wish to encourage people around the country with news of the many good things that are happening in the work of reform.

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Thanks for your donations

We are overwhelmed by the generosity of many people. The steering committee was pleased to hear a report that a large congregation in California joined our growing base of congregational supporters and voted to make a generous contribution. Please learn the process for including Lutheran CORE in your congregation's budget and help us expand our mission of working for reform in the ELCA. We also welcome and need individual gifts in any amount, which have sustained us thus far.

It will not be inexpensive to gather the Advisory Council, and already we are looking at major expenses for our presence at the Minneapolis churchwide assembly in 2009. Our steering committee donates their time, but most need travel reimbursement for meetings and other events including ELCA church council meetings.

Our relationship with the WordAlone Network allows us to avoid many distractions from our mission of reform. While we still hope to secure our own 501(c)(3) non-profit status in the future, for now we operate administratively within WordAlone. Please send your contributions to:

Lutheran CORE

c/o WordAlone Network

2299 Palmer Drive, Suite 220

New Brighton, MN 55112

Make checks payable to WordAlone Network, and write "Lutheran CORE" on the memo line. Contributions to Lutheran CORE are tax deductible as permitted by law.

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Pastoral letter

In closing we share a portion of a letter Pr. Tom Renquist wrote to the members of Lord of the Hills Church in Centennial, Col., where he serves. He indicated that 25 years ago he supported the ordination of practicing homosexuals. He continued:

In that congregation we began the discussion by inviting in homosexual Christians who told us, “This is the way God made me, so it must be good.”  And precisely there is the misstep:  beginning with our human experience.  Building our theology on the human experience is a foundation of sand.  Eighty years ago, when the Swiss theologian Karl Barth first began his Church Dogmatics, he made just such a false start.  Thank goodness, he recognized his mistake after his first volume and started all over again:

…in this second draft I have excluded to the very best of my ability anything that might appear to find for theology a foundation, support, or justification in philosophical existentialism.  The Word or existence?

Since we all do know homosexual persons – and like them and love them! – it is so tempting to begin with the human experience:  here is X, who so obviously has gifts for the ordained ministry in the parish; whether he has a homosexual partner or not, should we not ordain him and make use of his gifts?  Once again it is the argument:  “This is the way God made me; therefore it must be good.”

But that is an approach that stays stuck in Genesis 1 and 2 (the Stories of Creation) and totally forgets Genesis 3 (the Story of the Fall into Sin).  None of us are as God intended us to be; sin has tainted us all.  In fact, that was the sin of Adam and Eve – and therefore the sin of us all – the desire to exalt ourselves and be like God.  To this audacious presumption of humans to become God, God answers with the gracious good news of the Gospel:  God became human!

His entire letter is posted on our web site at www.lutherancore.org/papers/pastoral-letter.shtml

With such thoughtful, compassionate, and dedicated supporters, there is hope for the ELCA. Keep our bishops, pastors, congregations, and leaders in your prayers. There are no limits on what the Holy Spirit can accomplish. As we observe Lent, recall that the whole Christian movement began with one lonely man dying on a hill outside Jerusalem. We who believe that the power of God raised Jesus can scarcely begin to imagine what this God can do with the ELCA.

Pastor W. Stevens Shipman, steering committee member and communications committee

prsteveshipman@gmail.com

CHURCH POLITICS OR SPIRITUAL WARFARE

I met a fellow pastor from the Northeast Iowa synod at Lindenhurst who had doubts about Lutheran CORE’s prospects.  He’s orthodox and traditional and tired of the fight.  He didn’t think he had much energy and time left after taking care of his parish to be involved in reform at the national or synod level.

“If you can’t do anything else or be involved in any other way,” I said, “Just make sure you and your full complement of voting members show up at your conference assembly and at the synod assembly and stay at least until the votes are cast for elections and key resolutions.” 

“I can’t stand being at synod assembly for longer than 45 minutes,” he complained, “It just wears on my soul.” 

 I’ve been thinking about that for the last few months.  I know all kinds of folks who decry “Church politics!  Yuck!”  There are folks, even in my own parish, who have tired of the fight.  “Let’s just leave…and if we’re not leaving, let’s just ignore it.”  I understand their fatigue.  I’ve resigned myself to the reality that at least in terms of the ELCA and the synod, this fight—not just over homosexuality, but also over the authority of Scripture and the Trinity and the exclusive claims of Christ as Savior etc.—will in all likelihood continue to the end of my ministry, to either retirement or death. Doesn’t give me warm fuzzies. 

  But I know from both the New Testament and church history, that this is has often been the case in the church.   The devil is always active, always seeking to lead the church astray and assault the church and undermine the faith and teaching of the church by casting doubt on or contradicting God’s Word.  The human beings involved in this conflict are not our enemies—they’re victims as well of the lies and deceits of the evil one and his minions.  And I know, that what seems to be politics or political stuff in the church, are also the occasions and opportunities that God uses in calling for faithful witness and confession of the faith. 

It was church politics in Acts 6 when the apostles appointed 7 Greek-speaking deacons.  It was church politics in Acts 15 at the council of Jerusalem with Paul and Peter both arguing to and against James and the other Jews about what was and was not necessary for Gentiles to become Christians.  It was church politics in Galatians 2 when Paul recounts how he confronted and told Peter to his face that he was being a hypocrite.  It was church politics that Paul plunged into in dealing with situations of sin and division at Corinth and in the other churches to which he wrote letters.  It was church politics in the 2nd and 3rd centuries when the orthodox opposed and took measures to correct or drive out heresy and heretics from the church.  It was church politics that Athanasius endured in the 300’s when he suffered exile and imprisonment to persevere in the battle for the Trinitarian and Incarnational faith of the church—it took the whole length of his ministry (reinforced at the end by the Cappadocian church fathers entering the fray).  It was church politics when Ambrose upbraided the Emperor and when Augustine opposed Pelegianism and Donatism.  It was church politics in which Luther and his colleagues in reform were engaged when they sought the correction and reform of the church. 

 It’s time for us to get over “church politics” being “too dirty” for our hands.  Obviously, how we do things in the church still needs to be churchly and Christ-like (but remember our Lord stood up to the Pharisees and scribes, cleansed the Temple, stood His ground before the Sanhedrin, and yes, was crucified, for what was also a political crime at the time, of claiming to be the Messiah and King of Israel and God Himself when the Emperor at Rome was seen to be the supreme incarnation of the divine genius and lordship on earth).  As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4: Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. This isn’t about political tricks or the Washington “gotcha” game.  As Dr. Nestingen reminded us, it is about the ministry of reform and witness.

It is about stewardship, about witness, and about spiritual warfare.  As Bishop Steve Ullestad of the Northeastern Iowa Synod has repeatedly reminded me and my colleagues, we have been ordained as a pastors to and for the whole Church, not just the parish or congregation.  We have a responsibility, as also noted in the Lutheran Confessions, for the faith and well-being of the whole Church and that would include the ELCA and the Northeastern Iowa synod (or Southeastern Iowa Synod or Western Iowa Synod, as the case may be).  That truth is not just about clergy;  all of us belong not just to the congregations in which we hold membership, but to the whole Christian Church, and within that great fold, to the ELCA and our particular synods.  We are called on to exercise as best we can our responsibilities to ensure proper oversight and governance of our Church.  That means not just going along with program, but speaking up and voting and showing up to bear witness.  Bearing witness includes electing faithful leaders. 

It might also mean having to endure some discomfort and inconvenience.  In the history of the church, bearing faithful witness has often cost much more than that.  Spiritual warfare is always distressful.  Opposing falsehood and deceits and unfaithfulness to the Word of God isn’t fun—but it is necessary.    

Ephesians 6:10-18 is one of the primary spiritual warfare texts in the New Testament.  Notice how often Paul uses the word “stand”:   

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

If we’re not willing to stand for the truthfulness of God’s Word in our congregations and at conference and synod assemblies by showing up and voting, where our only sacrifice is time and our only suffering at most a bit of scorn and derision and tension, just how do we think we would ever stand anywhere or anytime else when more might be required of us? 

by Pastor Ken Kimball, Lutheran CORE Steering Committee