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I just finished a fascinating book by D.G. Hart, “The Lost Soul of American Protestantism.” I would highly recommend it. Hart’s thesis is that the problem with American Protestantism is its infatuation with relevance. In fact, he contends the traditional categories of “liberal” and “conservative” are insufficient. Rather, Hart argues that there are “pietistic” and “confessional” Protestants.
The Pietistic Protestants are the equivalent of Hybelspongists. They preach the immediate relevance of Christian faith. In its evangelical, fundamentalist, and revivalist expressions the focus is on individual conversion consisting of “devout feelings and good intentions.” This individual conversion provides immediate benefits for the individual and society. It is the “don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t dance” crowd. They are moral and sincere in their spirituality, which is all that really matters. They reject historic expressions of Christian faith with their creeds, liturgies, sacraments, catechisms, ceremonies, and ordained ministers. Instead, they opt for what works in the religious sphere. They are pragmatists. They are utilitarian. In its mainline forms, the “devout feelings and good intentions” are played out in the public sphere. It is the Social Gospel at work. It is relevant to the immediate ills of our society. Likewise, they reject the historic expressions of Christian faith. In both the evangelical and mainline expressions the focus is on the relevant, immediate results for the individual and society.
On the other hand, there are Confessional Protestants that retain their Christian identity through their catechisms and creeds, liturgies and ceremonies, preaching and sacraments, and ordained ministry. Confessionalism stresses the pilgrim character of the Body of Christ, which makes it largely irrelevant to the consumers and idealogues of this world. It does not have the energetic activism, moralism, and individualism so prized in our Pietistic Protestant environment. Pietistic Protestantism understands Christianity “as inherently activist and reform minded; it creates virtuous individuals who pursue an equally virtuous society.” The doctrine of Two Kingdoms is lost. Doctrine is lost. The Confessional Protestants have resisted such influences, trying not to have their distinct identity worn away by pietism and revivalism. It seems, however, that they have largely lost the fight. Hart laments that the “soul of American Protestantism” has been lost to the pietists.
D.G. Hart uses, among others, the LCMS as an example of Confessional Protestantism, although he recognizes the constant challenges posed by pietism. At one point he makes this observation, “Individual members of the LCMS, like those in other confessional traditions, have clearly been tempted by the American Protestant habit of applying the Christian faith to temporal circumstances and, no doubt, many have fallen. But if the LCMS as a corporate body has resisted that temptation, a large amount of credit must go to the confessional outlook that regards worship as an exercise wholly irrelevant to the warfare of this world, whether cultural, political, or military.” I’m not sure we have resisted that temptation as much as Hart gives us credit.
As the LCMS continues to preach the need for change to be relevant to the culture, it slips further into this Pietistic Protestantism. It does not take long for one to notice the prevailing trend toward Church Growth Movement tactics and programming; worship that denies the power of the liturgy and sacrament, opting for the sentimental and emotional; preaching that seeks to meet the “here and now” needs of the individual; and a general dismissal of doctrinal purity and instruction as being somewhat obsessive. The Mass is abolished. Vestments are discarded. Creeds are rewritten. Language is forgotten. Hymns are replaced. Ceremonies are abandoned. Pastors become therapists. The urgency of the immediate triumphs the apostolic and orthodox faith inherited from our fathers.
Now I realize that many of my brethren would argue that the need to reach out demands institutional change for the sake of lost people in our society. In fact, I suspect that many of them would proudly agree that they are Pietistic Protestants of a Lutheran kind as they carry their Warren book and hum the latest ditty from Vineyard. After all, we must do whatever we can to get the message out and attract people. I do not doubt their motivations, only their wisdom.
Pietism and Hybelspongism forget the power of Holy Spirit to work through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our methodism or revivalism only serves to trivialize the Christian faith. We cannot turn the pearl of great price into a cracker jack prize that makes us happy for the moment. The Body of Christ is a pilgrim people, journeying toward the “resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” We are sustained by Christ in Word and Sacrament in our journey. Our faith is nourished and strengthened in this “other-worldly” and irrelevant community through the gifts of the means of grace. And we are to invite others into the Holy Ark of the Christian Church, always knowing that we cannot manipulate the work of the Holy Spirit. Our liturgy, creeds, catechism, sacraments and such preserve the Gospel for us and the world. We are called to the hard work of catechesis and mystagogy, not the easy alternative of trivialization of doctrine and practice. Enough of a rant for this ordinary Wednesday afternoon. By the way, Hart is not from the LCMS.
In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name.
Our Lord Jesus Christ says, “In that day you will ask nothing of me.” I am familiar with that day, aren’t you? Doesn’t that sound like most of our days, asking nothing of our Lord? It is all too common for us to ask nothing of Christ, or very little. After all, that would entail prayer and our schedules are just too busy. It is so difficult to set aside that time for prayer, to fold our hands and close our eyes and make our petitions and requests. But does it really matter? Things do go relatively well for us in this life. We know little of the tribulation that Jesus mentions to His disciples. For the most part, we are comfortable and secure. We are largely successful. We are capable and self-sufficient. We try to show no weakness, masking our areas of struggle and doubt with the illusion of control. In the darkness of our depression, the shame of our sin, the embarrassment of our public improprieties, and our unfulfilled longings we remain silent, to suffer and to endure in the power of our flesh. Far too often, we choose to simply ask nothing of Christ, ignoring our God’s invitation to pray.
Days of prayer, however, do come for us. Unfortunately, those days arrive with deep pain or grief, distress and hardship. The phone call from home or the news from the doctor will force us to pray. A loved one will pass away or we will be diagnosed. Then we will not know what else to do and so we will pray in desperation. A crisis in the home or office will drive us to our knees. We will get fed up with our spouse or kids or boss. Then we might plead for strength and answers. We will pray, “Why?” and question our place in this world and before God. Prayer also comes when we want something for ourselves. The possibility of a job, a new home or car, a pay raise, or a new relationship will cause us to pray. In our troubles we expect the Father to relieve us. In our desires we expect the Father to satisfy us.
And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
Oprah Winfrey is creating quite a stir. In March she started an online course with Eckhart Tolle, a New Age guru and author of the best-selling book, “A New Earth.” The course title asks, “Are you ready to be awakened?” Apparently, millions are ready to be awakened as they have joined her on the web. The course contains the typical New Age cliches and platitudes. “One must live in the now.” “We must attain a higher consciousness.” “You can transform yourself.” “Be the change.” “Get centered.” “Listen to the voice of God within you.” “You are your own best authority. as you work to know and love yourself, you discover how to live a more spiritual life.” “Behave your way to success.” For Oprah, self-improvement and happiness comes from self-indulgence, self-discovery, and shopping. No wonder she is so popular. Old religious dogma and doctrine is rejected. Oprah goes so far as to reduce Jesus Christ to a moral example. She said, “Jesus came to show us Christ-consciousness… Jesus came to show us the way of the heart… Jesus came to say, ‘Look I’m going to live in the body, in the human body and I’m going to show you how it’s done.’ These are some principles and some laws that you can use to live by to know that way.” Those principles and laws, of course, do not include the cross. The humility and suffering our Lord endured in the body are ignored. She firmly, publicly, and vocally rejects Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross as the means of salvation as well as every other tenet of orthodox Christian faith. In all things, Oprah is an evangelist for the new age movement.
Oprah is quite certain that she possesses incredible reason and an inner light that guides her to truth. Money and fame have a way of breeding a certain arrogance. And, in our culture, it is hard to argue with numerical success. Our Lord Jesus Christ, however, responds that she is a blind fool, living in darkness, who needs to be awakened to the truth of His Gospel. Of course, people do not like to hear such things. There is a prevailing tendency for people to assume their spiritual path, whatever it is they choose, is altogether good, right, and salutary. Even though their spirituality is entirely sentimental, pragmatic, and self-absorbed, it is still enough. Yet when people are told such doings are of no account before God, they become displeased and angry. But, as Luther says, what should that matter to us? Luther continues, “The Scriptures and the Word of God are plain and clear, that the Holy Spirit is to come to convict the world, because it does not know what sin, righteousness, and judgment are. Thus it is determined, there it stands; let be angry who will, Christ does not care.” Our God is concerned with the true awakening that comes through faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Here is an article on this issue by Tim Townsend of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The drama around the cancellation of Issues, Etc. continues. I have had the opportunity to express my concerns with my DP. The conversation was charitable and brotherly. However, it appears that the Synod is not yet able to voice a good reason for its cancellation. The financial reason still does not make sense. If Issues, Etc. and KFUO were in financial trouble, then an appeal for funds was the only logical step. Every other organization in Synod and District is scrambling for money right now so they just could have joined the voracious pack. And Issues, Etc., being so popular, would have been key in any development drive. The cancellation of the most popular show on the station is not a good way to raise more funds.
The programmatic reasons also remain insufficient. The amount of downloads recorded by Issues, Etc. each month is incredible. A member of our parish was astounded when he heard the numbers. He is a professional in marketing and knows a bit about such things.
The political/ideological reason remains. Somebody did not like what was happening and they pulled the trigger. Mollie Hemingway has been active in contacting members of Synod, searching for an answer. The responses, it appears, have addressed surface issues or have tried to discredit her criticism with the usual appeals to the 8th commandment. Further, it appears the responses from officials have ceased. Either the wagons are being rallied for another official statement or the miniscule minority will be allowed to whine and complain in relative obscurity.
I pray that this discussion will continue for the sake of the LCMS. If not, such things done in secret will be considered profitable for a nameless and faceless bureaucracy. If this is the end result, then we all lose in more ways than we might imagine.
I was at a local coffee shop this morning, finishing up my homily for Sunday. I enjoy reading and writing in public places because I am a people-watcher. I noticed a young girl, probably around 2 years old, in the arms of her grandfather. It was obvious that she loved her grandfather as she clung to him tightly and had a big smile on her face, looking at his. It was also obvious that she had Down’s Syndrome. They sat down together and then her grandmother entered the picture, bringing pastries to the table. As I watched them for the next half-hour, it was apparent that she was delighted to be there with her grandparents. They ate together. They laughed. She was a beautiful young lady and it was a heartening scene.
Now I am not a sentimental person. My wife would even suggest that I am almost robotic at times. Yet I was taken by this scene and remain so. I was also filled with a deep sadness because of the high number of babies that are killed in the womb because they are diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome. George Will reported that “In America, more than 80 percent of the babies diagnosed prenatally with Down syndrome are aborted.” What a tragic evil.
When the worth of human beings is based on intelligence, race, skills, talents or genetic makeup, then we are no different than Hitler and the Nazis. Peter Singer and other so-called ethicists would judge the value of the human person based on their capacity to flourish or perform. If a person is incapacitated in some way, then the logical step is to destroy them for their sake and the sake of society. The diabolical and inconsistent nature of this argument has been addressed by Fr. Neuhaus at length. It is not necessary for me to rehearse it.
The value of human life cannot be determined by performance, intelligence, beauty, success, fame and such. The fact is that all humans are flawed and diseased by sin in more ways than we can imagine. Our worth is not determined by our performance or our ability to perform. Rather, our worth is derived from the fact that we have been created by the Triune God, who loved us so much that Father gave His Son to death so that we might have redemption through His performance on our behalf. None of us had the ability to accomplish this. We are all handicapped when it comes to our salvation and redemption. What if God treated us the way the modern person treats unborn babies with handicaps? Moreover, God’s redemption in Christ is for all human persons through faith, regardless of their capacity or incapacity. The idea that our selfish concerns trump another human life, no matter what the condition, is utterly wicked.
I give thanks for those parents and grandparents who chose not to do what 80 percent of Americans do. I suspect they knew that little girl was a gift and would not destroy what God had created. Now they enjoy the challenges and blessings of loving and parenting her, just like all other mothers and fathers.
Pastor Esget posts this brilliant quote from Bo Giertz. It is well worth reading.
Henri de Lubac, a Roman Catholic theologian, commenting on the changes in the liturgy that coincided with Vatican II, wrote, “In the present welcome efforts to bring about a celebration of the liturgy which is more ‘communal’ and more alive, nothing would be more regrettable than a preoccupation with the success achieved by some secular festivals by the combined resources of technical skill and the appeal to man at his lower level…. The ‘unanimous life of the Church’ is not a natural growth; it is lived through faith; our unity is the fruit of Calvary, and results from the Mass’s application to us of the merits of the Passion, with a view to our final redemption.”
While there is in North American Christendom a regrettable preoccupation with success achieved by technical skill and base emotional appeal, the Divine Liturgy still survives in the midst of the ruins. At his blog, Pastor Esget applauds the Lutheran Service Book (LSB) as a blessing to our church. As Jubilate Sunday approaches, I too rejoice that the LSB preserves the Divine Service for the sake of Christ’s people. What a privilege it is to receive Christ’s gifts as we join with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven! Who needs technical skill and emotional appeal when the Holy Spirit is at work through the means of grace to secure our final redemption in Christ? We retain the Mass for many reasons, one of which is to find comfort in the certainty that our growth in Christ is by the power of the Word. There is nothing natural or manipulative about it.
The official explanations for the cancellation of Issues, Etc. do not make sense. The financial rationale is full of holes. The programmatic argument is problematic, to say the least. The only conclusion that I can reach, at this point, is that Issues, Etc. did not fit with the prevailing ideology of the LCMS.
An ideology assumes that it holds the sole perspective on reality for a group of people. Any voice contrary to that ideology must be silenced for the benefit of the community. Communism, fascism, socialism, consumerism, capitalism, nationalism etc. are all possible examples. Each of these “-isms” contends that it offers an ideal for human flourishing. Anyone or anything that opposes this ideal is opposed to the desired end. Thus, it is appropriate, even necessary, to destroy all opposition for the benefit of the community. The previous century is filled with examples of how an ideology leads to mass destruction in the name of progress. Christian theology, however, is not an ideology, although idealogues have been, and continue to be, active within the church. I will not make the effort to make the distinctions now as an IPA waits for my attention, but think “two kingdoms” for the time being.
I would argue that there is a prevailing ideology influencing Western Christendom in our day. My neologism for this ideology is “Hybelspongism.” The ideology proclaims that the church must change or it will die. In its liberal forms, this requires widespread acceptance of the cultural and social norms of the day, including tolerance of sexual deviancy, inclusion of all religions while denying the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and embarrassment for Christian faith. Instead, this ideology reduces the church to social activism (inclined toward the Democrats) and bows to pluralism. Spong is a representative figure of this wing. In its conservative forms, Hybelspongism rejects the historic liturgy of the church, direct and consistent proclamation of Christ crucified and resurrected for salvation, and an aversion to catholic and orthodox faith and practice. Rather, conservative Hybelspongism preaches relevance to a world bent on destruction, pandering to prevailing ideologies for the sake of attraction (consumerism, entertainment, democracy, therapy, etc.), and places its hope in the charisma of its leaders and their ability to program in a way that will numb the masses. Hybels, of course, is a figurehead for the conservative branch. Other figures include Osteen and Warren.
If anyone in these branches of Hybelspongism dares to speak against the ideology of their church, then they are immediately dismissed and even destroyed. Consider the current state of orthodox pastors and congregations in the ELCA, Episcopal Church USA, PCUSA, etc. Those who do not get with the program are marginalized, a term I borrowed from the more sensitive bureaucrats in these bodies. In the conservative wing of Hybelspongism, those who do not change the church to get with the times are tagged as fundamentalists and accused of not being missional, concerned or emergent.
My fear and suspicion with the Issues, Etc. debacle is that an ideology, not a theology, drove the actions that led to the termination of the program and its employees. The financial, stewardship, and programmatic reasons offered by the current administration are insufficient, if not laughable. I am not stupid nor am I a genius. Still, I am clever enough to recognize idealogues at work.
The rallying cry of the LCMS hierarchy, much like Obama’s campaign, is the need for change. Lutheran Chicken-littles scream, “The sky is falling!” Unless we transform the church to accomodate (or engage or entertain, depending on your position), the church will die. Just look at the statistics! The assumption is that the mass consumer of our age will never be transformed by the Gospel as traditionally understood and proclaimed. The Mass that fed the faith of kings and paupers, literate and illiterate, Europeans and Africans, etc. is no longer sufficient. The church is now in dire jeopardy, nevermind Jesus’ promise in Matthew 16. So, it appears, by any means necessary the church and its message must be made palatable to the depressed, lonely, and spiritually impoverished consumer of our age. Unfortunately, Willow Creek, the Sixth Reich of Hybelspongism, recently admitted that such an approach has not been effective. Ideologues, of course, cannot tolerate such information as their investment is too great. They would rather suffer an ignominious death in a lonely bunker.
It now seems that discordant voices will not be allowed in the LCMS, at least in the public realm. As long as they squeak in lonely corners of the church, then they will be left alone. But Issues, Etc. was a loud voice in the wilderness of North American pop-evangelicalism, presumptively silenced because it did not fit with the dominant ideology. It appears the LCMS must be saved from itself through human creativity, programming, and bureaucracy. The masses are too stupid to know better. Therefore, the new church must come forth, trampling all opposition, so that it can carry its torch for generations to come! Or something like that, I suppose. I would argue that this is the best construction at this point. If wrong, I will be the first to repent publicly.
As a convert from generic evangelicalism, I am especially saddened by the events of the past few weeks. Yet even in our wasteland, I find hope. I still see the Mass celebrated. I still hear the proclamation of Christ crucified and resurrected for sinners. I still speak with survivors of our present age who find consolation in the catholic and orthodox faith of the LCMS. And I am certain that the Risen Christ will remain at work through the power of His Gospel long after Hybelspongism has gone the way of Schleiermacher and all other forms of thought alien to His Church.
+Kyrie Eleison+
