Squishy Unity

I wandered to a site that I rarely visit anymore and observed a video presentation entitled My Squishy Unity Jesus.  In this presentation the Reverend Pastor Fisk in his usual less than reverent style speaks to the issue of the Twentieth Century Ecumenical Movement as it has progressed to the present day.  He addresses the issue that the concept of unity has been redefined to mean the exact opposite of what the Scriptures teach that the unity of the Church is.

He makes valid points concerning the invalidity of this altered definition.  He makes valid points concerning what unity really is and why it is necessary.  He attempts to call those who profess to be Christian to embrace the unity that the Holy Spirit creates through the means of grace.

It continues to perplex me that men such as the Reverend Pastor Fisk make such a big deal out of something that they themselves do not truly believe.  After all, if they truly believed the marks of the Church to be the administration of the pure means of grace and if they truly believed that unity in the doctrine and practice of these to be necessary for the existence of the true Church and for the salvific power of the Gospel to be effected, would they not actually practice in accord with this unity?

Yet they remain in a church body that teaches that true unity in doctrine and practice and mission do not exist within that church body.  Even more amazingly, they pride themselves for embracing the notion that striving to achieve 85% unity is a noble goal that is achievable.

If unity in doctrine and practice concerning the pure Gospel and Sacraments is the definition of the true Church, as Fisk claims to believe, then what is he and his brethren really saying of their own church body?

Fisk continually says on his site that he believes and unconditionally subscribes with a quia subscription to the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as found in the Book of Concord.  Of these Confessions or statements of belief and practice the Augsburg Confession is especially set forward.  And this Confession states the definition of the Church in Article VII, saying of what the “Lutherans” teach:

    1] Also they teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.

    2] And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and 3] the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike. 4] As Paul says: One faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, etc. Eph. 4, 5, 6.

It would be cause for rejoicing if this were truly what Christians believed, taught, confessed, AND practiced.

How many Churches does AC VII teach?  ONE.

There are not many Churches but One Church.

This Church is holy, which means sacred or set apart by the Lord unto Himself to be perfect even as He is perfect.  This perfection of the Church is not found as perfection of the individuals but in the perfection of the Lord.  He gives His perfection through His means of grace.  The perfect holiness of the Church is its unity of doctrine and practice, that is, in its unity as “the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.”

How wonderful it would be if Pastor Fisk and his fellow pastors and the leaders of his church body actually believed this so as to abide by it.  How wonderful it would be if they actually believed this so that they rejected the notion of 85% and actually embraced the unity in which the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the true believers in Christ.

Sadly, this is not their way.  It is heart-breaking to observe what they hold high in place of this unity.  It is gut wrenching to observe the thing that matters most, as this video yet again displays at the very end:

This sentiment truly is the issue at hand.  St. Paul addresses this concerning his former idolatry from which the Lord converted and saved him.

   

     Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.  (Philippians 3:1-7)

And again:

   

     But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.  (Galatians 1:11-16)

While loyalty to Grandpa remains the defining nature of membership and participation in a church body, to whom are such devotees ultimately devoted?  Whose word and way ultimately defines that church and the life and way of its members?

This is a very dangerous matter.  It leads away from the true unity of the one true faith and the life that flows from that faith.  It leads to the inevitable dysfunction that sin produces.  If the church is Grandpa’s church, then it bears Grandpa’s image and suffers Grandpa’s imperfection and corruption.

This is not the Church confessed in the Augsburg Confession.  AC VII confesses one holy Church that is united not by the traditions of men/grandpas, but united in the agreement concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the right administration the Sacraments.

Grandpa is rotting in the grave awaiting the day of the resurrection and the judgment of mankind.  That is where he should be left until the great day of the return of the Lord Jesus in His glory.  Leave sinful Grandpa and draw near to the Lord of glory who comes to His Church wherever the means of grace are rightly administered.  Wherever this is the way, the Church is truly united in the Lord’s holiness.  No disunity remains in this Church.  No dysfunction surfaces.  For the unity of doctrine and practice rule this Church, as the Lord has promised.

Oh that this would be what is proclaimed in place of Grandpa and us and our church.  Then all of our squishy ways would be replaced by the Rock solid foundation of the means through which God Himself solidifies His Church.  His gifts are 100% pure and where they are administered in this purity the congregation is gathered into the absolute unity that belongs to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  The ultimate earthly expression and confession of this is the Supper of His Holy Communion.

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Blending versus Unity

Yesterday I had a telephone conversation that left me feeling very downhearted. I had a question regarding one of my Thrivent insurance policies, so I called to obtain an answer. After working through the automated rigamarole a sweet, bubbly voice greeted me. This lady was able to give immediate answer to my question, which was a very pleasant surprise, considering the difficulty that I usually encounter with such inquiries.

Her attitude was extremely friendly and upbeat, extreeeeemely upbeat. I asked her if she worked at this or if it was just her natural manner. She said it was her natural way, which I expected. In the conversation I asked what her faith profession is and she replied that she was Lutheran. I commented that it then is true that there are at least some Lutherans working at Thrivent. “Oh yes, there are many.” She exuberantly replied.

As is my manner in accord with my perpetual desire to learn of people and their understanding in further accord with my eternal desire to find those with whom I am in true communion, I asked what variety of Lutheran she was. She said Catholic.

But I thought that she meant catholic, and I inquired further. After a few questions she said that she did not attend a Lutheran church but she had been raised Catholic and was raising her children in the Catholic church and traditions, but that she counted herself to be a good Lutheran. I was perplexed and told her that I did not understand what that meant. At this point she began to act as though I had offended her and declined to discuss the matter any further, asking whether I had any further questions regarding my insurance policy.

The conversation ended with polite terms and I felt deeply hurt. This very sweet person did not mean to hurt me, but she did, in several ways. First I was hurt by the abrupt change in her manner toward me. She acted as though I had done her some wrong by expressing interest in her understanding and by asking for an explanation regarding this understanding. I had not challenged her in any direct way whatsoever. I only expressed my bewilderment and lack of understanding concerning what she told me. I suppose that this in itself is a challenge, even though it was not presented as such. The very fact that I questioned it with bewilderment says much more than I even intended. I suppose there is no way to avoid this, as such questioning automatically presents the reality that a very obvious and enormous difference exists in our understanding. The irreconcilability of these two understandings cannot be downplayed through pleasantries.

The fact is that by this question I identified myself as this person’s enemy. The fact that I love my enemies and pray for them does not reduce the tension that exists between us. The fact that my concern for my enemies motivates me to ask challenging questions is not received kindly in many cases. In fact, as St. Paul teaches, it actually heaps coals of fire upon the head of the other person so that anger and angry reaction is the result. It also causes feelings of condemnation to be felt, even though I myself have condemned no one.

This rejection is a cause of deep pain for me as I continue to reach out to others with the unadulterated truth of the Gospel. My desire is to be united with others in the one true faith. But this is not the desire of most people. Most people want to be blended rather than united. Most people want to exist in a blending of the various understandings of the Christian faith and traditions, with tolerance of diversity in these matters as the consensus.

This is the second cause of my feeling hurt. For I know that this blending is a lie. Such blending is not of God but of the devil and the sinful fleshly nature. It is the way of the world, where every person selfishly pursues and demands that one’s own opinion must be treated as genuine and valid. Such dealings declare that the Truth does not matter. Such dealings actually deny that the Truth even exists or that it can be known. Such dealings declare that belief in the Truth must be abandoned or at least not pressed. And so I feel deeply hurt, because I have been declared to be unacceptable and unwanted. My belief in the Truth and my insistence upon unity in the Truth and my dependency upon this belief and unity in the Truth, place me beyond any desirability by those who prefer blending to unity.

A third cause for my feeling hurt is that such dealings dishonestly steal from me my identity. Identity theft is a horrible thing to endure. It is a very traumatic violation of oneself. It steals away one’s most precious possession, one’s true identity.

Those who falsely profess to be what I am steal from me my ability to be known by my identity. This steals from me the hope of others knowing me with certainly so as to be united with me. Those who say, “I am a good Lutheran,” while blending other doctrines and practices within this false claim, reduce the identity of Lutheran to nothing. Thus, when people hear the name of Lutheran, they cannot distinguish me from the ELCAite or the WELSian or the LC-MSer. And since each of these practice open communion, claiming to be united while blending with many faiths, not only many versions of the Lutheran confession but also with other religions, my identity as a confessor of the faith declared in the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church is reduced to nothing, for people will count me to be one of them instead of who I am in Christ.

This hurts me deeply. Not only does it leave me as rejected by the various other so-called Lutherans, but it steals from me the identity that belongs to those who do not blend with the world but stand apart in accord with the homologia, the Same-Word of united confession.

This hurts me because my deep desire is for true unity with others in the one true faith through the Same-Word or confession of the same understanding and practice. I feel deeply hurt when I realize that I am unable to find others who share this deep desire and therefore I stand nearly alone in the world. While there surely must be others somewhere who share with me in this blessed communion, I have been able to find only a handful. And the false confession of the big groups makes it very hard to find those who are not of the blending mentality.

Few people even grasp the difference between blending and unity. As an example, I regularly use our VitaMix blender to grind and pulverize various grains and fruits into a blended drink and food source. By this action I reduce the particle size beyond what I am able to masticate (chew) so as to aid digestion and absorption of the precious nutrients. It becomes a blended mixture of the ingredients.

It does not, however, become unified. The components become mixed in a suspension, with some of the juices becoming one but with most of the components merely being reduced in size and suspended as particles in the mix. Many of these can still be separated and identified as separate components. They have not been truly united into one. This will not occur until full digestion has been accomplished and the various nutrients are absorbed and incorporated into the cells of the body.

The Church, the body of Christ is something like this, although not made up of ingredients that are digested, the members of Christ’s body are truly brought into complete union through absolute incorporation into the body. They can no longer be identified separately. They have been given a new identity. They no longer function individually. They live as one. Their life has one source. Apart from one another they are no longer functional. They think the same, speak the same, and believe the same. By this union they are now known.

This is not the way with those who are of blended communions. They do not live as one. They do not think the same or speak the same. They gather in diverse manners of worship even within the same congregation. They confess to the world to be in the same church body and in communion with the various congregations of that body, even though they do not think, speak, or worship the same throughout.

So how does this hurt me? It leaves me standing apart from those for whom I care deeply. It leaves me as counted as separatistic and schismatic when the exact opposite is true. It leaves me unable to embrace even blood relatives as true family because I will not yield to their acceptance of blending in place of unity. It leaves me to be judged falsely as unloving and uncaring and obstinate and arrogant and self-serving.

It seems that I have no choice but to accept this as how things are. This hurts. This hurts deeply.

It also motivates me to take upon myself a burden that I ought not to imagine as mine own. It is idolatrous for me to imagine that this is my burden, when Christ has already carried it. Thus I continually long for and flee to the tiny little congregation where we are gathered by the Spirit to receive the unadulterated means of grace. There this self-imposed burden along with all of my other sinful burdens are again taken up by the Lord Jesus, who in their place grants to me and all who are so gathered His peace that surpasses all understanding and guards our hearts and minds in Him. In this blessed communion it matters not whether those gathered number in the thousands or are merely two. God’s promise cannot be nullified. He does as He has promised. And so hurt is turned to peace and sorrow is turned to joy. Only the Lord has this magnificent power. Only His means can effect such transformation.

Therefore, to His means I shall continually flee and in His means I shall find rest and comfort for my weary soul. From this wondrously safe haven I shall call out to all who are willing to hear, and even to those who feel the coals burning upon their heads. How else can I respond to such incalculable gifts of grace, mercy, and peace? And so, while others may steal the outward identity, the true identity cannot be taken away or even corrupted. For that identity has been engraved in the palms of His hands and in the book of life. No one can erase what He has written.

I do not know what value my writing of such a post has for others, but for me, the hurt is assuaged through the reciting of what the God of all grace has declared and continues to declare forevermore.