Our Staff Infection
rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Slice of Laodicea":
Sometimes I wonder if there is not more opposition to the Church Growth Movement outside of Lutheran circles than from within. Based upon the approval of the CGM by synodical leaders, the evidence certainly points in that direction. Slice of Laodicea is one of many such websites which I believe can be extremely valuable when looking for exposure and opposition to the latest offerings from the CGM. A majority of these websites will never argue from a Confessional Lutheran point of view, like Ichabod does. However, many of the CGM fads are so atrocious that one can build an argument against them almost exclusively using human reason. There is another aspect of this as well. Let us consider the timing of the acceptance of the CGM fads by synodical CGM gurus. Most of the time, the WELS is a day late and a dollar short. If you keep your finger on the pulse of the CGM, you can usually be ready for it when it hits your local congregation. Forewarned is forearmed. I understand that this may well fall under the category of technique. I was caught off guard several years ago when the Purpose Driven Life was sweeping through the churches in this country. Most of all, we have the scriptural admonition to test the spirits.
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GJ - I can understand why there is almost no opposition to CGM apostasy in WELS/ELS/LCMS. One layman put it this way, "They all want to be on a board, and no one wants to say anything that will keep that from happening."
Doctrinal discipline in those bodies (for 30 years) has been:
- Eject the critics of Church Growth,
- Label confessional Lutherans as legalists,
- Promote the Fuller graduates.
Being on a board means having influence, visibility, and a chance for a better call or a free trip to Europe and Russia. The studious, hard-working parish pastors do not get those perks. The illiterate political pastors do.
Several WELS pastors opined that "Larry Olson is no threat to WELS. No one takes him seriously. Everyone knows he is a heretic." Nevertheless, Olson (D. Mini., Fuller) runs a Staff Ministry program at Martin Luther College (nee Dr. Martin Luther College, aka Northwestern College in Exile). He and the other Fuller graduates are the key players in all conferences and agendas.
