Claims to a Pedigree Most Have Never Noticed

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Amusing, Snide Comments from a Constant Reader":

Those in the WELS who have a pedigree chart or are WELS-connected often get worked up into a dander when one criticizes holy mother synod. One of my former co-workers was of this ilk. He often spoke of his long rap sheet as if it were something to be proud of -

"I know Huebner", "I know Kruschel", "I know Jeske the elder", "my daughter belongs to Jeske the lesser's congregation", "three of my daughters are married to pastors".

He always reminded me that his wife was a teacher and that got him in to the WELS inner circle where he ran with the big dogs. On the flip side, he would complain about the foreign missionaries who "went over to the dark side" and became pentecostal. He bragged about his connections, but he could never make the right connection. Unable to look past the end of his nose, he just couldn't figure out that the WELS pastors who had defected were just taking their training from the sausage factory to its logical conclusion.

I have witnessed what happens to laity who swallow the Church Growth bird, feathers and all. The first thing that they start doing is grumbling about empty pews, lack of zeal among members, and of course, not having enough money in the coffers. Then, they look to Geneva or the pentecostal circus tent down the road and begin to make comparisons. Their solution is some sort of law motivation to raise the level of involvement. Without knowing it, they diminish the importance of sound doctrine and trust only what they see at the end of their nose.