during a power surge.
Freddy Finkelstein said...(Bailing Water comment)
“The approach being used at Waunakee is adiophora (sic).”
Adiaphora – the strawberry bubblegum of the Church Growth movement. They keep a wad in their mouth so that they are always ready to spit it out (yes, I've chewed this bubblegum too -- thank God it's finally lost its flavor). Adiaphora for them is nothing but Green Fields and Blue Sky as far as the eye can see, and everything so designated affords the claimant full creative license to dance in the daisies and chase butterflies, unfettered by pesky 500-year-old Confessional documents. Yes, there is freedom, but it is hardly unfettered. Indeed, if one cares to read the Confessions for oneself and take them seriously, it is apparent that our so-called adiaphora is bounded far more narrowly than the free-birds among us wish it to be known.
What is the proof offered that this congregation operates under the umbrella of Lutheran Confessionalism? Why, listen to the sermons, one is told – it's got Law and Gospel, therefore they're Biblical. Well, such advice misses the point – the entire issue has nothing whatsoever to do with preaching (at least not directly), it has to do with Practice.
So, what evidence is there that this congregation operates outside the umbrella of Lutheran Confessionalism? Look at their Confession and their Practice. What I stated on this blog a few months ago (here) applies in this case as we examine a congregation's practice: “But, while Krauth was addressing doctrine, are we not, in our case, looking at Lutheran practice? Yes and no. We are rightly concerned with practice as it is a reflection of what we Confess, and we see evidence of doctrinal error in the practice of the C&C crowd. When those who confess doctrinal unity with us engage in practice that is confusing or offensive, we have every right to demand of them an explanation, and they have every obligation to render one. Drawing the C&C or CG crowd into explanation of their practice, more and more, it seems, exposes their divergence from us and their disregard for anything more than rhetorical unity. So, while we take our queue from confusing and offensive practices endorsed by the C&C church-growthers, our concern is Confessional integrity.” If this congregation gives one indication in their sermons and confessional statements, and gives another in their Practice, they are guilty of offense. Their practice in this case strikes one as open sectarianism. Too bad the FIC “journalists” were too busy celebrating innovation that they didn't also notice that there might be an issue, and go to pains to give evidence to the contrary.
While it may be groovy jargon, “Keepin' it real” in the Divine Service means keeping it Confessional, means keeping the Marks central, means overt and prominent use of the Means of Grace and overt rejection of statistically derived man-made contrivances designed to coerce and manipulate people through clever use of Natural Law (contrivances held out to us by the heterodox in oh-so-many tempting ways), it means subjecting individuality to unity in confession and practice, and it means so much more that CG Church Changers apparently view as the irrelevant trappings of medieval Christianity. I am not impressed by Lutheran congregations so imbued with creativity and so-called “evangelical concern” that they can't seem to actually do “Church.”
The quote at the head of this blog reads, “Anything that isn’t unbiblical is fair game.” The glaring omission in this statement is reference to the Confessions. It should have read, “Anything that isn’t unbiblical, and isn't non-Confessional, is fair game.” Better yet, “The only fair game is that which is Biblical and Confessional.” Too many Pastors, it appears to me, think they are clever enough to recreate the Confessions directly from Scripture – so that whatever they derive directly from Scripture is automatically Confessional. It's becoming apparent to me now, that Rev. Berg was right when he stated on this blog many months ago: “Missouri, for all its problems, at least has a sizeable confessional movement. While Wisconsin has plenty of conservative pastors I could probably count the confessional pastors on two hands. Most of these men have been marginalized or are lying low.”
Freddy Finkelstein
