The clergy emulate Machiavelli and Cardinal Richelieu.
The Lutheran ministers should spend as much time studying the Confessions as they do on their secret email lists. Or, they could study the Greek New Testament instead of writing blog comments all over the world.
Men, who have spent no time in decades getting an education or publishing something valuable, do in fact take the time to post hundreds of comments and engage in constant time-wasting social networking. That does make them seem and feel important for the moment. I wonder if people will seek reprints of their list-serves the way students look for out of print books by the founders of the various synods.
These time-wasters have a lot to face in the years to come. They have wrecked churches, synods, and schools while accomplishing nothing.
The DPs and CPs of the last 30 years strut around now, but they are like the marketing team of the Edsel, the engineering team of the Pinto. Are they so blind and deaf that they cannot comprehend their self-inflicted disaster?
Ludwig Fuerbringer stayed home to study rather than accept too many rubber chicken dinners where he could speechify and act important. That may be why he was a beloved professor who left behind so much valuable history. His little books on the Synodical Conference are priceless.
Lenski created commentaries on the entire New Testament, plus many other books. My wife's doctor, who is also a missionary, loves Lenski. What enormous grants did Lenski receive to do his work? He was a successful parish pastor, a district president, and an honored professor. He encouraged his daughter Lois, who became a famous children book artist and book author. If Lenski had diddled away his time the way these list-serve drones do, we would only have the first draft of his commentary on Philemon.
Every pastor and layperson has the power and authority of the clear, efficacious Word. The Word of God has not been tried and found wanting. It has hardly been tried at all.
