I know as much as others about two different groups of people who left WELS. Universal salvation - without faith - was one issue. Any denomination so completely bankrupt in doctrine will naturally bear many more bitter fruits of apostasy.
2 Thessalonians 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Evil, false-teaching wolves are not going to appreciate being corrected, and they react with lupine rage when their ovine food supply is threatened. Like all mainline leaders - WELS is thorougly mainline - they know how quickly the landslide can move downward and take everything with it.
The response from false sons within the pale is to trash the people who object to...false sons within the pale. In the past, synods had the advantage of communicating easily with the loyal troops. Human nature is so perverse that congregational members will trust the officials they do not know over the pastors who have visited them at home and in the hospital, buried their loved ones, and administered the Means of Grace. The District Pope or Circuit Pope picks up the phone and works on scattering and slaying the flock. They obtained their positions by serving their Father Below.
But now, blogs can reach the general audience and quote chapter and verse about what is going on. The Internet age is great for obtaining verbatim evidence with graphics from the sources. Court records are on the Net, and the Church Growth fanatics seem to have a disproportionate share of court records - appearance bonds for DUI, convictions, and so forth.
The Eighth Beatitude is the least appealing blessing:
- when men shall revile you
- and persecute you
- and say all manner of evil against you falsely.
Matthew 5:11 explains bearing the cross, and the words themselves invite rejection. We all want to be praised and thanked and honored. Trusting the Word instead of princes is like changing a light bulb when reaching up from a wobbly kick. Far too many are willing to give the chair a kick and dare others to climb on that chair again.
WELS has a well-earned reputation for nastiness, a by-product of their Pietism and utter disregard for the truth. Going back to Protes'tant days, WELS has always treated dissent with "Shut up while we tell you off about all your sins." That scene, from over 80 years ago, is repeated every time someone dares to have an issue with WELS apostasy.
The next step is official shunning and the synodical whispering campaign. ELCA, Missouri, and the Little Sect on the Prairie do the same, but they are a bit smoother in execution. WELS seems to have a Biggest Liar contest going on, a hallmark of their GA hazing abuse training. Lying in WELS means - This is our position and do not forget it.
This is where people falter. They get involved in "You should have done this or that." But the real issue is opposition to the Word of God. When the apostates are threatened, all the weapons in their thuggish arsenal are employed:
- Charm - so they can get information and spread it in their own words.
- Backstabbing - so they can separate friends who might support each other.
- Bribes - so they can silence opposition.
- Threats - so they can scare people into silence.
- Slander - so they can make everyone afraid of opposing their agenda.
WELS is so corrupt that the leaders will laugh about the multiple adulteries of their Church Growth pals and yet run around with the shocking reveal that "Pastor X has criticized our beloved synod!" This style is not exactly wrong for WELS, because the net result is retaining the cult slaves while repelling the dissenters for good.
Now that I have painted an ugly picture about synodical ugliness, I have to add - it is a blessing, just as Jesus teaches us. Bearing the cross means being set free from the lies and false doctrine of Holy Mother Synod. Those who left ELCA in droves found they were better off without the useless battles.
I had fun with WELS emissaries sending their ugly messages to this blog. I copied them into the main body of the post so they would be preserved forever, or at least for a few more years. Most of them were anonymous, for some reason.
The Fox Valley WELS Drinking Society started up various blogs and erased them - more fun. Mark Schroeder's buddy on the Synodical Council even sent messages via the pastor's ELCA minister friend. But now, the only ugliness comes from their Chief Nasty, Joel Lillo. I thought the new DP and old SP finally silenced him, because he makes WELS look so stupid. But Lillo has to offer his wisdom and wrote again.
Alas, poor WELS - the positive comments and information is still coming in, from a wide variety of sources.
