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| Walther kidnapped Bishop Stephan at gunpoint so he could become the pope of the cult. |
I have always been puzzled by my peers acting as if they are locked into place, as if in a prison, in their pathetic, failing synods. The clergy are the worst, of course, because they feel tied down by the golden chains of salary, benefits, housing, and health insurance. Yes, the synods are more powerful than God, because those poor souls will starve and huddle naked outdoors in the snow and sleet if their anti-Luther sects desert them.
These prisoners are the worst kind of chess players, because they play the players, not the board. That means everything will go their way if the others perform as they hope. The rest of them are the same, so the ones who become district presidents and professors are the same who made the right guesses for the moment.
The chessboard, my analogy du jour, is the Word of God. One does not trump the Word of God by schemes, clever strategies, and a thousand deceits. The result of trying to defeat the Word is a bunch of timid clowns hoping they can get by with their plans.
I know this from talking to the worst of them. When they are caught in their lies, they are terrified and look for help or cover. If their little foam castles are threatened, they respond with angry tirades.
The Gospel means freedom, so clergy and laity are not bound to those gilded chains - they only appear golden. The family objects? Jesus asked "Who is my mother, my brother, my sisters?"
Matthew 12:46 While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
If people want me to stick with an abusive anti-Gospel sect, they are themselves abusive and anti-Gospel. They may not see this until later. There is certainly evidence that Jesus' mother was in company of the Apostles (Acts) and that His brother was also an early leader (James).
Some clergy leave one system of dictatorial abuse and join another one, comfortable in being told how to think, dress, and vote. Perhaps they dream of being that dictator one day, as Walther did. Every Ft. Wayne seminarian seems to have a bishop's hat in his briefcase: McCain, Webber, Cascione, Heiser, and the Preussian Union. They are all self-appointed bishops.
No other era has been so free for believers and so full of potential for those who want to enjoy that freedom. Clergy can start a congregation without a mission board, a million bucks in debt, and all the strings attached thereto. Laity can gather and call a pastor, without begging and waiting years for Holy Mother Church to respond. No one has to bend the knee to Thrivent, Jeske, and the Wolf of Wall Street.
