I suffered through the latest Jekyll and Hyde show, a popular musical in spite of its dreadful plot and music. At least Phantom of the Opera is full hilarious incongruities. Nevertheless, I found the Big Song in Jekyll/Hyde a good illustration of Lutheran pastors joining Church Growth - and why.
JEKYLL:
This is the moment!
This is the day,
When I send all my doubts and demons
On their way!
Every endeavor,
I have made - ever -
Is coming into play,
Is here and now - today!
This is the moment,
This is the time,
When the momentum and the moment
Are in rhyme!
Give me this moment -
This precious chance -
I'll gather up my past
And make some sense at last!
This is the moment,
When all I've done -
All the dreaming,
Scheming and screaming,
Become one!
This is the day -
See it sparkle and shine,
When all I've lived for
Becomes mine!
For all these years,
I've faced the world alone,
And now the time has come
To prove to them
I've made it on my own!
This is the moment -
My final test -
Destiny beckoned,
I never reckoned,
Second Best!
I won't look down,
I must not fall!
This is the moment,
The sweetest moment of them all!
This is the moment!
Damn all the odds!
This day, or never,
I'll sit forever
With the gods!
When I look back,
I will always recall,
Moment for moment,
This was the moment,
The greatest moment
Of them all!
***
The Lutheran CG leaders are Jekyll/Hyde split personalities. They pretend to be Lutheran but they really despise Lutheran doctrine and worship. Once they turn against the Means of Grace, their hatred toward all things Lutheran seems to know no limits. Yet most want to pretend this has not been happening for the last three decades. Church and Change is currently showcasing their hatred for the Lutheran Church. Perhaps some of them will jump ship for Missouri, but that does not make them Lutheran.
The content of Church and Change, past and present, is all anyone needs to know about their agenda. They hate having the secret listserve being published. It's like being caught with the flask in one's hand, the evil smoke curling from the toxic contents.