O How the Mighty Have Fallen

Mollie Hemingway, fellow Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod member and the journalist who brought us the now-famous Wall Street Journal article on Issues, Etc., was interviewed on The Way of the Master Radio recently. Thanks to the ubiquitous Pastor Weedon for pointing this out. He says the interview is about two-thirds of the way through the show. That would be (rounded up) to 67%. I’m saying it’s waaaaay past where Pastor Weedon would lead you, at least 68% of the way down the slider. You heard it here first!

As much as I enjoy listening to Mollie, it was the interviewer, Todd Friel whose comments were most significant. I don’t necessarily take religious advice from Reformed-type Christians (no offense), but he’s got some advice for those in the LCMS that’s right on track.

He has this to say about Issues, Etc.:

Issues, Etc., it was a good radio program. It was just a mature, adult, Christian, here’s the theology, here’s the thinking, let’s examine it. Let’s not pander to people and think that they’re stupid. They used big words and tackled big concepts and taught deep theology. It got yanked off of the air.

As he introduces Mollie, he says “...I don’t want to see another Lutheran Synod bite the dust, like the ELCA so tragically has.”

He and Mollie then discuss the cancellation of Issues, the current fad-driven ideas in the LCMS, Ablaze!^®, and the general state of the Synod. At the close of the interview, he has this to say:

You Lutherans in the Missouri Synod, get on this. I mean it. Don’t dilly dally. We do not need you to get all fluffy on us. The seeker-sensitive model has been a disaster from top to bottom. A complete train wreck. There’s nothing good, nothing from it. So get involved with this. And you’ve got to get your leadership involved. You gotta get ‘em recognizing that it is not the right path... People are dying for the conservative. Ya got it - don’t go the wrong direction.

This is embarrassing. We’ve now got a non-Lutheran (again, no offense) at the end of his program quoting the words from A Mighty Fortress Is Our God while it’s playing in the background, encouraging the conservative remnant in the LCMS, while our leaders are pouring money and heaping praise on churches whose appearance is based on gimmick, bait and switch, or just bait.

O how the mighty have fallen.