The Excuse

If you ask the pastor of a church that has abandoned traditional Lutheran worship forms why they use a contemporary worship style, one of the first things out of his mouth will be "The Liturgy isn’t in the Bible." That in itself is a bit of a sleight of hand, since the Liturgy consists of us speaking back to God what He’s already spoken to us in His Word. It is very definitely "in the Bible."

If you press him a little further and annoy him enough, he might crack open the Book of Concord and point out Article VII of the Augsburg Confession:

For the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree about the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. It is not necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies instituted by men, should be the same everywhere.

He might also point to Article X of the Solid Declaration, which reads "We believe, teach, and confess that the community of God in every place and every time has, according to its circumstances, the good right, power, and authority to change and decrease or increase ceremonies <that are truly adiaphora>." Of course, he’ll skip the next sentence:

They should do this thoughtfully and without giving offense, in an orderly and appropriate way, whenever it is considered most profitable, most beneficial, and best for good order, Christian discipline, and the Church’s edification.

"Giving offense" in many of our Synod’s church services is precisely what’s happening, and one of the reasons why we coexist in a divided Synod. I once suffered through an LCMS service in which a clip of the movie "Braveheart" was shown on the screen, and an elder waved a sword around and shouted something about the blessing we were bound to receive – a reference to The Prayer of Jabez book study this church had foisted on its parishioners. I’ve yet to make the topical link between that film clip and the Gospel, but I did note the link between the elder’s display and paragraph 7 of Article X:

Likewise, when there are useless, foolish displays that are not profitable for good order, Christian disciple, or evangelical practice in the Church, these also are not genuine adiaphora, or matters of indifference.

This particular service had all the marks of useless and foolish, and these types of offense are gradually becoming the approved norm. To quote Pastor Larry Beane, from his article "Are the Confessions Prescriptive or Descriptive?":

When the confessions are taken seriously, one is hard-pressed to find that any of these innovations are in any way compatible with Lutheranism. Indeed, it deems that by their very definition, such willful expressions of worship effectively remove these churches and pastors from our very fellowship.

Our current twisting of the Confession to make it appear as though it favors a liturgical free-for-all in the Divine Service is related to the error of a previous generation. Though the festering wound of the Seminex era of the ‘70's is hidden by a gauze bandage, tape, and a flannel shirt, the wound still weeps. The issue that confronted us at the time of Seminex, the authority of Scripture, is still with us in one form or another. In this sense the threat to our Synod is no different than the horrific threat that is confronting, or has overtaken, other church bodies – but that is no excuse. Though you may claim that you’re not a theologian, ignorance of theology, Synod history, and a willful disregard of our Confession is no excuse for tacking the Synodical boat off the proverbial edge of the earth.

A house divided against itself cannot stand. That we are divided in our worship practice is indicative of a bigger problem, that we are divided in our doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. It is these fundamental articles of faith that are under attack. If it were not so, there would be no divide. Now is the time to stand up and take notice, to take action, and to return our Synod to the Confessional course we once sailed.

photo credit: Mikett