The Lay of the Land?
Jeffray Greene
We are all like sheep that have gone astray. It is easy to see when another goes awry, but it is not so easy to see when we are the ones who are not where we belong. F.O.C.L. Point readers like to think we’ve been better at staying the coarse, and maybe we have – the Lord will judge – but I think we can all agree that Christ’s church is in a difficult time.
You know that the difficulty is not just in the ELCA, or even limited to Lutherans. Mainline churches have been fighting with the same or a similar struggle over how we have Scripture speak to us in matters of faith and life for years. The church around the world has it’s own struggles that the devil seeks to use to tear the church apart – hence a portion of the statement in this F.O.C.L. Point from our brothers and sisters in Tanzania.
Providing all of these statements has been done to show you that around the world and across the United States, there are those who are struggling to find a faithful way to both be the church and address concerns. The common cord in all of these statements is an understanding that Scripture comes from God and that it is not just an amalgamated conglomeration of stories collected about God. There are, it seems, two parties at large in the church. Names and titles only segregate, so I will not attempt to ‘name’ the groups, but if we seek to understand the concept of the two parties helps us realize that there are those who are thinking differently about how to use Scripture who are leaders in the church. I will even say that at this point, although I believe it is a critical matter in the church, on a personal level, I do not believe that it is yet a salvation issue – but again, God is the judge of that.
We all know that throughout the ages, members of the church have misused God’s Word for many purposes. The vast majority of Christendom, however, has sought to remain faithful and true to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as revealed in the incarnation of Jesus. Throughout the ages, God’s Word has told us, people have struggled with sexual sins. God has continuously sent the same message to humans: “Turn from your ways to me and know that I am God.”
We now fight a world that wants to be not only allowed, but blessed in feeling good about what it is doing. If everyone was monogamous, I suspect the issue of abortion would all but go away. If we were all monogamous, there would be no sexually transmitted diseases. If we were all godly in our monogamous behavior, there would be no pornography. If we listened to Scripture, we would see that God intended for a man to cleave to his wife. There is no room God’s Word for anyone to use children for any purpose, let alone for self-gratification. Many of today’s hot-button issues would go away if we simply followed what God has told us. I want you to notice that I haven’t even touched the issue of homosexuality.
In Africa, the complications arising from Aids is killing close to seven thousand people every day. It’s a pandemic. The answer to the problem is nothing less than the directive God gives in his word - abstinence. That is why Christ Hope International, a pan-Christian ministry in Southern Africa, has been invited by the governments of Namibia, Zaire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to teach abstinence using their own printed publication in the public schools. Can you imagine a school district inviting an overtly Christian group to teach a sex education coarse in the United States? They’re teaching the godly principle that the only ‘safe’ sex is lifetime-commitment monogamous sex.
We westerners, though, play games saying, “It’s none of your business what I do or how I do it.” Not only that, but we should celebrate the ‘choices’ I make, regardless of any morality that might be questioned by those choices. The book of Ezekiel speaks to those who worship all kinds of idols in secret and how God hates the desecration of the true Holy of Holies, our heart in which He desires to dwell.
I suspect that a generation ago, members of any church anywhere would not have fathomed a day when the church would seek to declare sexual behavior outside of a monogamous heterosexual marriage relationship as either godly or normal. I suspect that would have been true of even the most liberal folk of the day. I suspect that we could go back two, four, seven, or fifty generations and find that the same understanding of sexuality would be true. You and I both know that behavior outside of this ‘norm’ has been practice in every generation and in every place, but were talking about what is normative.
Our culture is narcissistic. I find it hard to believe that God would reveal only to our generation a ‘fact’ of life that up to this point in time has been hidden from previous generations. I find it even more difficult to believe that this ‘new’ basis of understanding our human expression of sexuality goes against what God has already said succinctly in Scripture. In all the years that the author has attempted to figure out how the pro-GLTB rhetoric lines up Scripturally, the only way around it is to go around it. You can’t get there using God’s Word with a historically faithful hermeneutic.
What does this mean?
Being Christian is about following the Savior and Lord of us all, Jesus Christ. Jesus taught his disciples many things. There are some principles, then, we ought to follow. Lutherans have been quite like the pharisees in segregating themselves into like-minded groups. But segregation isn’t the answer, if even there are times when it is necessary. The direction we face should always be to the Head of the church, who is Christ, who said, “Come and follow me.” I find it interesting that God’s direction to us all at Jesus’ baptism was, “Listen to Him.” It seem that the last thing we want to do, many times, is listen to Jesus. Sexual sins are not damnable sins – only unrepentant denial of the Holy Spirit is damnable. In other words God is the judge.
We are, however, to seek to be faithful. The church is in a struggle to once again understand what being faithful means. We use words, but pour into them meanings according to what we believe. Each of us has gone astray, which is why we need to look to the Great Shepherd to bring us back on track. In other words, until the Lord leads us elsewhere, we need to stay the coarse of faithfulness. It’s tempting to try and run out ahead, the our Lord and Savior is the Head of the Church. He told us, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” You can bet the devil wants nothing more than the church to be divided. The answer is coming. It’ll get here when our Lord speaks.
Come Lord Jesus, quickly. Amen.
Church Split?
Gay bishop must go 'or the church will split'
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
(Filed: 21/06/2004)
Anglicanism's first openly gay bishop was invalidly consecrated and must be stripped of his post if the worldwide Church is to avoid schism, a leading conservative demanded yesterday.
In an extraordinary twist in the civil war over homosexuality, the Primate of the West Indies, Archbishop Drexel Gomez, said Bishop Gene Robinson, of New Hampshire, must be replaced or the Church would split in two.
The ultimatum by Archbishop Gomez, a member of the Lambeth Commission set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury to broker peace between the warring factions, will outrage liberals and further polarise positions.
It would be unprecedented for a bishop to be stripped of his post after his consecration. Dr Jeffrey John, the gay cleric named as Bishop of Reading last summer, withdrew before the ceremony.
But a paper prepared for Archbishop Gomez by prominent theologians, thought to include the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, uses arguments similar to those by Dr Rowan Williams during the Dr John furore.
The proposals were presented to the 17-strong commission during a critical meeting in America last week. The commission's final report, on which the future of the worldwide Church will hang, is due to be published in October.
Hate-Crimes Legislation Passes Senate
by Keith Peters, Washington, D.C., correspondent
Perennial gay activist legislation is back on Capitol Hill.
The Senate this week approved a measure to expand federal hate-crime laws to include homosexuals, adding it as an amendment to a defense authorization bill that is a must-pass measure for Congress this year.
The vote was 65-33 in favor of the hate-crimes provision. A co-sponsor of the proposal, Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., called it the Christian thing to do. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., doesn't agree.
"I do not believe that this legislation is necessary," Brownback said. "Crimes against another person are crimes of hate regardless of who the individual is. This is a hateful thing to do."
Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute at Concerned Women for America, said the hate-crimes language violates one of the most basic tenets of American justice: equal protection under the law for all citizens.
"When you start dividing people into categories and devote more resources to some victims rather than others," he explained, "you're violating equal protection."
The Defense Authorization Act, if the Senate also approves it as a whole, will go to a congressional conference committee -- made up of House and Senate members who will reconcile the two chambers' versions of the bill. Tom McClusky, director of government affairs at the Family Research Council (FRC), said he hopes the hate-crimes provisions will be stopped there.
"We have faith in the House conferees that this will be stricken from the final bill," he said. "We will be fighting to make sure that that does happen."
Knight, meanwhile, said we need to stick to enforcing criminal law to protect everyone regardless of who they are, and not create separate categories for different groups.
The Dorado Covenant
At a recent conference, a number of senior pastors of larger ELCA churches came together out of great love and grave concern for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Concerned about relativizing mission and the downgrading of Scripture which dilutes its final authority in all matters of faith and life, this group stated that they believe that the Bible should critique our worldview, and not vice-versa.
Out of this concern the Dorado Covenant was created with the hope of collecting thousands of signatures and pass this along to Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson and the Task Force on Sexuality by November 1. We believe that this will make a substantial impact as the Task Force prepares its recommendations to the ELCA.
1. We covenant to teach a high view of Scripture. We trust the Bible to be the only final authority for all aspects of life.
2. We affirm an aggressive, positive stance on kingdom expansion and congregational growth.
3. We choose to advance the use of all spiritual gifts through unleashing the priesthood of all believers.
4. We teach and practice that a full sexual relationship belongs exclusively within the biblical boundaries of a publicly committed legal marriage between one man and one woman.
5. We believe that mission and ministry is best accomplished within the context of congregations. Facilitating that mission and ministry should be the central focus of all expressions of the Church.
Bishop Mark Hansen speaks.
At one of our synod assemblies, Bishop Mark Hansen, in giving his report on the ELCA, addressed several of the issues facing our church. He made comment about the suggestion of a non-geographic synod to address the concern of those who desired to continue walking with the ELCA, but saw no way around what they felt was a flawed process that, perhaps, could lead then to a morally untenable position for a local congregation. He said that there was no need for a non-geographic synod to exist.
Jesus is the Head of the church. No human serving the church is her head. Not desiring to show disrespect for our Bishop of the ELCA, many leaders in our church have adopted a dismissive posture of speaking to a suggestion and ruling it out of order without allowing a discussion ensue that might explore the reasons that underlay the asking of the question. As a pastor, the editor has been guilty of the same sin of being dismissive, to be sure, but the question remains, why are we afraid to explore one side of an issue while almost recklessly exploiting the other side? There are many in the ELCA who understand that the church, although it belongs to Christ, is their church. The church is not the edict of a person or persons, but the gathering of God’s people in a particular place.
Continuing the discussion, Bishop Hansen described his conversation with a bishop in Tanzania; eluding to, but not naming the Bukoba statement (some of which is in this issue). He asked the bishop, “What are the sexual issues you are dealing with?” The bishop from Tanzania said that the number one sexual sin they deal with are the polygamists who join the church. Which wife do they recognize? The implication, well received, was that the local church is struggling with sexual issues, albeit a different sexual issue. Bishop Hansen did not use the word, ‘sin.’ That seemed to put things at rest; at least for the moment as folk applauded.
Later, in a private moment, a delegate from the assembly approached Bishop Hansen and asked, “Sir, would the church in Tanzania ever make one of the polygamists who joined the church a leader?” The answer was that they absolutely would not make the polygamists a leader in the church.
The bishop excused himself before the delegate could ask the next question, which she intended to be, “Then why are we so eager to seek to make homosexuals leaders in our community?”
That we are called to wrestle with those who have a difference of understanding from us there can be no question. That we are to be inviting, open and willing to meet all whom the Lord would bring into our midst is, Scripturally, beyond question. The question remains, how do those who feel fervent in believing that the course set for our church is a wrong course? How do those who want to remain a part of this church we call the ELCA do so in a way that upholds understanding faithfulness in a historically consistent way? How do those who feel leaders are dismissive, controlling and unwilling to allow variant voices from being heard in a mainstream way participate in the life of the greater church?
Send us your money, bless our decisions and follow our lead is often the perceived message that is received.
There must be a better way to be the church. God has blessed us in so many ways. We have a breadth and depth of understanding. Our heritage is rich and gifted. The only one who ‘wins’ with all of the energy spent on endless discussions of human behavior is the devil. We are in the midst of the ongoing spiritual battle that has left casualties throughout the ages. But greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world.
Bukoba Statement
The Preamble
The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) met in Bukoba between 2nd and 9th February, 2004 for spiritual retreat and prayer. In the said conference we reflected also on numerous issues facing the church and society in Tanzania and beyond. We are aware of our duties and responsibilities to pray for, teach, discipline and forewarn the community of faith in our nation and the larger community worldwide. In the face of many other issues facing our society, we have decided to give a conscientious statement on a few critical challenges facing the church and society. Two critical challenges that we reflected upon are effects of globalization and current/contemporary trends in human sexuality. Subsequently, both challenges debilitate our efforts in fighting HIV and AIDS.
HUMAN SEXUALITY
3.1. The ELCT Position (Conviction)
The Conference of Bishops of the ELCT believes that the Holy Scripture is the foundation of Church teaching. By reading the Bible in its original languages, foreign languages, and our mother tongues, we have come to believe that God uses his word to show the way to salvation. Thus we strongly affirm that:
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for the proof, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living. So that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed". (2Tim 3:16 -17).
Through this foundation we acknowledge and believe that;
"……no one can explain by himself a prophecy in the Scriptures. For no prophetic message ever came just from the will of man, but men were under the control of the Holy Spirit as they spoke the message that came from God". (2 Pet 1:20-21).
Thus, the Conference of Bishops of the ELCT firmly attests that the word of God as it is recorded in the Holy Scripture (Bible) is the solid foundation for the faith and life of every Christian.
3.2. Homosexuals and their Actions
3.2.1. We acknowledge that homosexual people, with their differences and special problems, are present within our society and our church. At the same time, it is true also that homosexual acts and sodomy are condemned by Holy Scripture because they go against God's plan (1Cor 6:9-10; Romans 1:26-27). We thus, are obliged to stand with Holy Scripture which is the sole guidance for decency and ethical human behavior.
3.2.2. We believe that people with homosexual inclinations/orientations and other related problems need teaching, counseling and pastoral care that leads to repentance and restoration. Furthermore, we also clearly see that homosexual acts such as sodomy are against natural order and thus against law of God's creation. These acts are not good and are rebellious.
3.2.3. We believe that the creation of a human being is completed in and by the relationship between a woman and a man. A woman and a man are created in order that each one of them shall complete one another for the purpose of also continued creation.
3.3. Foundation of Creation
We firmly see Genesis 2:24 as being in harmony with life in an African context. It demonstrates that the union between a man and a woman is the blessed tradition upon which human sexual life and behavior is based. We thus strongly reject the act of a male taking on a female sexual role or vice versa. We therefore believe in and value the beauty and completeness of a man as a man and a woman as a woman.
3.4 Legalization of Homosexuality, Its Acts, Sodomy and Same Sex Marriages
3.4.1. We object to legalization of same sex marriage, which in essence is not a marriage but a complacent act of giving in to human desires. The only marriage act that we can bless is the union between two different sexes. This understanding of marriage is derived from God's order of Creation of man and woman. The entire order of creation, including other animals and plants, was then declared by God to be "very good" (Gen. 1:31). We thus find any attempt to change God's intentions "for the sake of a few individuals with divergent sexual views and acts is in itself sinful and evil.
3.4.2. We are objecting to this legalization because it is also against human dignity and Tanzanian culture. We are convinced that this is not a natural constitution of a human person anywhere. We believe that the cultural decency that we are protecting and defending is not against God's will. ELCT is objecting to lifestyle because it deviates from fundamental biblical teaching.
3.4.2.1. We believe and affirm that legalizing homosexual acts, sodomy and same sex marriage rebels against God and misguides society.
3.4.2.2. Thus, legalizing, authorizing or accepting same sex relationships is to undermine the institution of marriage and its sanctity. This institution is the foundation of community welfare. To sabotage it is to sabotage God's command that establishes this important institution.
3.4.2.3. We admonish all human communities in the world that to endorse, legalize or encourage homosexual acts in any form is to reject natural ethical codes that humanize society. It is thus to violate God's Creation.
3.5. The Church's Responsibility
3.5.1. The true church of Christ would fail in its responsibility if it were to concede to the pressure from homosexuals and sodomites. The Church has a duty to help homosexuals and sodomites to accept their condition as a spiritual and physical problem.
3.5.2. Homosexual acts and sodomy are traditionally understood as an extreme sexual desire, and if a person under this possession is not helped, it can lead to bestiality. We affirm that sexual act must be confined to the marriage union of a man and a woman.
3.5.2.1. We deplore distorted explanations by several people who use the term "human rights" to justify homosexuality and sodomy. We find this as a deliberate misuse of a good term "human rights". It should be remembered that those forced to accept these deviated lifestyles also have their rights, which need to be protected.
3.5.2.2. Marriage is the only institution which God ordained through His Word to be the foundation of reproduction, growth and civilize society. We thus ask: is it not also a human rights issue that children be raised in community with father and mother?
3.6 Misusing Biblical Texts
3.6.1. Although we are aware that Holy Scripture forbids homosexuality and sodomy, there are theologians who interpret, exegete, and misuse Holy Scripture to support and endorse homosexuality and in its many forms.
3.6.2. The Conference of Bishops rejects biblical expositions done by some theologians and scholars with intent to affirm and legalize homosexuality. The Bible is the foundation of Christian faith and thus the church has an indisputable authority to rightly and scripturally explain faith based on God's word. The church's expositions do not necessarily have to agree with those of the scholars.
3.7 Homosexuality and Priesthood (Ordination)
We do not agree with those seeking to ordain homosexuals into the ministry of Word and Sacrament. We even do not accept evangelists, elders and other church rostered servants who are homosexuals. Instead we call upon the church of Christ worldwide to sympathize with them, pray for them and counsel them how to be transformed in their thoughts and intentions.
Full Bukoba Statement may be found at: http://www.elct.org
6-July-2004 -- Catholic World News Brief
The editor’s first article for F.O.C.L. Point was about our church’s struggle since its beginning. Although we may look to the particular contemporary ‘issue’ of lament, the underlying difficulty lies not with those who will faithfully seek Scripture’s direction in matters of faith and life, but with those who seemingly disregard either the historical understanding taught throughout the ages, or outright declare the ancient voices to be null and void. The following declaration, viewable at http://www.stnm.org/CenterforTheology/index.html is another of the many voices that cry out to our church to stop abandoning its historic mooring.
The Hickory Declaration regarding the Apostolic and Catholic Faith, the Model of Creation, and the ELCA Sexuality Study
Out of a sense of deep compassion for those who struggle with homosexual orientation, and desiring for them the fullness of life in Christ, and in the communion of the Body of Christ:
We declare that the apostolic and catholic faith revealed in Holy Scripture teaches and affirms, in both Old and New Testaments, the model of creation as male and female[1]; and,
We declare, that the Lutheran Confessions also teach the model of creation as male and female[2]; and,
We declare, that the Constitution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America commits ““this church”” to Scripture as the Word of God ““the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life.”” [3], and to the Lutheran Confessions as ““a true witness to the Gospel””, and ““valid inter-pretations of the faith of the Church”” [4] and to an understanding of the ““Nature of the Church”” as being, ““in length…… in the historic continuity of the communion of saints”” [Chapter 3.02], i.e., one with the Church of all times and all places, faithful to the faith and practice of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church; and,
We declare, that the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church has –– in all times and all places –– affirmed the model of creation as male and female, and has upheld the sexual ethic of faithfulness within marriage and abstinence outside of marriage [5]; and therefore,
We declare, that the doctrine of the model of creation as male and female is subsumed within the ““Confession of Faith,””[Chapter 2, Constitution of the ELCA], and therefore not dependent upon ““study”” or subject to vote; and further,
We declare, that the sexual ethic of fidelity within marriage and abstinence outside of marriage is faithful to the faith and practice of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, and is subsumed within the ““Nature of the Church””, [Chapter 3, Constitution of the ELCA], and is therefore also not dependent upon “study”” or subject to vote.
Threatened in Canada, enacted in Sweden, reaction against those who ‘stood’ in the way of coming to a new understanding of sexuality have now seen the debate come full circle.
SWEDISH MINISTER JAILED FOR "ANTI-GAY" SPEECH
Stockholm, Sweden, Jul. 06
(LifesiteNews.com/CWN) -
The Rev. Ake Green, the pastor of a Swedish Pentecostal church in Kalmar, Sweden, has been sentenced to one month in prison for inciting hatred against homosexuals. Green was prosecuted in January for "hate speech against homosexuals" for a sermon he preached last summer citing Biblical references to homosexuality.
Sweden has a "hate crimes" law that forbids criticism of homosexuality. According to the church newspaper "Kyrkans Tidning" , the prosecutor in the case, Kjell Yngvesson, justifies the arrest of Green: "One may have whatever religion one wishes, but this is an attack on all fronts against homosexuals. Collecting Bible citations on this topic as he (Green) does makes this hate speech."
But not in America
Council vote expands hate-crimes ordinance
February 5, 2003——Cincinnati City Council voted 7-2 today to expand the city's hate-crimes ordinance to protect gays and lesbians. This in effect reverses the city ordinance the AFA has been using as their sole example (in the entire United States) of intolerant public policy and was the basis of the language in the failed Traverse City Proposal 1.