Pentecost service yesterday. 10:30 service got done at 12:10! [It is fun to see the sea of red - we wear red in our congregation on Pentecost. Wearing our choir robes looked good. (They are red.) But they were so hot! I was very glad we sang early and could be free of them for most of the service. Funny thing was -- it didn't feel as long as some 75-minute services. I suppose partially because we expected it to be a long service. Still, it was funny that we scheduled the post-service meal to begin at 11:30. And a youth meeting at 12:00. Who are we kidding?]
Our guest pastor encouraged us to speak the Gospel to others in their own language -- and here he was talking about "in ways they can relate to." The LCMS is losing 20-30-year-olds.
Well, Duh!
Look at the statement of the LCMS position on the age of the Earth. I have some news for you, LCMS: young, educated people are going to leave a church that is arguing for such naive literalism that it allows the possibility that God is fooling us with scientific evidence --
"several possibilities exist for 'harmonizing' Biblical teachings with scientific studies (e.g., God created the world in an already 'mature' state, so that scientific 'data' leads one to the conclusion that it is older than it actually is, etc.)"
Arrgh!
The more I learn about how Christianity and science have grown together over the centuries, the more frustrated I am that my synod is misguided enough to create a non-existent wedge and try to drive it between the two. This alienates many people, and the young most of all.
Add to that the Pharisee-esque interpretation of scripture that prohibits women as pastors, and you are clinging to old tradition instead of hearing and proclaiming the Good News. You are speaking your own archaic language, not the language of the people. Even more importantly, not the language of Truth.
1 comment:
All so that a little bit of Genesis can be literally accurate. Do they question the speed of light, or just say that God made the light already be here when he made it all that one day? I'll never understand it, I guess that's part of why they've lost me.
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