Missionary Info Issue

I talked today to a Hockinson board member about the missionary info issue mentioned in some of the comments. Here's the "rest of the story."

The board, seeing that there were many missions and seeing that they did not have a standardized policy in place to make sure that their response to different requests to post literature [was equitable - Updated by APWWW], decided to come up with a standard Missionary Information Display Policy. This policy is available to anyone who requests it.

The policy basically states that in order to get something displayed in the entry there is an approval process. You submit a request to the board with the following information:

1. Description of the literature and a draft copy or sketch of what it would look like
   
2. Start date of display
3. End date of display
4. Who will be responsible for maintaining the information

If the literature will be displayed for two weeks or less it would be put in the church entry. If it is more of a long-term thing then it would be displayed in the basement. This is to prevent the church bulletin boards from becoming so cluttered they would not be effective.

The literature would need to be professional in appearance, be clear about what mission it is supporting, and would be reviewed and approved by the board on a case-by-case basis.

This board member told me that they had only one request to put literature in the entry that did not happen. The reason it didn't happen was not because the board did not approve it. The request was before the policy was in place so when the policy was created the board sent this policy to the individual. Over a year passed and they did not receive a response.

So that's the gist of it. Doesn't sound very legalistic to me.

Legalism in Other Churches

Much has been made about the legalism that was found within the ALC. But legalism takes many forms. Recently, I was listening to a sermon by the pastor of the so-called "progressive" church Living Hope and while he had quite a few good points the overall message was that we will all be judged by God in the end by what we do with our money. He went on to say that supporting AIDS cures in Africa and other good causes would make us better in the sight of God and spending it on ourselves or hoarding it would make us as "fools."

I agree that we should be good stewards of the money that God has given to us. But equating it to something that we will be judged on in the last day is nothing more than legalism in another form. And this form of legalism will be vigorously defended by those who will quickly condemn the Piotist legalism. All legalism is against God's Word. God does not judge us by our works (either thou shalt nots or thou shalts) -- He sees us through the merits of Christ's work on the cross and his resurrection.

The Winds of Change

When speaking of change within a church, the present always seems to be static. There's very little change from day to day and Sunday to Sunday. But when you take a full 10 or 20 years it suddenly becomes apparent that a church is not static--rather, it is affected profoundly (for better or worse) by the membership within it.

Twenty (or even ten) years ago it would have seemed crazy to assume my church would have a cross at the front, or a guitar at a wedding, or a piano in the basement, or internet access, or be considering streaming our services live with video. It would have seemed foolish to think that we would have two full-time pastors (those "hirelings"). And yet when the timing was right (after years of frustration) all these things have happened. Now, it seems silly that they were even issues! Of course, they never were issues to most people, but there was the attitude of "we don't want to offend anyone" that slowed the progress.

Everyone has things they would like to see at a church. Maybe praise songs instead of the same old hymns. Maybe a choir, or litergy. A steeple...a playground...whatever. And we (I'm very much this way) get frustrated when the "inertia" of tradition and a large congregation don't immediately go our way.

There has been a lot of change over the past decade within the ALC. I believe it has been in a very positive direction. Do you believe there has been change for the good? What do you see in ten or twenty years?

Problems, Past and Present: Confession and Absolution

First off I've really enjoyed the discussion so far, so those of you that have contributed please keep checking this space for more items to discuss!

Now that I've gotten everyone questioning whether I have rose-colored glasses on when I write these articles, I'll delve into the flip side of the church -- the problems facing us today and the ones still haunting us from the past.

In every church there are problems. Anyone with experience with different churches of different denominations will agree that "wherever two or three are gathered" you'll get two or three or more opinions. The problems that have affected the Laestadian movement go way back and I won't get into their root causes here.

Confession and Absolution - "Living on the Edge"

I once asked a man my own age within the ALC if he thought that if he were to commit a sin and die without confessing it that he would go to hell. He answered in the affirmative and I was rather shocked. That introduced me to the belief of "living on the edge" and never quite knowing if your sins were forgiven or not. As this was never taught in my family when I was growing up, I had never been exposed to it before.

As I have gotten to know more and more people from around the church I find that the "Living on the Edge" belief is not widespread. Some people that may have had that misunderstanding before have now realized that the whole work of Christ was done (let me repeat that, done) on the cross. Without conducting a poll of all ALC members it would be impossible to say definitively whether it is a "mainstream" opinion or not but from my perspective I can't say it is. What I do know is that by continuing to have patience and love and understanding with one another, the truth will set everyone free. For to be "Living on the Edge" is to be in bondage.

That said, is confession and absolution a false teaching? As AP Kid said in one of his comments below, no, it is entirely biblical and a privilege. If we despise it then we despise God's word and that is not right. And it's certainly a beautiful thing, whether between a man and his wife or between friends or even adversaries.

Misconception #5: Confession & Absolution

* Misconception #5: ALC teaches that you are saved through confession/absolution and that if you sin and don’t confess it, you’ll go to hell.

The truth about this misconception:

Again, some people have made this argument. It’s not scriptural nor is it the teaching of the church. Confession is a gift from God to renew the spirit and conscience from sins that bother us. It is NOT a salvation issue. We as Christians are able to be reminded through confession and absolution that our sins are paid for (not when we confess them, but when Jesus died and rose again). It's not a requirement but rather a privilage.

Misconception #4: Career and Education

* Misconception #4: ALC teaches that college or further education is sin and the best employment is construction-related

The truth about this misconception:

Some fringe members have believed this in the past but education is very much encouraged in the church today. The fact that there are many construction workers within the church is because of the amount of jobs available (there are many self-made homebuilders within the church) and the possibility to create a good income right out of high-school. More and more people are becoming involved in technology and white collar work as well as furthering their education.

Misconception #3: Marriage & Families

* Misconception #3: You have to have a large family / you have to get married young / etc.

The truth about this misconception:

Most of the members believe that sex outside of wedlock is bad for you. In the “world” outside of the church sex outside of wedlock is perfectly fine, thus, people can do what they want and then later on in life “settle down” and get married. This of course has been statistically proven to have bad consequences in life. Within the church people tend to get married earlier because of the focus on relational commitment. The fact that there are large families is the result of people believing that children are a blessing and not just focusing on themselves.

Misconception #2: False doctrines

* Misconception #2: ALC Churches believe they are the only people who will go to heaven and that all other churches are false.

The truth about this misconception:

The Apostolic Lutheran Church teaches that faith is a gift from God and not from the church. Thus, the church is an important organization to provide church services, the preaching of the Word, and support for members, but salvation is a much larger issue and we can’t judge those who don’t go to our church (nor for that matter those who do go to our church).

Misconception #1: "Sins"

* Misconception #1: ALC churches preach against “sin,” saying those who commit sin will go to hell, and list among those:

* Women wearing lipstick, makeup, jewelry

* Short skirts

* Drinking

* Promiscuity

* Smoking / chewing tobacco

* Birth control

* Foul language

* Television

* Internet

* Movies

* Curled hair

* “Seminary” preachers

* Organized sports

The truth about these misconceptions:

While there have been fringe members (and some preachers) of the church that have indeed made it a point to preach about any and all of these issues, they have largely been relegated to certain segments and congregations and as a whole the ALC does not espouse these legalistic stands. Some of the issues are obviously valid and have real consequences and many other denominations have similar teachings (for example, drinking, promiscuity, etc.). But as it says in 1 Corinthians 6: “All things are lawful under me, but all things are not expedient.” The Apostolic Lutheran Church teaches that the Spirit will show you the things of Jesus and that you will feel compelled to follow the Spirit, not to follow man.

Being as not all things are expedient (or “good for you” on this earth), the parents are encouraged to teach their children healthy decisions but are given the liberty to make those decisions based on their own experience and the Spirit’s guidance.

The bottom line is that faith in Jesus Christ and what he has done for each one individually is the only way to heaven and unbelief in that (not believing that he died for us and rose again) is the only way to hell!

Misconceptions

I am going to start a series of posts about misconceptions. There are a few misconceptions floating around and I'd like to address them. AP Kid will also contribute.

Intro: If you’ve heard about the Apostolic Lutheran Church or any of the churches that share our heritage (Old Apostolic Lutheran Church, Laestadian Lutheran Church, etc.) then you may have heard certain generalities that may or may not be based in truth. In this blog series I will try to list some of those and give an insider’s perspective on each.

Welcome Everybody!

Hey, it's me here. Just wanted to say welcome and God's Peace. Feel free to post anything on your heart, but be respectful. If you're not, they will be deleted. I'll try to get some stuff up here soon. Until then.....