Luther at the Movies

This post on Mere Comments is one more warning to the churches of the Reformation.

We dare not laugh at the doctrinal chaos of the Anglican Communion or the Episcopal Church in the United States, lest we ourselves fall.

There are some who clamor for the Anglican Communion's collapse. Let us never forget the extraordinary men and women that communion has produced:

• Richard Hooker
• J.C. Ryle
• Lord Shaftesbury
• William Wilberforce
• John Wesley
• Jonathan Swift
• John Donne
• Lewis Carroll
• C.S. Lewis
• Dorothy Sayers
• N.T. Wright

This is but a short list.

Why has this communion fallen apart? Many would blame the Elizabethan Settlement first and foremost, which was a political compromise less interested in gospel truth than in civil peace and a secure footing for the monarchy. A state church will always emphasize loyalty to the group over loyalty to Christ. Witness the Unionist Church of Prussia, a concoction that cared not one whit for theology but only for unity.

Some would blame the inadequacy of the Thirty-nine Articles as a bulwark against heresy. Some, the absence of a final authority to resolve conflicts.

All of the above? None of the above? For many, the why is not as important as the how—How do we fix things? But until you know the why, you will never figure out the how.

Disestablish the Church of England. If the broad-church ministers had to rely solely on their parishioners for their keep, they would begin to rethink doctrine. They would begin to rethink all that they have thrown away in order to keep what was ultimately dispensable.

The best thing that could happen to the Episcopal Church in America is bankruptcy. Let parishes and dioceses lose their endowments, lose their property. Make them fight for congregants in order to secure an income—and then we will see which churches thrive and which die.

"What a glib, snide reproach!" I can hear someone snap. "And what of the good work that is done for the poor, the homeless, the unemployed? That takes money! Should good works be sacrificed on the altar of fratricidal rage? In the end, isn't how we treat a neighbor in distress more important a witness to Christ than a laundry list of doctrinal affirmations?"

Silence, imaginary interlocutor! Feed the flock and the flock will feed the hungry, clothe, the naked, and discomfort the comfortable! First things first! Feed them Christ and not the editorial page of The New York Times and watch how Christians address those bodily needs—and that out of gratitude, not out of guilt or political correctness!

Pray for the remnant: those faithful Anglicans/Episcopalians who are clinging to their faith, their prayerbook, their church, and who are fighting the good fight against heresy, indecency, stupidity, and greed. (If you knew what a TEC or C of E bishop drew as an income now, you would never stop throwing up. This, too, is why even orthodox clergy hang on to their positions in an apostate church—many are simply too comfortable.)

Pray also that, should they no longer find the TEC or the C of E sufferable, the remnant will join us in the Lutheran Church. Pray also that there will still be a Lutheran Church worthy of the name for them to enter.