AboutMartin W. Eldred Expertise I have been a Lutheran Christian for 47 years and a Lutheran pastor for almost 19. I can answer most general questions about Luther, Lutheran History, Lutheran Theology, and a Lutheran approach to Biblical Interpretation. I am ELCA, for those who know what that means, and I tend to be moderate theologically. I hope that I can converse with those that are either more conservative or liberal than I, and especially with those who are really just seeking.
Experience Pastors are "generalists" and generally have a working knowledge on many subjects. We are also used to working with a variety of answers from a variety of people. I teach a great deal, especially in the area ofthe New Testament. I particulalry enjoy the Pauline literature.
Organizations I have been a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, an international gathering of biblical scholars and teachers, since the late 1980s.
Publications I have written a few book reviews for the journal, "Lutheran Quarterly."
Education/Credentials I have a B.A. from Pacific Lutheran University in Religion (Biblical Studies)and a Master of Divinity from Wartburg Theological Seminary.
Question I am Lutheran who has found himself disillusioned with the Church. When I was young, I was a member of a congregation that boasted 500 members. In the intervening thirty or so years, I have watched that family of faith dwindle from standing room only in Church on any given Sunday and a Sunday School that filled the Church with young people to a place where if we we’re now lucky to get fifty people in the pews and the merest remnants of a Sunday School. In retrospect, I can safely say that each mass exodus can be attributed to the ego and arrogance of a person with a collar and the cronyism fostered by those individuals. As a person who chooses to keep his faith and politics separate, I have watched internal politics destroy what was once a strong congregation. As a person strong in my faith, I have looked at joining other congregations but in talking to their members, I have only found that our situation is not unique. At this point I have become a Christmas, Palm Sunday, and Easter Lutheran, which is not where I want to be, but viable alternatives are eluding me. A little pastoral advice or guidance would be appreciated. YIC, Rob
Answer Rob:
I am so sorry to hear of your pain, disappointment, and disillusionment with the church. To be honest,based on what you have written, I don't really blame you. There can be a lot with which to be disappointed in the "organized" church.
Much of what you describe is probably due to the fact that the church is disproportionately filled with sinners. We are a broken group of humans and, although redeemed by God through Jesus, we still tend to fight and find it necessary to demand our own way. Thus, we do a lot of stupid, selfish things in the church that are not very Christ-like--pastors and laypeople alike. We fight, we gossip, we forget the poor and the needy. In short, we forget that we are supposed to be following the Master, not our own selfish needs. The church suffers and the non-churched wonder, "What would I join them?"
We have a lot of work to do -- mostly repentance (turning around--which is what the Greek word means) and returning to Jesus and his teachings.
There is also a lot of cultural issue that are leading to the decline of the church attendance. We are less and less a "Christian" nation or culture. More and more, people base their "religious" needs (what gives life meaning and hope) on the more secular gods of money, power, and progress and prestige. Most families are too busy to spend time at an institution from which they see no real benefit. The cultural need to be "respectable" church-going people is long gone, so most families are long gone from church. There are far too many other things that they would rather do (soccer, hockey, baseball for the kids; golf for dad, etc.)
What is the answer? I think we as members of the churches need to re-think what church is about. If we want people to go because of some 1950's ideal of respectability and order--they won't come. To use an overused and over-abused idea--we need to be relevant to people. Now, I would argue that we have always been relevant--that the gospel is not a fad that we doctor up, but I also would agree that the perception out there is not that people disagree with our theology, it is that they don't see us as particularly meaningful. We are, for most people, obsolete.
I think we need a rigorous, "Back to basics" program. It will not be a back to the "glory days" of the 1950's and 1960's when churches held their cultural peak in our country. What I think we need is a back to the basics of the earliest Christian communities, withoout all the institutional trappings and politics. We need to refocus on the relationship with Jesus; our call to be disciples and followers of Jesus, not members of a church; and our action in actually doing what Jesus asked us to do, rather than maintaining our carefully crafted structures and institutions.
This may mean less job security for us pastors. We may work with small house-churches more than big parishes with big buildings. We may have less committees and more actions teams. We may have less budget numbers but do more with the poor and the needy, the environment, and justice. In short, we will focus OUTSIDE our church walls and begin to live out our calling from Jesus (The Great Commission begins with "GO, and make disciples....). I believe that only then, will the non-churched begin to take notice of us, and the churched members will begin to feel the revival of the Spirit. As we, like the church in the book of Acts, follow Jesus out of our comfort zones, into the real needs and pain of real people, then the Spirit will blow through us again and people will see that this "good news" that we talk about so much really is somethings real (or "relevant"). We will believe it as well. Transformed lives will transform God's church.
