It has come to my attention that we Right-wing Christians need to revisit our understanding of church discipline. Recent events in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) have reminded me of the true nature of liberal tactics. To prepare ourselves for the future, we would be wise to analyze and remember these strategies so that we may defend against them as necessary.
The Background Information
For this analysis, we will start with the initial controversy in the Lutheran church: the modified larger catechism. It is not uncommon for the LCMS to republish a catechism, adding addendum material and some more contemporary guidance in the book. This year, however, it seemed as if the additional material had a far more liberal agenda.
While some of the critiques were minor, most concerns had significant merit. Even a charitable reading of the above section should be sufficient cause to question the entire work. Yet critics’ arguments were summarily dismissed, and catechism’s distribution was resumed. The president of the LCMS, Matthew Harrison, stated “I deplore the unchristian attacks on the servants of the church who edited and contributed to the production of the volume” 1https://reporter.lcms.org/2023/update-from-president-harrison-on-large-catechism/ and chose to defend this new doctrine of pedophilia. It seems as though Harrison was deliberately vague about what constitutes “unchristian attacks,” a tactic he would use later as well.
About one week later, an Antifa group called “Machaira Action” had chronicled specific instances of the rise of “fascism,” “neo-nazis,” and Christian nationalists within the LCMS denomination. Conveniently, this Antifa article also blamed the “unchristian attacks” against the catechism on the influence of Right-wing LCMS members. The report calls for Antifa members to “take action” by calling church leadership to denounce this ideology and to bar the members from church premises. The article ends with a thinly veiled threat against a specific LCMS member, Corey Mahler.
“Without these actions, Mahler’s influence will grow in tandem with his faction’s plans. If churches truly believe the statement that “hate has no place here,” they must take specific action and remove it from the pews. At least in one church, we know where it sits—in the same pew, every week.”
Machaira Action (antifa blog)2https://web.archive.org/web/20230212105131/https://machairaaction.noblogs.org/post/2023/02/10/dismantling-the-fortress/
About two weeks later, the LCMS president decided to again weigh in on the catechism. This time, he chose to specifically peg the matter on supporters of the “alt-right,” despite the fact that these threats were most likely from Antifa.
“They have made serious online threats to individuals and scandalously attacked several faithful LCMS members. Through these social media posts, even our wonderful deaconesses have been threatened and attacked.
This is evil. We condemn it in the name of Christ.”
Matthew Harrison, “Statement on recent online unchristian teachings” – February 21, 20233https://reporter.lcms.org/2023/president-harrison-denounces-disturbing-ideologies/
Vagueness as a Weapon
If you are unfamiliar with the tactics of liberalism, you may not understand how being vague is beneficial. This last statement by president Harrison provides an excellent case in point. Antifa had obvious intentions to harass and demand disciplinary action from LCMS leadership until Corey Mahler was removed from the pews. By attributing the reason for the attacks to members of the “alt-right,” Harrison conveniently ignores the fact that members of antifa had done the threatening and attacking.
Harrison’s statement is also intentionally vague on what the “alt-right” is but still entirely condemns it. He tries to distinguish some of these unchristian beliefs found in “alt-right” circles but also leaves in ones with biblical support! 4Slavery, death for homosexuals, anti-interracial marriage, and genocidal acts can all be found in the Bible in a positive light. The full sentence reads as follows: “The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, its president, vice-presidents and all 35 district presidents, along with its ministerium and congregations, categorically reject the horrible and racist teachings of the so-called “alt-right” in toto (including white supremacy, Nazism, pro-slavery, anti-interracial marriage, women as property, fascism, death for homosexuals, even genocide).” After thoroughly denouncing these “alt-right” views and attacks, Harrison makes clear that he is willing to use the power of excommunication to remove it.
At this point, it was still unclear what sin was being denounced. Harrison references 1 John 3:15 in his reasoning, but it is still incredibly ambiguous how that verse condemns Right-wing ideology. Rather than clarifying their position, the LCMS leadership moved straight to the action.
The “Excommunication”
In order to excommunicate a member of the LCMS, there are a few steps you must follow. In short, you must meet with an elder, then a board of elders, and finally, the entire church will vote. As Corey Mahler can attest, his “excommunication” process looked much different. Mahler was never given a list of charges, no meetings, and no church vote. Instead, Corey was pulled aside at church, verbally accused of a number of things, then told he could never come back to church without trespassing. His own church had suspended all forms of due process and effectively excommunicated him without ever going through the church’s pre-determined process. (I would encourage you to read his side of the story here: https://coreyjmahler.com/the-apostasy-of-missouri/)
If you are interested in the particulars of his case, I’m afraid you won’t be able to find much. There was no trial, no evidence, and no official charges. You can find some discussion of the details in online communities, but I have not seen a public statement from the instigators. Even without the details, the story’s end result remains the same: a faithful church member was forcibly removed from church property and never allowed to return.
The Takeaway
There are many morals to this story. The first and most obvious one goes without saying – don’t whore out your church to Antifa. In a more general application, though, the discerning Christian ought to be thinking of these tactics as we see formerly faithful churches cave to the demands of liberalism. As the church conforms to secularism, it would be wise to remember that its tactics change with it. In today’s age, it is improbable that you will ever be excommunicated for theological issues. Instead, your pastor will be constantly harassed and doxxed until he removes you from membership. You may be physically removed from the church building for “safety concerns.” Your denomination may issue a public statement denouncing Christian nationalism as a “dangerous ideology,” which you will then be expected to renounce. Already, we have seen persistent efforts within liberal denominations to associate Christian nationalism with the events of Jan 6. 5https://baptistnews.com/article/five-takeaways-from-the-report-on-christian-nationalism-and-january-6/
If you have serious concerns about the Left-wing influences on your church, you would be wise to consider these things. I am not trying to scare you with these statements, but I am trying to warn you. I do not intend to make you suspicious of your church but to make you aware. The enemy fights dirty. We would be wise to remember the devil’s influences and resist him.
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
Sources:
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- 4Slavery, death for homosexuals, anti-interracial marriage, and genocidal acts can all be found in the Bible in a positive light. The full sentence reads as follows: “The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, its president, vice-presidents and all 35 district presidents, along with its ministerium and congregations, categorically reject the horrible and racist teachings of the so-called “alt-right” in toto (including white supremacy, Nazism, pro-slavery, anti-interracial marriage, women as property, fascism, death for homosexuals, even genocide).”
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