I'm speechless
In the "My View" column, our denominational magazine features an article by an ELCA pastor who defends communing the unbaptized with a few anecdotes and the question that trumps all other answers: "Jesus didn't exclude anyone. Why should we?"
Doesn't our denominational magazine have any responsibility to its readership? Does its solicitation of reader viewpoints extend to any opinion, no matter how uninformed, misinformed, or damaging to Christian faith? Does the magazine have any responsibility to Scripture, tradition, or even the efforts of the ELCA Worship Staff?
Sigh...this is why I'd never recommend The Lutheran to any of my parishioners interested in learning or living the Christian faith.
posted by Maurice Frontz @ 10:20 PM
1 Comments:
The following is my response to the article on the Lutheran's discussion boards. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the population of the Lutheran's discussion boards is about as populous as this blog's readership, or perhaps slightly more populous than an abandoned coal-mining town in northeast Pa. Nonetheless, at least I got it off my chest.
Pr. Sletto,
I'm not sure how to respond to your article. While I know that you are motivated by a laudable desire to include those who are unbaptized in Christ's love, I am not at all certain that welcoming them to the table without inviting them to baptism is the best way to witness to that love.
Any discussion of Holy Communion ought to be grounded in its institution. Jesus gave the command, "Do this in remembrance of me," to those who were already his disciples. After his resurrection, ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, those disciples preached repentance and forgiveness to all nations. Those who accepted their message and received baptism became disciples of Jesus as well, and devoted themselves to "...the breaking of bread" (Acts 2).
Your discussion of communion neglects the ecclesiological aspect. In your article, it seems to be only a way that Jesus touches individuals. The reality is far richer: Christ comes to his Church, uniting us with Him and with each other in a fellowship of unity and truth. To offer communion to the unbaptized is to neglect the idea of fellowship, not to mention the idea of discipleship.
Instead of your article - which, I must say, promotes a theology of cheap grace without cost, without commitment, without consideration - I wish the people who read the Lutheran would have been able to read something about the adult catechumenate. The adult catechumenate truly welcomes and includes those unbaptized adults who desire to follow Christ by inviting them into a relationship with Him through baptism into his Church. The Eucharist stands at the summit of the catechumen's baptismal journey, and it is no less grace-filled for having been waited for and longed for.
Pr. Maurice Frontz
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