The 63rd Regular Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod Convention is currently underway at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. Like the Southern Baptist Convention held in Texas a number of years ago, a variety of subjects including membership in fraternal organizations will be considered by the delegates. They will also hear about the "Ablaze" movement wherein the LCMS has a goal of sharing the Gospel with 100 million people in the next ten years. If the "Ablaze" movement is something more than smoke, if there is actual spiritual fire involved, then at long last the LCMS must begin practicing what it preaches!
It was Dr. Martin Lutheran who proposed certain changes in the Roman Catholic Church. He didn’t want to start a new denomination, but rather, to motivate his church to change it’s unChristian doctrine. Further, he robbed the priesthood of it’s power over the people by translating the Bible from the original Greek and Hebrew into the language of the people. When the people could read and understand Holy Scriptures, they didn’t have to rely upon their parish Priests to read and "interpret" the Word of God for them any longer.
The "Ablaze" movement proposes to reach millions of people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ during the next decade to coincide with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. The LCMS has refused to allow its confirmed adult members to belong to the Masonic Lodge and remain "communicant members." The same rule has applied to membership in other, so-called "Secret Societies."
I have always wondered how the LCMS, can justify allowing young men and women who are members of that denomination to become and remain members of Greek fraternities and sorieties and preclude mature adult members from becoming Masons or members of Eastern Star. This is particularly curious when some, if not all, of the Greek organizations have rituals and practices which are far more "secret" and out of consonance with a strict interpretation of the Bible than Freemasonry and Eastern Star!
The statement Jesus made to his disciples in Matthew 18:19-20, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...", DOES NOT INCLUDED THE WORDS, "BUT STOP AT THE LODGE ROOM DOOR"! This passage is often called, "The Great Commission."
How many times have we heard the words, "They will know we are Christians by our love"? While religious and political discussions are forbidden practices in the meetings of the Masonic fraternity, the mark of a Christian can not help but spill over into the dealings of men with one another in fraternal affairs. Being a devout Christian most certainly will make a man a better Mason. Practicing the teachings of Freemasonry will make a man a more deeply involved Christian! More will be said on this in future articles.
The LCMS has been relying upon outdated, inaccurate and outright erroneous sources in the formation of and its continued stand against Freemasonry, and that is a shame. I know, because I can speak with absolute personal knowledge.
It has long been and shall continue to be my personal goal to work with ministers and officials of the LCMS in supplying them WITH THE TRUTH so that, hopefully and prayerfully the unfortunate preclusion can be removed. I know a number of Masons who are members of LCMS churches and in fact, a number of Masons who are members of the Roman Catholic faith. To that end, and at the request of several Pastors, I wrote the following resolution which was passed by the Nebraska District of the LCMS and forwarded directly to the Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the LCMS:
PROPOSED RESOLUTION #1.05
To Request a CTCR Study on Lodge Membership
WHEREAS, The Lutehran Church - Missouri Synod has for over 100 years had the official position that membership in a "Secret Society" or Lodge was contrary to God’s Word and especially the First Commandmand; and
WHEREAS, There is a wide variety of congregational practice in the LCMS regarding individual "Secret Society" or Lodge membership; and
WHEREAS, Many members of the LLCMS belong to fraternities and sororities that have some of the same beliefs and practices common to "Secret Societiet" or Lodges; and
WHEREAS, The Commission on Organizations, which formerly answered many questions with regard to questions concerning "Secret Societies" and Lodges is no longer fully staffed; and
WHEREAS, The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that the Masonic Lodge does not qualify as a religion for tax purposes; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Commission on Theology and Church Relations be directed to do a study on the issue of "Secret Society" or Lodge membership, including but not limited to information pertaining to possible changes in teaching and practice in the last 50 years and also the differences between the wide varieties of these organizations; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the CTCR study include practical guidelines for congregations to follow.
In my opinion, the best resolve of this matter would be something like that reached by the Southern Baptist Convention a few years back. While the church body will not endorse membership in such organizations, if a man in his heart and mind, can be a faithful Christian and at the same time a Mason, the church will not be opposed to such.
I pray the leaders of the LCMS will see the wisdom in taking such a stand and welcome good Masons to become or continue to be faithful members of the LCMS.
SO MOTE IT BE!