Becker Hits a Nerve

Apparently Dr. Becker hit a nerve with a recent post on the discussion of the ordination of women in the Independent Lutheran Church in Germany (SELK). If he was looking for attention on the issue, he now has it. Was that his goal? He certainly did not miss the opportunity to again chastise the LCMS for its apparent lack of willingness in beating this dead horse. Like the SELK there is division on this issue in the LCMS; of this we are painful aware. After all, the mere existence of sites such as The Creator's Tapestry and DayStar indicates that there are those who wish to keep the subject alive in our midst. On the other hand, both denominations also lack broad-based support within the rank-and-file of the congregations even after extended conversations on the topic. One might think that after ten years of discussing this in SELK without a positive result (for the pro-ordination side), we might conclude that the issue is indeed becoming the proverbial "dead horse." And this is the issue I struggle to understand. When it has been demonstrated on the official and popular level that an issue is failing to gain solid traction leading to conclusive adoption, are we wrong in concluding that it is time to move on and declare the topic closed? Or are we obligated to continue, ad infinitum (and ad nauseam) until resistance breaks down out of sheer exhaustion or indifference? Is there a reason those who desire something offered elsewhere are unwilling to go there to find it instead of always trying to change the place they currently are? It begins to feel like the person who feels that if they keep harping on a spouse to change they will get the desired result, even if that change ends up only in appearance and with resentment. Do they really believe that there is such support in the Synod that if we finally broke down and decided to ordain woman that the division in our midst would be only minimal? Look at the ELCA. They pushed the limits with homosexuality and lost a significant number of their membership - so many an entirely new church denomination was formed. Is this what the proponents of the ordination of women eventually desire?

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