The biggest news out of Orlando

The (temporary) defeat of attempts to get the ELCA to authorize the ordination of some non-celibate gays (they're openly being ordained and serving in several synods already), and the decision not to give official permission for ELCA pastors to bless "same-sex unions" (it's being done anyway, on pretty much the same basis) is by no means the most important news out of the Orlando meeting.

Far more significant, in my opinion, is a resolution officially making the ELCA a church of idolaters.

The idolatry of the institution has been the de facto religion of many in the ELCA for a long time. It is seen wherever people who recognize the spiritual and theological disaster the ELCA has become nevertheless choose loyalty to the church of their ancestors over loyalty to Jesus Christ.

It was seen in all its shabbiness during the debate over the homosexuality resolutions, when "conservative" delegates actually vowed to stay in the ELCA even if it decided to ordain practicing homosexuals and authorize the blessing of same-sex unions. One "conservative" pastor went so far as to say that he found it "inconceivable" that people would break fellowship over the issue, and displayed a total incomprehension of the stakes when he spoke of it as a mere "disagreement" with "people with whom (we) will spend eternity."

It's the institutional idolatry of ELCA conservatives which pays the bills to allow the spiritual poison to flow from the seminaries; which enables the wives and daughters of ELCA pastors (and the pastors themselves!) to undergo abortions for pretty much any reason at all- paid for by the ELCA Health Plan; and for the real heritage of their ancestors- the orthodox Christian Faith- to be contaminated and polluted by the frank heresy of ELCA theologians and officially sanctioned intercommunion with church bodies which cannot find it within themselves to insist even on the doctrine of the Trinity.

My former ELCA bishop once told the congregation of one of my (few) confessional collegues, "Your pastor values truth. I value unity." That there can be no unity without truth is a point which seems to be beyond many in the ELCA whose hearts are otherwise in the right places.

There are far worse bishops in the ELCA than the man who spoke those words to my friend's congregation. But no one who takes the position he takes has any business being either a bishop or a pastor in the first place. Idolatry isn't a good thing among those who describe themselves as Christians, and still less among those called to shepherd them.

From the beginning of the ongoing push to get the laity to buy into homosexuality, the camel's nose syndrome has been in full effect. The possibility that substance could be divisive is one which the leadership of the ELCA has always been careful to nip in the bud. That the unity of the ELCA was a given, despite differences even over issues involving the eternal destiny of human beings and the basics of the Faith itself, is a message which has been relentlessly imposed as a presupposition at every stage of the process. And now, it's official policy.

The St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports it this way:

Members of a church sexuality task force said a commitment to unity should precede any other potentially divisive votes. Those opposed to actions that would loosen the church's policies on gay and lesbian relationships called it the "why can't we all just get along" resolution.

"The surest sign of disunity is scheduling a vote on unity,'' said Louis Hesse, a voting member of the Assembly from the ELCA's Eastern Washington-Idaho area. "Unity is a gift of God. It either is or is not. The issue should not even be coming before this assembly. … I reserve the right to say unity can be broken (in some situations).'' :

Smart fellow- and one who isn't into idolatry.

But he was in the minority. The resolution to stay united no matter what- to make idols of empty unity and a human ecclesiastical structure- passed, 851-127.

There's something about that outcome that borders on being funny. What was this resolution supposed to accomplish? Does anybody think for a moment that those 127 people who voted "no" are somehow obligated to remain in the ELCA, or to recognize the artificial "unity" declared by the majority? Doesn't the very fact that there were negative votes reveal the resolution itself as a lie?

But it's our old friend the camel once again. In the ELCA, the terms of any question must always be carefully defined ahead of time by the Left in such a way that the matter ends up coming out the way the Left wants. In this case, it was important for the ELCA to be on record as declaring substance to be non-divisive, even if it proved the opposite by the very effort.

And so it is that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, along with all its other blemishes, is officially on record as a denomination of idolaters.