The United Methodist Church has formally approved an agreement with the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) for full communion between the two churches.

This means clergy from either Methodist or ELCA congregations can officiate at the altars and preach in the pulpits of each other's churches.  ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson said, "This is about revival of two church bodies that are deeply committed to re-presenting themselves in a pluralistic, dynamic, changing culture for the sake of mission."

Alas, once again some who hold themselves Lutheran abandon the principle of Scripture alone.  How can there be full communion established between churches which have contrary confessions regarding something as central and essential as the Word and the Sacraments?  Such communion does not rest upon unity in the Word of God only but in pragmatism and external appearances of concord.

The ELCA has already had in place similar accords with the Episcopal Church for ten years and practices Eucharistic sharing with the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Reformed Church in America, and the United Church of Christ in staggering departures from definitive Lutheran theology and practice.

Most recently on another front, an ELCA Task Force on Sexuality has just recommended a process that would allow "structured flexibility in decision making to allow, in appropriate situations, people in publicly accountable, monogamous, lifelong, same-gendered relationships to be approved for the rosters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America."

Translation: practicing homosexuals are welcome to be Lutheran pastors in a sweeping departure from Biblical teaching and 2,000 years of Christian witness.

The "changing culture" of the world may indeed be pluralistic and dynamic.  But a church must never compromise doctrine as if the Word of God is changeable.  A church and synod cannot honestly call itself Lutheran and negate the clear meaning of Christ's own words by permitting a synthesis of practice contrary to Biblical doctrine.

The Methodist Church itself has internal struggles over whether the Bible is utterly the Word of God or merely contains it.  The Methodist Church regards Holy Communion as only a symbol of God's grace -- not truly Christ in the fullness of his real body and blood.

Without integrity in the essentials of Word and Sacrament which are the very means of grace Lutherans for centuries have confirmed as the bedrock of the Gospel, the truth is slandered, unity is only imitated, and "revival" is a charade.

We have both Methodist and ELCA neighbors.  We must regard all others with gentleness and respect, and pray for all.  They have the prerogative in this land to believe and practice as they choose.  Criticism of these formal actions is not a judgment upon the Christian hearts of anyone.

Nevertheless, departure from Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions while condoning and even promoting contrary doctrines and practice marks further and steep erosion in Lutheran churches already too practiced in detrimental compromise.

May the Lord keep us humble and hold us faithful in our confession.

Let us realize also that the same seeds of compromise can easily be sown in our own beloved Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod if we address the challenges of this pluralistic age or tensions within the church with organizational models, political contrivances, factors of style, or popular trends.

If we place the virtue of tolerance above the very Word of God, it makes for a travesty.  It denies any need for authority or truth which is conclusive.  It is no confession.  It is recanting.  It is what Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms declared he could not and would not do when it came to the Word of God.

The church and world have one need--the need for Christ and his forgiveness for our sins.  We need the message of the cross and the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Gospel.  We need the unyielding truth that God the Father in His infinite grace through Christ made the sacrifice of His Son, our incarnate Lord, to be the hope of the world.  As a pure gift, He has declared to us the good news of the righteousness apart from the law which is now ours through Christ.

God, the Holy Spirit, uses no other means than the Gospel in Word and Sacrament to bring us Christ.  No other means are needed.  And no other means must be employed.  We gather around these gifts alone, the Word purely preached and the Sacraments as instituted by Christ, not through political expediency or sanctions authorized through human choice or opinion.  Once the Lutheran church surrenders pure Word and Sacrament, we cease to be what we are. God preserve us.