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From the Pastor
IS
ANYTHING SACRED ANYMORE? We
live in a changing culture and a rapidly changing world.
Just think: as little as 25
years ago, the idea of owning a computer of your own was not even realistic.
When you said “computer” back then, the mind’s eye thought of main
frame computers. Lap top computers?
Not even on the radar for 99.999999% of our world.
But today is known as the information age because of them! When
it comes to churches, I have found in my travels and by serving in different
ones that each church has what can only be called sacred cows.
Some have been rather interesting. One
sacred cow in a particular congregation was the sanctuary.
The building was an older building, and to say it was dark in there would
have been an understatement. Another
sacred cow I have discovered along the way is the time of worship.
This sacred cow is actually more like a bull, because you definitely
don’t want to butt heads with it. Change
the time of worship? Holy cow!
Go ahead and make that suggestion and you will discover quickly how
sacred that time is, if you are fortunate. Try
moving it more than once and there’s no rodeo clown that will be able to save
you from the bull. You will feel
like you are in Spain at the running of the bulls, to be more precise.
Just a tip: run fast. How
to Spot a Sacred Cow How
do you spot a sacred cow? That’s
easy! For our sake, let’s say you
can spot a sacred cow here at Mount Calvary when any thing or tradition is not a
Scriptural command. It may not be
forbidden—but it’s not commanded, either.
In Lutheran circles, that’s called adiaphora—something neither
commanded or forbidden in Scripture. A
second sign of a sacred cow is this: when
you try to put it out to pasture, it creates division within the church.
This brings up a couple of interesting points.
There is only one thing in the church that should ever cause division,
and that’s the right or wrong interpretation and application of the Word of
God. The second point is this:
when a sacred cow causes division in the church, it ceases to be sacred
at that moment. We are not
here to fight about sacred cows and their purpose.
We have a bigger fight on our hands:
“For
we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the
spiritual forces of darkness in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12, ESV SO.
. . . HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH A SACRED COW? Dealing
with a sacred cow in a church is not always easy.
As a matter of fact, it can be one of the most difficult things to do.
But there are some things you can remember in dealing with a sacred cow. First,
when dealing with a sacred cow, ask, “How does this fit into the mission of
our church today?” Our mission is
simple: we are “committed to
reaching out with the love of Jesus.” Perhaps
at one time, that sacred cow was a vital part of doing that—reaching out with
the love of Jesus. But times change,
and so does the effectiveness of certain things that become sacred cows. Second,
we need to remember that with every sacred cow, there are undoubtedly emotions
about that sacred cow. How we deal
with those people and those emotions is important.
If we need to deal with a sacred cow, we need to do it carefully,
considering others’ feelings, and acknowledging them.
If you want to create instant division in a church, just ignore what you
just read, and I promise that you will! Third,
when it’s time to sacrifice a sacred cow, don’t do it alone.
Make sure others are involved in building the altar, bringing the wood,
bringing the fuel to light the fire, and the like.
Consensus that it’s time for the sacred cow to go makes it easier—not
easy. But do everything you do in
the love of Jesus. Finally,
when you sacrifice a sacred cow, don’t look to the past.
Look to the future. When
you’re sacrificing a sacred cow, don’t think about the past—think about
the great hamburgers a sacred cow will make.
Perhaps the sacrifice of that sacred cow will open the door for new and
effective ministry. But you will
never know until you try. Anybody
seen any sacred cows lately?-- Pastor
Anderson
If you have a question about the church, our beliefs,
scripture, or the Bible, e-mail Pastor at pastor@mtcalvary-lcms.org
and he will answer the question either on this page or in an upcoming Bible
class. Rev.
Dr. A. L. Barry was president of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod from 1992
until his death on March 23, 2001. Rev. Barry’s goal “was to be a
faithful disciple of Jesus Christ". Rev. Barry wrote a series
of pamphlets, the "What About..." series, that outline many
topics of interest to Christians.
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