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Is ELCA a 'Christian-style' church?
by William K. Drew, chair, WordAlone Network Board of Directors, Spokane, Wash.
News: March 20, 2008
I didn't know whether to be amused or appalled by the news story on my local newspaper's "Faith and Values" page a few weeks back. 
The article was about how "Christian-style" weddings have become very popular in Japan in recent years. Not "Christian" weddings, mind you, but "Christian-style" weddings. It turns out that in Japan, where about one percent of the population is Christian, about two-thirds of the weddings are performed in "Christian-style" ceremonies, not in the traditional Shinto ceremonies. Christian-style weddings are just plain fashionable, and the wedding industry accommodates the fashion. Not only are there the white wedding dress and the bride's maids, but a "church" and a "pastor." The church, though, is often just a building in the style of a church, and the pastor is just an actor playing a role.
As I reflected upon this article, I began to wonder about the degree to which we Christians, or nominal Christians, in the United States really want to have just a "Christian-style" church rather than a Christian church. I fear this is far more common than we would like to admit.
How often are church leaders bewitched by ceremonies and church trappings? How delightful it must seem to some to have grand titles and to wear purple vestments and to indulge in ancient rituals. By gosh, that is a real "Christian-style" church, so who cares if we agree as to what it all means, or even agree as to the Gospel? It's just too much fun to dress up and play church. Alas, how far down that road has the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gone?
As Lutheran Christians we are well aware of the distinction between the essentials of our faith, as revealed in Scripture, and the human-created rituals that are not essential and with respect to which we have freedom. We must hold fast to that which is essential, we must bear witness to the truth. In all other matters, we must tolerate variety, accepting freedom in those matters. We must neither require nor forbid the practice of human rituals, as aids to worship, provided that they are not contrary to the truth witnessed to in Scripture. That goes to the heart of the Lutheran understanding of Christianity. That is what drives us as members of the WordAlone Network.
We must hold ourselves, as well as others, accountable to these standards. How often do we oppose changes in the church that we do not like without first discerning whether an essential matter or a non-essential matter is at stake? Christianity lives by being able to express its truth in many ways. If we see changes in the church that are not pleasing to us, we must stop and remember that the vital thing is to preserve the true and pure proclamation of the Gospel. If the changes serve that purpose, they may be accepted. But, where changes compromise the Gospel for the sake of a mere "Christian-style" church, we must continue to speak out.