There is a great deal of hand-wringing within the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod because she is found to be afflicted with false teachers. While officially the LCMS in no way gives sanction to false teaching, nevertheless it happens today as it has happened throughout history. False teachers arise from within and are also found outside the Church.

What is a Christian to do, especially a Christian who is found to be within the LCMS when false teachers are in her midst? A Christian should first look to the standards espoused by the Synod, not the results when applying them and struggling to honor them. In the LCMS those standards are the Holy Scriptures and the Book of Concord of 1580, both of which set the foundation, by the grace of God in Christ Jesus, for perfect agreement in the articles of faith.

Members of the LCMS – her parishes and pastors – are bound to these not because they somehow came to an agreement, but because they are given from Above and are perfect in the first place. When a parish or pastor is found to be teaching and practicing contrary to these standards, these are first of all marked as such and avoided. “My sheep hear my voice,” says the Good Shepherd.

And so it happens in the LCMS on a regular basis that false teachers are marked and avoided. How they are dealt with beyond that in more official, temporal ways is important, but not nearly as important as seeking out those places where the Word of God is preached in its truth and purity.

Speaking from personal experience, the LCMS is rife with parishes and pastors that place the works of men above the works of God. It is a significant challenge when travelling with my family to find a place where the Divine Service is treated with the reverence inherent in its substance, which is the bodily, concrete administration of Christ’s benefits to poor, weak, sinful people from all walks of life.

If anthropocentric tendencies are found in an LCMS parish liturgy, you will not find my family or me attending that parish if we can help it. If we know in advance we will be out of town on a Sunday we will either make an effort to identify a faithful Lutheran parish or, if none is to be found, make use of what we have as a family.

We do not hold the presence of false teaching against the LCMS, but realize there are weaknesses and teachings to be avoided for the present moment, just as there are throughout the entire world. At the same time we continue to pray, “Hallowed be Thy Name,” knowing that God is at work through the means He has established.

We pray for those who are given to offices in the LCMS that they be faithful, strengthened, guided, and sustained by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. We also pray for the erring in our midst. There are many. It does little good to beat them up. At the same time we are bound to point them out and stay away until they repent by the grace of God.

Above all, we are subject to test the spirits. They are found wanting not only in the LCMS at times, but in every place other than those where the Word of God holds sway, and Gospel is lavishly preached and applied for the comfort of those who are terrified by all the afflictions that attend to mortal flesh.

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