Membership in Freemasons
My son, married, four children and raised WELS has, as it appears, fallen away from regular church attendance, still sending his four children to WELS schools, though he has joined the Free Masons. This cannot be good. I am familiar with the doctrine of fellowship, but am concerned with his spiritual wellbeing. Suggestions or thoughts? Thanks.
I am sorry to hear about your son’s declining church attendance and his affiliation with the Freemasons. You are correct when you say that his membership in that organization cannot be good. There are many elements of Freemasonry that are incompatible with Christianity. Allow me to pass along a previous response to a similar question about Freemasonry. The response may give you some talking points for a conversation you can have with your son.
“The Masonic Lodge and its affiliates are essentially deistic religious organizations. They strongly maintain that there is a Creator God who rewards good and punishes evil but do not formally acknowledge God as a gracious giver of salvation through the work of Jesus Christ. Nor do they acknowledge the Triune God as the only true God, but allow that most any ‘Supreme Being’ embraced by any Mason may be seen as a legitimate deity. To them salvation is not by grace alone through faith in Christ alone, but based on good works. They also maintain that the supreme deity (‘Architect of the Universe’) may be and is worshiped in many forms and under many names by many religions aside from Christianity. Additionally, the oaths and rituals of the lodge have many features that consistent and conservative Bible students have long found incompatible with Christianity…This negative appraisal of the Masonic Lodge is shared by a number of church bodies, and is not the conclusion of only a few like the WELS.
“So although the Masons somewhat promote civic righteousness and undertake certain praiseworthy projects in society, we maintain that a Christian would compromise clear Bible teachings by becoming a member of that lodge. We are aware that people have joined such groups for the sake of business connections as well as a sense of social responsibility and say they really don’t care for or think of the religious aspects of the organization. But we maintain that to do so is still a compromise of truth, easily or inevitably causes others to stumble spiritually, and links the person to a false religious group. The Bible often testifies against such an attitude and action.
“Bottom line: to be a WELS member with the public confession involved with that membership and to be a Mason with that public confession are incompatible. We owe members of masonry a loving and courteous reply that will not compromise truth. Refraining from membership in that network of organizations and providing patient but consistent testimony to the falsehood the Masons embrace or tolerate would be right and fitting.”
Beyond that information, this link will take you to a short article that contains a side-by-side contrast between lodges and biblical teaching.
What was not clear to me in the information you supplied was whether or not your son still has membership in one of our congregations. If that is the case, his pastor needs to know about his affiliation with Freemasonry.
I encourage you to keep sharing biblical truths with your son. Pray—as, no doubt, you are doing—that God will work in his heart through the word to see the truth, confess the truth and live the truth. God bless you all.