WELS and other churches
How can our pastors be trained to focus on our doctrine without seeming to "bad mouth" other denominations? My daughter and family have left WELS partly in response to denigration of other denominations. Having come from a non-Lutheran background myself forty plus years ago, I understand her concerns. I have had moments over the years of seeing WELS Lutherans as self-righteous. Along with this, how can we follow the teachings of Luther without seeming to worship or elevate him? My children asked me once when young whether we were Lutherans or Christians. That was a red flag to me. Thank you.
Our pastors are trained to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). That includes speaking about others and other church bodies. Since I do not have personal knowledge of what the pastors in your question might have said and how they said it, all I can do is offer a general response.
Pointing out error nowadays is not popular with many people, no matter how it is said. Many in our world claim that there is no objective truth and that one person’s idea of faith is as valid and true as another’s. Many in our world consider that pointing out error flies in the face of what Jesus said: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1).
The truth—the biblical truth—of the matter is that there is objective truth. There is right and wrong. There is true doctrine and false doctrine. The apostle Peter provides this information: “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you” (2 Peter 2:1). Jesus instructs us to “Watch out for false prophets” (Matthew 7:15). Our God gives us this directive: “I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people” (Romans 16:17-18). In the context of your question, we carry out that directive when we judge the confession of a church body, comparing what it professes to what the Bible teaches.
Self-righteous thinking has no place in the life of a Christian, including and especially when we compare a church body’s teachings with the Bible and arrive at the conclusion that teachings of that particular church body are false.
Finally, I would want to remind you that we do not follow the teachings of Martin Luther. We follow the teachings of God, as he has revealed them in the Bible. Luther himself is on record in this regard. He wrote: “I ask that men make no reference to my name and call themselves, not Lutherans but Christians. What is Luther? After all, the doctrine is not mine, nor have I been crucified for anyone. St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 3 would not allow Christians to call themselves Pauline or Petrine, but Christian…Let us cast out party names and be called Christians after Him whose doctrine we have…” [What Luther Says. Volume II, page 856.]
Luther’s attitude was accurate: we are Christians, people who follow Jesus Christ in faith. While there is one holy Christian church throughout the world, the members of which God alone knows (2 Timothy 2:19), you and I operate in the world of visible churches where we can see who the members are. In the realm of visible churches, labels like “Lutheran” are helpful in readily and generally arriving at the doctrinal stance of a church.
In this 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, your question is a good reminder to stay focused on the all-important man—the God-Man, Jesus Christ. God’s blessings to you.