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Open Letter from the Silesian Lutheran Church
"During communism we secretly dreamed that one day we might be able to work together with Lutheran churches from the U.S.A., Scandinavia, and other Western countries. We suffered the attacks of atheistic ideologies and repressive forces of totalitarian leaders, and we prayed for freedom. That is why we view freedom as a precious gift from God which brings a great opportunity for faithful service to our Savior. We are troubled whenever we hear that the freedom is misused to put down God’s ordinances..."
An open letter from Stanislav Piętak, the bishop of the Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession, to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Český Těšín, May 4, 2009
Dear Bishop and Leaders of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod,
I greet you with thankfulness for your interest in the partnership with our church. With joy I look back to the time of your visit in January. Shared dialogues are bringing a lot of useful impulses. I also warmly thank you for inviting the leadership of our church, which will be led by vice-bishop Jan Waclawek. For sure we need to get to know each other and join our strength for the task of evangelization of this world to which we are called by our Lord Jesus Christ.
During communism we secretly dreamed that one day we might be able to work together with Lutheran churches from the U.S.A., Scandinavia, and other Western countries. We suffered the attacks of atheistic ideologies and repressive forces of totalitarian leaders, and we prayed for freedom. That is why we view freedom as a precious gift from God which brings a great opportunity for faithful service to our Savior.
We are troubled whenever we hear that the freedom is misused to put down God’s ordinances. As a clear example we see accepting of other ways of sexual relationship than those in the marriage of one man and one woman. I am convinced that we are not called to make sin tolerable. We can share our love to people who have an attraction to the same sex by calling them to repentance in faith in their Savior Jesus Christ, not by redefining the biblical stand on sin.
We closely observe the discussion which is going on in your church body. We pray that your synod would take a clear Biblical stand this summer and vote against accepting the proposed social statement on human sexuality. Any other stand would be very disappointing for us and would threaten our partnership. According to our constitution, our ministry is incompatible with anyone or any organization which is in any way defending the homosexual lifestyle.
But even if the statement is accepted, we hope for continuing partnership. Even though we would not be able to cooperate as church bodies, we are sure that we can develop our partnership through those in your church body who are opposing this statement and who are faithful to the Scripture even in the area of human sexuality.
Nevertheless, we continue to pray for good news from your church and for continuing partnership, and we do it with a hope to be joined in fulfilling Christ’s command to be “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-16). “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments” (I John 5:2).
With wishes of God’s blessing in following our Lord Jesus Christ,
Stanislav Piętak, Bishop of the SECAC
Choices
Jesus did not limit his ministry only to those who already thought exactly like he did. He went into the homes of those who were considered sinners and outcasts. He did not condemn them, but offered them his unconditional love. It is known as acceptance.
I believe that once you have accepted a person for him or her self, then your minisry to them becomes even more valuable, for it flows from loving acceptance, which smiles, rather than from mere diapproval, which frowns. You can then agree to disagree on many things yet still show love and caring without compromising your own beliefs.
Church is not merely about doctrines and confessions. If it is, then we are lucky to have as may people in our congregations as are there now.
The church must be about its individual members. If it is not, the church will wither and die.
How would you support some and not others? You look past the institution, past the barrier of words, past the label that another person or group (or perhaps you or your group) has hung on them, reach out, give them a brotherly or sisterly hug, and say "Welcome to our fellowship. Jesus loves you. Unconditionally. And so do I..."
To do anything less is a violation of the Great Commission, for we each of us teach "all nations", that is in its simplest form "all people", more by example than any other means.
God bless each and every one of you. Unconditionally.
Olivia
To Olivia: Unconditional Love equals acceptance?
But if we love them unconditionally, does that mean we should accept the person as an alcoholic and encourage them to continue to drink?
No, homosexuality and and alcoholism are not the same thing, and I am not trying to equate the love of someone of the same sex with an addiction.
So the real question is: Is homosexuality (or at least the engaging in sexual relations with a person of the same sex) a sin? If not, then we should encourage brothers and sisters to engage in such behavior if they are so inclined. If it is, then loving them means telling them such behavior is sinful.
Jesus went amongst sinners, loved them unconditionally and accepted them as they were, but he did not accept their sins. Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to sin no more. After Jesus had dinner with the sinful tax collector Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus gave half of everything he had to the poor and gave back 4x as much to anyone he had cheated.
I take it from your post that you have decided homosexuality is not a sin and that homosexuals are simply another group to which me must show love
I certainly agree with the second part of that statement and know that the church has for too long treated one group of people differently than other sinners
But the current discussion is not about accepting and loving people unconditionally _ it is whether we should accept what many feel is sin as appropriate Christian behavior
Loving someone unconditionally means accepting them yes but it does not mean that we should bless the union of two persons of the same sex
God bless you > Unconditionally
Choices...
But even if the statement is accepted, we hope for continuing partnership. Even though we would not be able to cooperate as church bodies, we are sure that we can develop our partnership through those in your church body who are opposing this statement and who are faithful to the Scripture even in the area of human sexuality." How would you support some in the ELCA and not others? By synod? By congregation? By congregant member? Is not all of the ELCA interconnected? "According to our constitution, our ministry is incompatible with anyone or any organization which is in any way defending the homosexual lifestyle." By remaining in fellowship with those who officially defend that which Scripture calls "sin", would such segments of the ELCA not be party to this by association? Certainly, it is my heartfelt prayer that the social statement and recommendations will be voted down. I can only wonder what other partner churches are wrestling with this same difficulty: Choosing between continued fellowship and faithfulness to Holy Scripture and the Confessions.