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bettercountry · 11-14-2022, 01:26 PM

Trapped - I think the heart of the question you raise is excellent and a very fair point. My initial response would be that there were most certainly elements of what you're saying (e.g. charismatic movement of the general era) that play into some of my nostalgia. However, for me at least, I know it goes far deeper than that. Over the years, I have gone through a similar personal exercise numerous times of trying to separate the sheer emotional aspects of what I miss versus the more meaningful spiritual reasons. And, what I've come away with -- and with much personal clarity -- is that the heart of what I long for (and what is absent for the most part in Christianity at large) are the deep spiritual TRUTHS (yes, we must weed through and decipher from the many lies/heresies) that I came to know in the LC, as well as the freedom in Christ for all members to freely participate, whether in small or large settings.

Let me give you an example of what I mean by the deeper spiritual truths. At the risk of offending many members/readers of this forum, I will say that there are many hymns in the LC hymnal, even many that were written by WL, that contain rich truths. Some examples would be "In the holiest place", "Gracious Lord, Thy Name, 'I AM' is", "I've found the One of peerless worth". Precious TRUTHS about who GOD/CHRIST is. No glory in what I'm saying goes to WL. It all goes to God Himself, because the truths that are spoken of in those hymns (just an example) are FACTS about who He is.

This is also an example of what I meant in my initial post about not throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Humanly, whenever we come to see/know anyone that does something as egregious as WL did, especially from the mid-80s onward (but, yes, even before that timeframe), it's natural and maybe excusable to dismiss ALL of what that person did/said. But, sorry, I can never agree with that stance. We all are unrighteous to some degree, and no matter what degree that is, that means we all don't deserve ANYONE listening to ANY of us about ANYTHING. So, what does that leave us with? Unless we come to the ability to look beyond the person (with all his/her flaws) and just look for truths, then we will be prone to live out the rest of our days in the "monastery" of our own pride. Of course, there are cases where certain individuals should be totally shunned, but for me.....WL is not in that category, specifically some of the things that were taught prior to the 80s. Again, I know I'm ruffling a LOT of feathers here, and I really don't want to get into this argument.

Point is, even with those simple examples of the hymns I mentioned -- which if you carefully read the lyrics -- are not necessarily tremendously deep in terms of Christian doctrine, but.....unfortunately, at least in the churches I have been a part of in the past 30+ years, nothing even comes close to something like that.

Anyway, I am not very eloquent, so most likely, the heart of what I'm trying to say is being poorly communicated.

11-14-2022, 01:26 PM	#12
bettercountry Member Join Date: Nov 2022 Posts: 26	Re: Church kid from the 80s (Anaheim) Trapped - I think the heart of the question you raise is excellent and a very fair point. My initial response would be that there were most certainly elements of what you're saying (e.g. charismatic movement of the general era) that play into some of my nostalgia. However, for me at least, I know it goes far deeper than that. Over the years, I have gone through a similar personal exercise numerous times of trying to separate the sheer emotional aspects of what I miss versus the more meaningful spiritual reasons. And, what I've come away with -- and with much personal clarity -- is that the heart of what I long for (and what is absent for the most part in Christianity at large) are the deep spiritual TRUTHS (yes, we must weed through and decipher from the many lies/heresies) that I came to know in the LC, as well as the freedom in Christ for all members to freely participate, whether in small or large settings. Let me give you an example of what I mean by the deeper spiritual truths. At the risk of offending many members/readers of this forum, I will say that there are many hymns in the LC hymnal, even many that were written by WL, that contain rich truths. Some examples would be "In the holiest place", "Gracious Lord, Thy Name, 'I AM' is", "I've found the One of peerless worth". Precious TRUTHS about who GOD/CHRIST is. No glory in what I'm saying goes to WL. It all goes to God Himself, because the truths that are spoken of in those hymns (just an example) are FACTS about who He is. This is also an example of what I meant in my initial post about not throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Humanly, whenever we come to see/know anyone that does something as egregious as WL did, especially from the mid-80s onward (but, yes, even before that timeframe), it's natural and maybe excusable to dismiss ALL of what that person did/said. But, sorry, I can never agree with that stance. We all are unrighteous to some degree, and no matter what degree that is, that means we all don't deserve ANYONE listening to ANY of us about ANYTHING. So, what does that leave us with? Unless we come to the ability to look beyond the person (with all his/her flaws) and just look for truths, then we will be prone to live out the rest of our days in the "monastery" of our own pride. Of course, there are cases where certain individuals should be totally shunned, but for me.....WL is not in that category, specifically some of the things that were taught prior to the 80s. Again, I know I'm ruffling a LOT of feathers here, and I really don't want to get into this argument. Point is, even with those simple examples of the hymns I mentioned -- which if you carefully read the lyrics -- are not necessarily tremendously deep in terms of Christian doctrine, but.....unfortunately, at least in the churches I have been a part of in the past 30+ years, nothing even comes close to something like that. Anyway, I am not very eloquent, so most likely, the heart of what I'm trying to say is being poorly communicated.