Albert Mohler: Institutionalized Hypocrisy -- A Failure of Courage
Thursday, August 23, 2007

This week's question at On Faith [Newsweek and The Washington Post] has to do with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's vote to encourage its bishops not to enforce the doctrines and standards of the church -- at least when it comes to the matter of homosexual clergy.

Churches and denominations that invite or allow their standards to be openly violated institutionalize hypocrisy. This usually indicates that the church lacks both the courage to change the standards and the conviction to enforce them.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America [ELCA] has voted to encourage its bishops not to take punitive action against ministers who violate the denomination's ban on active homosexuals in the ministry. Last year, the Presbyterian Church USA [PCUSA] took a similar action, allowing local jurisdictions (presbyteries) to ordain candidates for ministry who violate a similar policy. Both cases represent tragic failures of leadership. Both churches failed to maintain their own standards and lacked the courage or consensus to change them. the rest