Welcome to another TheoThorough! This post is not in response to anything in particular, but a general reminder. It might seem weird to read this—probably as weird as it feels to type it—but don’t trust bishops. If you’ve had a negative experience with a bishop, you know this. If you haven’t, then keep reading. What I’m raising up here isn’t about personal experience, but the history and theology of the Lutheran Reformation. That so many in the Church today have such experiences to share drives me to write this.

Lutherans Don’t Trust Bishops

Martin Luther learned the hard way that bishops and those with power and authority in the church are not to be trusted. In the 16th Century, bishops were political appointees who were also often government authorities. This blending of secular and government authority led to abuses by the Church. Didn’t pay your taxes? You are condemned to hell. Upset a local magistrate? You are excommunicated. Luther called for a separation of state and church to begin to address this issue, but he didn’t leave it there.

Luther reflects that the commandment to honor your parents carries an implicit command that parents and those with authority (who are also considered part of this commandment) are to act honorably, thus making it easier for those over whom you have authority to honor you. In the ELCA, bishops have authority over pastors and deacons. While pastors and deacons are called to honor the office of bishop, those holding the office of bishop are also called to act honorably. When bishops do act honorably, there is still an underlying suspicion of bishops because our own history as Church and as Lutherans have taught us that bishops are not to be trusted.

Lutherans in the United States come from the line of pietism born in Halle, Germany, that was shaped by Philip Jacob Spener and his 1675 work Pia Desideria. Part of what Spener wrote against was the movement in German Lutheranism to a top down approach to faith, which is part of what led to the first Lutheran Reformation. Pietism is mostly about developing your faith, especially in small groups and with your family, because those with power and authority in the church are not to be trusted in encouraging you to faithfulness. This German pietism continues to shape Lutheranism in the United States.

Why aren’t bishops supposed to be trusted? Besides all of this history of bishops proving untrustworthy, it’s because the only one worthy of trust, especially if by trust you mean blind faith, is God. Luther reminds us when unpacking the first commandment that what we trust, what we rely on, that is our god. If our god is something or someone other that the God who claims us by the Creator’s will expressed in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Redeemer, and through the power of the Sanctifier, we are idolaters. Any call to trust our bishops in the ELCA misses a central issue in Lutheranism—the only one worthy of trust is God.

If the bishops of the ELCA want people to trust them, then they should prove worthy of that trust, act honorably, and expect skepticism. We don’t trust you, bishops, because we are Lutheran. All of this skepticism applies to pastors, deacons, congregations, synods, and denominations, too, by the way.

The Structure is Flawed

The challenge for Lutherans is that we actually like good structure and good order. Good order is part of what we believe God gives, both to the Church and creation in general. But there is a tension in our understanding of the structure of the Church because the Church is both a divine institution and a human institution. This means that the descriptor “good” is always in question.

Every human institution is bound by the limitations of humans. Sin shapes who we are and what we do. Institutions carry this sin between generations in a powerful way because codified language from previous generations passes on their particular sinful understandings. This language tends to be hard to change because institutions resist change.

God’s good news calls us to change, to repent, to be different that what we have been, to atone for the sin of previous generations. This is true for individuals and institutions. Just as God calls bishops, pastors, deacons, and all other members of the body of Chist to repent, so God also calls denominations, synods, and congregations to repent. But until we can admit that we have sinned, we continue in our own self-deception and the Truth is not in us.

God Still Saves

God constantly calls the Church to repent. When we turn to ecclesiology to avoid repentance, we are idolaters. Yet God still calls the Church to repent. God wants everyone to be saved, and for some reason, God has called us to be part of that work.

We as Church are most faithful when we admit that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We as Church are most faithful when we acknowledge the massive debt we owe other people for the sin perpetuated by the structure of the Church. We as Church are most faithful when we use the power and authority given to us by the institution of the church to serve other people as God in Christ serves us.

God still saves us, and thank God because the structure of the Church is flawed.

Come, Holy Spirit, come!