My friend Tim posted on trust yesterday. He asked:

If Jesus entrusted the keys of the kingdom to Peter (a fallible human being), why can't some of the "confessional" Lutherans within the LCMS trust other pastors to proclaim the Word of God and administer the sacraments as they see fit (with the help of their board of elders).

First, because we are fallible, that is the reason we criticize and raise our voices when something is going wrong. Unless we have lost any sense of church discipline, we are bound to correct each other because to not do so would be unloving. Trust has nothing to do with it. It's all about love.

That brings me to the second point. If "trust" is such an important issue and the other side actually wants to earn our trust, this is a very funny way to go about it. This is the second time Jesus First seems to have problems with the history of the synod. Both times, the sainted Robert Preus was in the crossfire, and both times, Rolf Preus has had to speak up to correct the false accusations made by Jesus First. The first defense and the second defense. This is getting ridiculous. The fact that a son has to keep defending his father who has been with the Church Triumphant (I have no reason to believe he's not there) shows what straws Jesus First is grasping at. Not only that, the author shows he has no clue as to what the Evangelical Lutheran Synod actually teaches. From the website What We Believe, Teach, and Confess:

10. CHURCH FELLOWSHIP

We confess that Scripture requires that church fellowship be recognized and practiced where there is a mutual confession of and commitment to the pure Marks of the Church, the Word and Sacraments. Jesus Christ is the Head of His Church, and He governs and teaches it by His Word, but deviation from the teaching of God's Word is not to be tolerated in the church. We therefore reject unionism, that is, church fellowship with adherents of false doctrine, and ecumenical endeavors which compromise the pure doctrine of God's Word. We also reject participation or membership in religious organizations which have features that are in conflict with the Christian faith, such as the Masonic Lodge and similar organizations. At the same time we also condemn separatism, i.e., the refusal to acknowledge and practice fellowship when there is agreement in doctrine. See John 8:31-32, 1 Cor. 1:10, Eph. 2:19-20, Matt. 7:15-20, Rom. 16:17, Gal. 1:6-9, 2 John 9-11, Matt. 23:8, 1 Pet. 4:11, 2 Cor. 6:14-18.

How is this different from what the Missouri Synod traditionally taught? It's not. If you examine this CTCR document, there's no difference.

I find Jesus cannot help but try to connect Dr. Robert Preus to every form of "dubious confessionalism" to the point where it is starting to sound like those people who think black helicopters means the coming of the one world government. Of course, you can believe whatever you wish. You could either believe a man from Fairway, Kansas who probably never met either Dr. Preus or you could believe Robert Preus' son. I'll take the latter, and let Jesus First hang itself.