Is Promoting Bands with Heterodox Music Doctrine or Practice? By Pr. Rossow

The LCMS national youth gathering organizers have scheduled bands to play at the gathering that are heterodox in theology (i.e. they mix false theology with Biblical theology).

President Kieschnick is stating at every chance he gets that the LCMS is unified in doctrine but divided in practice. He further goes on to claim that while the latter is a challenge it is not a crucial problem.

I think that the organizers of the gathering and President Kieschnick would see the selection of bands for the national youth gathering as a matter of practice and not doctrine. That is why we have the ludicrous and illogical situation in our synod which has the promoters of the gathering putting a disclaimer on the gathering website stating that they are not able to entirely endorse the theology and music of the bands they have scheduled for the gathering. Again, I submit that they see using these bands at the LCMS youth gathering as a matter of practice and not doctrine and that is how they justify risking the corrupting of our young people’s minds with false teaching.

To the organizers this is a practical choice. They are not using these bands for the teaching segments of the gathering, just the musical parts. Music is an adiaphoron to them just as the choice of worship “style” is an adiaphoron. This makes one wonder what the council of district presidents thinks about having heterodox music and musicians at the gathering since they have recently taken up the matter of worship in the synod.

I also believe that this is the music the organizers prefer personally and listen to in thier cars and on thier I-pods, which is the real motivation for choosing these heterodox bands. Personal taste and preference in the post flower-child, narcissistic era trumps doctrinal purity.

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