| Most of your questions are addressed in some detail in the archive section of this web page, but your message is not so much a question for information, but a request for help and understanding in addressing your feelings about some of these issues. This really is not a matter that can be addressed very well by e-mail but you need a heart-to-heart talk with a trusted friend or pastor about these issues.
First, try to be sure you really understand what the WELS position on these issues is. You may be misreading them. We have many study materials on the issue of the biblical roles of men and women, and there is much discussion about this in the archive section. If you have not done so, a good place to start would be to study these materials.
- The WELS teaches the spiritual equality of men and women before God and respects the different roles God has given them in the family and the church. The spirit in which we follow these principles is discussed in this statement from our web site. In the family, there probably isn't a better place to go to begin to understand the scriptural relationship of man and woman than to your own church where a bride and groom are standing before the altar and are about to be joined together in marriage. The pastor reminds them, from God's Word, that marriage is a loving companionship created by God himself, a companionship which he promises to bless and for which he gives his own counsel and direction.
The pastor reminds the husband of God's specific direction to him; that he is to love his wife as Christ loved his bride, the church, and even laid down his life for her. "In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives", Ephesians 5:28. The husband is the head of the wife and will exercise that responsibility by loving, cherishing, protecting and supporting the wife the Lord is giving to him and to see to it that the home they are establishing is a truly Christian home in which Christ is always the unseen head and where the Word is taught to all in love and in truth.
The pastor then reminds the bride, from the same Word of God, that she is to submit to her husband as Christ's bride, the church, submits to him. She is to live for her husband who is ready to die for her. She is to be a God-pleasing helper, working with her husband to establish a Christian marriage and home.
Since both husband and wife have their sinful human natures, they will at times fail in their marital responsibilities and will not always show each other the love and respect they should. To keep this from tearing apart what God has joined together they will daily turn to God's Word for forgiveness and for the strength to improve their own marital commitment and to forgive each other for Jesus' sake.
Strengthened by that Word, they will live together as heirs of the gracious gift of life (I Peter 3:8) and their home here on earth will become, more and more, a blessed foretaste of our eternal home in heaven. They will realize how true that catechism verse is: "Let each his lesson learn with care, And all the household well shall fare."
In the church, it should come as no surprise that when Christians leave their homes and gather for worship, fellowship, and instruction in God's house, God doesn't abandon or reverse the order he has established for the home but prescribes it also for the church (I Corinthians 14:33-35). Those who have been given headship and responsibilities in the home have that same position in the church, under Christ, of course.
Christian men consider their church to be their spiritual family. They regard the female members of their congregation as their sisters in Christ. If there is a considerable age difference, they will even treat them with the love and respect which a Christian son ought to show his mother (I Timothy 5:2).
In that loving spirit, they will assume their God-given responsibility in the church for the good of all the members. They will cheerfully, even sacrificially, give of their time and energy to oversee the business of God's house, to see to it that God's Word is taught in truth and that programs of Bible study and instruction in sound doctrine are made available to all members of their spiritual family. They will foster good stewardship and fellowship, promote and participate in energetic programs of outreach and evangelism, and show loving concern for the physical and spiritual welfare of every member. They will strive to be men full of the Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3) and will seek that Spirit and wisdom from the Holy Scriptures.
Just as Christian husbands strive to bring joy into the lives of their God-given wives, so Christian men in the congregation will consider the spiritual needs of their sisters in Christ and will strive to do all in their power to make their worship and fellowship edifying and delightful. They will also do all they can to recognize the gifts of their spiritual sisters, seek their input, develop programs in which those gifts can be used in a God-pleasing way in the service of the Lord and of his church, and encourage hem to joyfully participate in such service.
Just as in the Christian home, so also in the Christian church, Christian women will recognize the headship of their brothers in Christ. They will cheerfully help and serve in any way they can and, in loving obedience to Christ, the true head of the church, accept the Scriptural restriction that they are not permitted to teach or have authority over the man (I Timothy 2:11-12). For the strength to do this, they too will turn to Christ, to the Word and to the Spirit.
As Christian men and women worship and serve together in this way in the church they will experience what Paul speaks of in Ephesians 4:16: "From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does his work".
In the Order of Creation, as brothers and sisters in Christ, we also realize from God's Word that our roles in the home and in the church rest upon God's ancient order of creation (I Timothy 2:13, I Corinthians 11:8-90). That order was perfect. It was created for our good, and if man and woman had not fallen into sin and lost the image of God, they would have been able to live according to God's order. Sin, however, destroyed their perfect relationship with God and with one another. When the Holy Spirit, by the power of the gospel, brings people to faith, He also begins to restore that lost image of God in their hearts and lives. By the power of the gospel, they also begin to grow in their ability and desire to live in their God-assigned roles for Jesus' sake.
In the world, unlike the Christian home and the Christian church, the unregenerate world is not motivated by the gospel or guided by God's will. In fact, to the world, that all seems rather foolish.
Our greatest commission regarding the unregenerate world, which is lost in unbelief and living in spiritual darkness, is that we first of all go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, to seek thereby to win them for Christ and for salvation. Accepting God's will regarding Christian living and role relationships is not something which can precede saving faith but must come as a result or fruit of it. Therefore, we do not try to force our morality upon the world (I Corinthians 5:12), but will seek to influence the world by being witnesses for Christ and by letting the light of our good works shine.
Just how do we as Christians allow our light to shine before the world on this particular issue? The Table of Duties in our Catechism reminds us that we do this by submitting to all civil authorities that God has placed over us and by obeying all who are over us in the work place, just as we obey Christ. When we, as Christian men and Christian women, are placed into positions of authority in the world, we will try to administer that authority in Christian love and concern for those who are under us, always remembering that the Lord and master of us all is in heaven and has told us that the humble, loving, serving mind which was in him should also be in us in all our relationships with one another.
Since the unregenerate world is often cruel, self-centered and even godless, Christian women, who must live and work in that environment, will not have the protection of the Gospel's influence as they do in the Christian home and in the Christian church. In Luke 22:35-36, Jesus told his disciples that they would soon be going out into an environment where they would find it necessary to carry a purse, and even a sword. Christian love and concern will keep us from imposing undue restrictions upon, and binding the consciences of, Christian women when they must go out and live, work, manage their property, fulfill their responsibilities as citizens, support themselves and their families, and defend themselves, in a sinful hostile environment.
In another document on this subject we state that, "We reject the opinion that all women are always subject to all men as an exaggeration of what the Scriptures teach". The roles of man and woman are an application of God's Law, but it is an application which must always be made in love, for as Scripture clearly teaches, "Love is the fulfilling of the Law".
Finally, there's a way in which Christian men in particular can allow their light to shine. The love and concern they show for the women in their homes and churches, the love and concern which they show to all people with whom they come into contact in every way in their daily lives, is a love and concern which they should always strive to show towards all women. They should be concerned about the women's feelings and well being, always striving to do all they can to keep them from being used and abused in this sinful world.
This is the spirit in which we apply the roles of man and woman in the various phases of our lives. May God give us all that spirit for Jesus' sake.
- Our reason for the belief in infant baptism are answered in numerous questions in the archive section on the sacraments. Our basic reasons for infant baptism are Jesus command includes all nations, and children are part of all nations. Baptism is for sinners. Children are sinners. Baptism is for people who can believe. Children can believe. See the section on Baptism, Infants. The following summarizes the issue. Lutherans practice infant baptism because the command to baptize is inclusive: "Baptize all nations" (Matthew 28:19) "the promise is for you and your children" (Acts 2:38-39) children are not innocent but need forgiveness of sins (Ps 51:5) children can have faith (Matthew 18:6).
Infant baptism emphasizes by grace alone and by faith alone. The child comes bringing nothing, in order to receive God's grace through which faith is begun and nourished.
In addition to the resources listed at the section on baptism you might be interested in reading the volume on baptism in the People's Bible Teaching series available from Northwestern Publishing House. I will comment only briefly on the quotations below since a fuller treatment of infant baptism is available in the sources cited.
The following discussion rebuts some of the common objections to infant baptism:
- The word "baptize" is a transliteration of the original Greek word baptizo. Baptizo comes from the root word bapto, a term used in the first century for immersing a garment first into bleach and then into dye, both cleansing and changing the color of the cloth. (Note the similarity to baptism's cleansing of sin and becoming a new person through Christ.) Stated another way, when you process cloth to change its color, you are said to "baptize" it. If sprinkling of any kind was practiced, a different Greek word would have been used, but it was not. It is true that baptism means to wash in such a way as to produce a change in what is washed. One example of this kind of washing is dying clothes, but there are many others. A washing that produces change is exactly what baptism is since we are reborn through baptism. In the Greek text of Mark 7:3-4, the verbs "washing", "sprinkling," and "baptizing" are used side by side as descriptions of the ceremonial washings of the Jews. The NIV translates all three verbs as "wash."
Among the things that the Jews "baptized" were hands, dishes, and couches. Many of these washings were not immersions. The statement that "baptizings" were always immersions is false.
- Around 400 AD, a man named Augustine came up with the idea of "original sin." This of course concerned parents over the fate of their children, so they decided children should be baptized to take care of the original sin. They used sprinkling, since immersion was risky. Thus, both baptizing infants and baptizing by sprinkling are human ideas, not from the bible. This is completely false. Many passages of Scripture teach that we are born in sin. A few of them are Psalm 51:5, Ephesians 2:3, Romans 5:12, and Genesis 8:21. Furthermore, there is no significant danger in immersing a baby.
- A child is safe in the arms of God, until they can understand separation from God because of sin. Read 2 Samuel 12:22-23, and Matthew 18:10 Passages that say the children can come to the Lord are all the more reason to baptize them since baptism is a means of bringing them to the Lord. Infant sin and infant faith is demonstrated in the passages cited above. All of the objections to bringing them to baptism are invalid since they depend on false definitions of sin and of faith.
- Jesus said to baptize "all nations." But it is safe to say that this passage does not refer to infants and small children. Why? Matthew 28:19 reveals 2 things relevant to this question. First, the disciples Jesus is talking to are told to make other disciples, which are always adults. Second, Jews thought they were the only chosen people, and were angry to find out that Peter and the others were baptizing Gentiles. The focus of this verse therefore, is to make disciples, and reaching out to Gentiles as well as Jews. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).
Disciples are learners. Certainly children are learners from the day they are born. In Matthew 28, we are given two ways to make people disciples, by baptizing them and by teaching them all things. There is no reason that we cannot begin doing this from the beginning of life. On Pentecost Peter said, "The promise is for you and your children" (Acts 2:38-39).
I do not know how to respond to your complaint about shallow Lutheran services. The Lutheran church uses the same historic liturgy as the Roman Catholic church, purified of some of the Catholic additions. It allows congregations to have variety within this service concerning the type of music, the elaborateness of the service and so on. It focuses on the Word and Sacraments. I do not understand what you mean by "shallow". It is a service of great depth.
After you have done further study on these issues to be sure you understand what our position actually is, you need to talk to someone personally about your concerns.
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