The ELCA’s first transgender pastor and grace abuse‏

(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org.  You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)

A glowing article about Megan Rohrer, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s first transgender pastor, appears in the current issue of the ELCA’s official magazine “The Lutheran”.  I’m not sure, but it appears from her picture that Megan is a woman who thinks she is a man.  The article asks her “How do I refer to someone who is transgender?”  She responds:  “…it is best to use the name and the gender or non-gender pronoun they prefer.”  So, if a woman is confused and thinks she is a he, we are to aid her confusion and call her “he”.  Next Rohrer is asked “What about people who say being transgender is a sin?”  She responds:  “Thankfully, as Lutherans we believe God’s grace is more important news than who and how we are sinning.”  This is called grace abuse, the belief that we can continue to live in sin because we are saved by grace.  The Apostle Paul taught the opposite in Romans 6:1 “Are we to continue in sin that that grace might abound?  By no means!  How can we who died to sin still live in it?”  This current example of grace abuse is reminiscent of a Lutheran bishop who years ago defended elective abortions at a Lutheran hospital in Portland, Oregon by saying that we can do these abortions “because the Lutheran Church believes in the grace of God.”  Tragic.  Because we are saved by grace, we can kill babies.  Of course, the opposite is true.  In Ephesians 2:8-10 the Apostle Paul insists that salvation by grace leads us to good works.  But sadly in the ELCA one can live in homosexual or transsexual behavior, have an abortion, etc. and there is no need to repent.  Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:22-23 are telling where He teaches one can do many wonderful things in HIs name, but “I will declare to them “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.””

We will not be perfect in this life, but true grace leads us to repent when we commit “works of lawlessness”.  If there is no repentance, one has not been touched by the grace of God.  As one pastor rightly put it “We are saved by grace alone, but grace never is alone.” 

Years ago I never would have dreamed that I would see an article in The Lutheran promoting transgender pastors.  If you are an ELCA member, it is time to take your time, talents and money and join a more Biblical denomination.

In Jesus our Savior,

Pastor Tom Brock


(See The Lutheran article here)