Have you ever wondered what good it does to “like” something you read on social media?

Lutheran CORE mostly posts information, such as newsletter articles, devotions, and prayers, while others may post about their children or pets. We don’t see everything everyone posts and they don’t see everything CORE posts either. It turns out that each social medium platform (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are examples) uses math to decide who sees what.

So how do we reach people, especially our youth, who don’t already know about us? It turns out that each platform uses social signals (likes, comments and shares) in deciding what is popular and important. The mathematical formula tracks the social signals and the people doing the social signaling. It also tracks the posters’ friends and their interests.

Why? Because the platform tries to decide whether each post is of general interest or just of interest to your little corner of the Internet. It also considers whether people in other places are interested in the topic. Like it or not, you won’t see a post unless the platform’s math formula decides that it is right for you. To quote Big Commerce [emphasis added], “Increased social signals indicate good domain authority and demonstrate a URL’s value. When large numbers of users share and like a page, it indicates that the page is genuine and contains substantive or entertaining content.” (BigCommerce)

Most of you are probably aware of Facebook or Twitter at this point, but what about Instagram? Instagram is a social media platform that emphasizes photo and video sharing and, more importantly, lots of young adults and high school students use it.

If we want to combat the secular world by making it possible for our children and grandchildren to read our posts, then we need to use the apps they use, write the way they absorb information, and do all we can to let the various platforms know that our posts are worth reading.

How do we do that? In a nutshell, we start by creating accounts for each of the major social media platforms. We then need to increase the popularity of a page and its posts by liking / following the posts, and by occasionally sharing them or writing substantial comments. We may get flagged as spam if we only write generic comments such as “Awesome post!”

Even better than being a one-man band is to get a small team doing these things regularly! Maybe your bible study or young adult group would accept the challenge. Children and youth may be hesitant to share a post, but they may be very willing to “like” a post.  That helps too.

Lutheran CORE began publishing to Instagram on February 17^th, 2022. We currently have 17 Instagram followers. How many will we have two months from now when our May issue is released? It could literally be hundreds if our dedicated readers create an Instagram account and start to like, share, comment, and follow our posts.

---

Click here to visit Lutheran CORE’s linktree which includes links to Lutheran CORE’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube pages as well as other posts of interest.

You can also click (or select) on the buttons below to go directly to Lutheran CORE’s accounts. When you visit our YouTube channel, please subscribe to it and enjoy the video book reviews we have posted there.

---

Jesus said, “Go!” and this is one practical way you may help reach the lost and looking.

Several weeks ago there was considerable discussion in Lutheran CORE’s Facebook group in response to a person who questioned whether it is appropriate to call the Bible the Word of God. 

As part of that process, we posted our Statement on Scripture, which was written in 2007.

Because that statement was responding specifically to comments made by former ELCA presiding bishop Mark Hansen and to the ELCA’s Book of Faith initiative, we felt that the document should be updated to reflect our current situation and without reference to that initiative.

We are very grateful to NALC pastor Ken Kimball, who, along with Bishop Paull Spring, wrote the original statement.  Pastor Kimball graciously accepted our request to update the statement.  We are also very grateful to Dr. Mark Mattes of Grand View University for reviewing the statement. 

At its most recent meeting the board of Lutheran CORE unanimously voted to approve the statement.  You can find the full text of that document here. 

As we said in the July 2021 issue of CORE Voice, the real issue behind the issue is more often than not the authority of Scripture.  Refusing to call God Father, rejecting evangelism as part of the mission of the church, seeing faith in Christ as only one out of many ways to God, and embracing the full, radical LGBTQIA+ agenda all result from rejecting the inspiration, reliability, and authority of the Bible.  Therefore, we are glad to be able to share with you this newly updated Statement on Scripture.    

In the words of a hymn that has been set to the tune of “A Mighty Fortress” –

“God’s Word is our great heritage and shall be ours forever.

To spread its light from age to age shall be our chief endeavor.

Through life it guides our way; in death it is our stay.

Lord, grant while time shall last your Church may hold it fast

Throughout all generations.”

Once
again the ELCA refuses to be honest, to have integrity, and to allow the way it
is doing things to be challenged.  Instead,
once again it just ignores those challenges as it demonstrates that it hopes
that those who disagree will eventually just give up and go away.

Towards
the end of last November the ELCA declared on its Facebook page, “Before 2009,
our denomination sinfully refused to ordain any of our openly LGBTQIA+
siblings.”  It also said, “We highly
recommend checking out some of ReconcilingWorks’ resources.”

I
have several problems with these statements.

Sinful or Favoritism?

First, the ELCA is calling sinful the traditional position on sexual ethics, even though the traditional view was declared by the 2009 social statement to be one of four acceptable “conscience-bound” positions that would have a place in the ELCA.  I had the same problem in 2018 when ELCA pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber, speaking at the youth gathering, led thirty thousand young people in renouncing the traditional view as a lie and the ELCA did nothing to distance itself from her as well as from her statements and actions.

If
the ELCA feels that it is free to take any one of the four positions that were
approved in 2009 and state publicly that that is the only acceptable view and
that holding to and advocating for any of the other three positions is a sin, then
it can also be said that the ELCA still teaches that homosexual behavior is a
sin (since that also is one of the four acceptable views) and that the ELCA
still believes that ordaining openly LGBTQIA+ persons is a sin. 

How can the ELCA, who claims to be a champion for justice and fairness, continue to make public statements and continue to take actions that favor any one of the four “ministry perspectives” over the others?  This kind of blatant favoritism is also shown in the Facebook page’s strong recommendation of ReconcilingWorks resources and not also giving equal endorsement to resources that advocate for the traditional view. 

Boundaries

Second,
what the ELCA has declared on its Facebook page goes far beyond the boundaries
of what was actually approved in 2009. 
The 2009 social statement and changes in ministry policies said nothing
about bisexual, transgender, or any of the other letters of the LGBTQIA+
formula.  The decisions in 2009 addressed
only same sex attracted people who are living in publicly accountable,
lifelong, monogamous, same gender relationships.

Demeaning

Third, what the ELCA has declared on its Facebook page denigrates the ministry of same sex attracted people who were serving in the ELCA prior to 2009 while living faithfully according to traditional, Biblical sexual ethics.  To claim that the ELCA did not ordain same sex attracted people prior to 2009 is simply false, to say nothing about its being stunningly demeaning to those faithful servants of God.

Two
times I telephoned the person whom the ELCA contact center said is in charge of
its Facebook page.  Two times I left a
voice mail message, asking that person to call me back so that I could inquire
as to how these statements fit in with what was actually approved in 2009.  But neither time did this person call me
back.  I did not want to be accused of
harassing this person, so I did not call a third time, but I do think that that
is an interesting way to not be held accountable for the accuracy and fairness
of what is posted on the ELCA Facebook page. 
Just do not call the person back. 
Then you do not have to deal with what they have to say.

Many times I have
been asked by people whether I think that what Lutheran CORE is doing will
actually get the ELCA to change.  I
always respond, “No, I do not.  It would
take an intervention by God to accomplish that. 
Rather my goal is three-fold – to try to make the ELCA uncomfortable about
what they are doing, to alert people to what is happening, and then to be there
for people when they become aware.”