Last Saturday (October 5, 2024) the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) voted by 71.35% to allow the ordination of women under the “Way Forward Framework Proposal.” The Holy Spirit, who had said “No” to the idea in five previous synodical votes, apparently changed His mind. I jest, though perhaps I shouldn’t. Clearly, another spirit was at work in the democratic process, the same wicked spirit that had been guiding the process for the last few decades.

On one hand the devil is crafty, but on the other, he operates from a tired old playbook. Charles Porterfield Krauth described the progression of evil in three stages: Toleration, Equality, and Supremacy.[1]

Step 1: Ask for dialogue. “We’re not saying the church should change its doctrine. We just want to have a fraternal discussion about the issue (whether women’s ordination, sodomite ‘marriage’, abortion, the theft of a university, or the latest liturgical aberration).” It’s part of a calculated strategy to acclimate the church to the encroachment of heresy—the camel’s nose, so to speak.

Once evil has gained a toehold within the church, it moves rapidly to Step 2: Insist on equal treatment, or as the Australians now say, “Two practices, one church.” Evil makes a pinky promise to behave, now that it has been granted “official policy” status. But already it is angling to claim the whole tent. Can one church have two contrary practices? No. What do you get when you mix one glass of pure water with one glass of toilet water? Two glasses of toilet water, every damned time (and I use this word intentionally as it speaks directly to what is at stake).

As of last Saturday, the LCA has officially moved from Stage 2 to Stage 3. The enemy of God has been given a bedchamber within the holy temple (Nehemiah 13:4–9) and with no man such as Nehemiah to clean house, eviction notices will soon be sent to any faithful priests of God who remain. One church, two practices? Whom are we kidding? The devil never had any intention of honoring that agreement, and anyone who believes otherwise is willfully deluded.

The day after the vote, the proponents of women’s ordination were already calling for peace, love, and civility. This too is part of the playbook. I am reminded of the scene from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings when the wizard Saruman deceitfully calls for peace after waging unjust war upon good king Théoden and his people.

“I say, Théoden King: shall we have peace and friendship, you and I? It is ours to command.”

“We will have peace,” said Théoden at last thickly and with an effort. Several of the Riders cried out gladly. Théoden held up his hand. "Yes, we will have peace," he said now in a clear voice, "we will have peace, when you and all your works have perished—and the works of your dark master to whom you would deliver us.”

The call for peace by the very ones who have assaulted the church and her doctrine comes from the same spirit that led Jezebel’s henpecked husband to name faithful Elijah “the Troubler of Israel.” So might a thief accuse his victim of breaking the peace by protesting at being robbed. In The Lord of the Rings, king Théoden shakes off Saruman’s spell and rejects his sham offer of peace. Would that the church had such leaders today—but, alas, Tolkien’s masterpiece is a work of high fantasy.

In the real world, the Lutheran Church of Australia is led to destruction by an effeminate bishop, whose allegiance to the anti-patriarchy mafia is demonstrated in such Orwellian Newspeak as “Dear sisters and brothers in Christ…” Spineless men pandering to the radical feminist agenda—no wonder there was a place for eunuchs in the ancient world, as they were generally immune to the godless employ of feminine wiles. I’ve written before about the need to restore the diaconate. Perhaps there is a more pressing need to restore the eunuchate—not that it ever existed, mind you—but there could be a place for it in the church. Then, ironically, we might have men with the, ahem, testicular fortitude to confess the truth without regard for the opinions of worldly-minded women. It was, as you may recall, eunuchs who performed the liturgy of defenestration, thus ridding Israel of the priestitute Jezebel and her women-ordaining, Gaia-goddess cult. Better yet, how about we recover the biblical role of men, actual manly men, men who sacrificially lead their wives and children in the way of Christ, rather than cater to their sinful desires.

“Why are you making such a big deal about Women’s Ordination? There are so many more important issues to worry about.” So say those who have demonstrated their willingness to spend decades tearing the church apart in order to advance the issue. “But nothing has really changed!” According to a statement of the LCA, “the teaching of the Church on the office of the public ministry remains unchanged apart from the requirement of the ordination of men only.” By that logic, an adulterer might also claim that nothing in his marriage has changed apart from the fact that he is now sleeping with another woman. “But where’s the love?”, ask the proponents of Women’s Ordination. “Why such concern over a doctrinal issue when we should chiefly be concerned about love?” That’s a good question. Where is the love? Where was the love when an agenda was pushed through that was bound to destroy the unity of the church, divide families, and drive faithful pastors into exile? If there is Christian freedom in this matter, as is claimed, then love would compel the Christian to forgo this liberty for the sake of the weaker brother’s conscience. What’s love got to do with it? Nothing at all. And as history has shown, “where’s the love?” will shortly give way to “love is love” and the oppressive cult of the rainbow alphabet. From the beginning, every step of the process has come from Satan’s playbook to dismember the body of Christ, that is, to steal, kill, and destroy.

Yet, as said above, in response to Satan’s direct assault upon the bride of Christ, some within the church continue to call for civil discourse. Should a husband be civil with a man who assaults his wife or daughter? Civility has some place within the church, but I consider faithfulness to be a far higher virtue. When one side has trampled the Word of God underfoot, it is not the time to be a champion of civility. Search the Scriptures in vain to find a prophet of God who did so. Rather, these faithful men were known for their rough and even uncouth speech. We are the Church Militant. As such, we need men who will lead the church into battle, following our great Captain and armed with His Word. We need unyielding men who are prepared to die before ceding one iota of the doctrine of Scripture. We don’t need wheedling politicians who are consumed with peacemaking and civility at all costs. We need men who are consumed with zeal for the house of God. We need Moses who ground the golden calf into powder and forced Israel to drink their idolatry. We need Elijah who mercilessly mocked the prophets of Baal and called for their execution. We need John the Baptist who denounced the false shepherds of Israel as a “brood of vipers” without regard for his career, retirement savings account, or even life.

Let the apostasy of the Lutheran Church of Australia serve as a warning to the faithful who remain. We in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod are not above falling prey to the same tactics. Indeed, much of the groundwork for Women’s Ordination has already been laid within our churches. We currently allow female readers, female elders, female presidents, female deacons, and female voters. Women lead worship, distribute communion, preach children’s sermons, and teach Bible study, often at the behest of their own pastors. But the advocates for Women’s Ordination are correct about one thing: Ultimately, the issue does not matter. Satan doesn’t care a straw about Women’s Ordination. He cares nothing for the “advancement” or “empowerment” of women. In fact, he hates women, firstly, because they are the crowning beauty and glory of God’s creation, but most especially, because through a woman God brought about the birth of the Savior and the redemption of our fallen race. Women’s Ordination has never been the end game. It is merely a useful weapon in Satan’s arsenal, a precursor to the wholesale abandonment of the Word of God, the opening of a door that can never be closed, save by the grace of God that leads men to repentance. May God grant it for Christ’s sake.

[1] Charles Porterfield Krauth: The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1872, pp. 195–96.