Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Nadia Bolz-Weber

Caution: This post contains quotes by an ELCA Pastor who uses profanity to express herself; any quotes by her have been left intact so you can see her words for yourself. 

Tonight I was sitting inside one of my favorite restaurants waiting for my take out and this man came up to the register, purchased his dinner and walked out, when he did he turned around and stared at me for a moment. Thinking nothing of it, I went about my business. As I was walking out of the restaurant, I heard "Yeah, she's in there..." when he looked towards the door, I was coming out and he got quiet. After I passed the group, and he thought I was out of earshot he said "the one warning everyone about that Pastor." He then said "She writes a blog too."

If you think that he’s talking about the recent conversation/argument about Nadia Bolz-Weber where I warned my friends about the anti-biblical teachings this woman has presented in the name of “faith” then you are one hundred percent correct. Many of you want to love her; and that’s fine. I get it. I really do! I get you may want to like this woman. She seems to encompass love for all people, she’s got some pretty awesome tattoos; she’s a hipster pastor who rips the sleeves off her clerical shirts so that you can admire her tattoos; she believes she is seeing God in those who are undesirable, junkies, drag queens, members of the LGBTQA+ community. I get it! Really, I do! I get that this is the kind of Christian we all want to be—however, as I grew more curious about this woman and her ministry, I started seeing and hearing things that I couldn’t agree with and that I definitely couldn’t live with in my Christian walk. 

So let me give you some background information on Nadia Bolz-Weber. “Reverand” Nadia Bolz-Weber is a troubled Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor who has grown in popularity within the ELCA ranks. A former drug user and alcoholic turned Lutheran minister, she’s gotten attention for her eye-catching appearance—colorful tattoos, cropped hair, hipster glasses—and her reputation for dropping the F-bomb. She is highly sought after by ELCA leadership to speak at conferences and gatherings, and to preach to their leaders, members and youth. But there are problems with Rev. Bolz-Weber, big problems. The problems I'm referring to rest in two areas, her teaching/theology, which is non-Biblical in many important areas, and moral issues that she seems to take pride in and actively flaunts. 

God tells us what an appointed church leader should look like; He says the leader “must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.”

Instead my “Christian” friends seem to think there is nothing wrong with an ECLA pastor who happens to be a foul-mouthed, proponent of premarital sex, supporter of Planned Parenthood, who has many theological beliefs that run contrary to Scripture. She is a universalist who has presided over a transgender re-naming ceremony and has had a drag queen emcee her church's children's program. 

In an interview you can see the disparaging remarks that she has made over time. Tell me, does this really sound like a woman of God, called by God? 

• Host Krista Tippett: “Nadia Bolz-Weber is the founder and pastor for the downtown Denver 'House for all Sinners and Saints.' Is it 'House for all Sinners and Saints?'”

• Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber: “House for all Sinners and Saints. Or you know, we call it Half Ass.” (HFASS)

• Talking about the Apostles' Creed, Rev. Bolz-Weber, who is revered by denominational leadership states, “oh my god, nobody believes every line of the creed.” (By the way the Creed she is talking about is the Apostles’ Creed and is 100% scripturally based.)

• Talking about her belief in God she stated “I had never stopped believing in God, not really. But I did have to go hang out with His aunt for awhile. She is called the goddess. My first experience with Wicca . . .” from her book Pastrix

• "I confess that I am a Christo-centric universalist. What that means to me is that, whatever God was accomplishing, especially on the cross, that Christological event, was for the restoration and redemption and reconciliation of all things and all people and all Creation – everyone. Whatever God was getting done there, that is for everyone. How God manages to play that out through other religions, other symbol systems, I will never understand. I have to allow for the idea that God is actually nimble enough and powerful enough and creative enough to do that.” See here - http://religionandpolitics.org/2015/07/28/for-all-the-sinners-and-saints-an-interview-with-nadia-bolz-weber/ (By the way if you don’t know what a universalist is, well its someone who believes everyone goes to Heaven, even without the acceptance of the atoning death of Christ.)

• “The goddess we spoke of never felt to me like a substitute for God but simply another aspect of the divine, like God's aunt or something. When I tell other Christians of my time with the goddess I think they expect me to characterize it as a period in my life when I was misguided and that now thankfully I have come back to both Jesus and my senses. But it's not like that. I can't imagine that the God of the universe is limited to our ideas of God. I can't image that God doesn't reveal Godself in countless ways outside of the simple system of Christianity. And in a way I need a god who is bigger and more nimble and more mysterious than what I could understand or contrive.” from her book Pastrix

• "And just to be clear: The cross is not about God as divine child abuser sadly sending his little boy off to be killed because we were bad and well, somebody had to pay." from http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/948520-sermon-on-the-cross-christ-the-king-sunday

• We all come back from the grocery store to the sight of Jesus just chatting it up at the well with Steve Bannon. Jesus is the worst. 9:19 AM - Mar 17, 2017 · Denver, CO (Nadia’s Twitter Feed). 

Seriously Christian friends, this isn’t right. None of it! If it was merely tattoos, cropped hair, or ripped off sleeves of her clericals, I think I could rise above it. However, it’s not; not even remotely. I get that Christians want to like Nadia; some even want to be like her, to buy into the false authenticity of loving others even to the point of holding open the doors of hell. I know, that was a bit brash, but seriously, you can’t read or listen to what this woman says and believe that it remotely comes out of the Bible nor that it’s authentic, orthodox Christianity. 

Maybe this is the first time you’ve heard of her—be warned; maybe you are sharing her videos, because they resonate with you—be warned. Friends, I am begging you to stop listening to everyone that sounds good to you. Be like the Bereans, make sure what you are hearing is from the Bible; study it for yourself—research who is saying it. 

As C.S. Lewis said: 

“I have some definite views about the de-Christianizing of the church. I believe that there are many accommodating preachers, and too many practitioners in the church who are not believers. Jesus Christ did not say “Go into all the world and tell the world that it is quite right.” The Gospel is something completely different. In fact, it is directly opposed to the world!”