Why Save the LCMS?

We believe that the LCMS is worth saving as a church body.  We believe that the LCMS has been hijacked by a foreign theology that has taken over the synod much the way a virus takes over the body by invading the body’s cells.  We believe that it is worth the effort to rescue the LCMS from its Babylonian captivity to an aggressive form of bureaucracy that is hell-bent on transforming Christ's Church into a seeker-sensitive, emergent “church” under the pretense of making it more competitive in the American religious marketplace.

Why go through the trouble of saving the LCMS?  Why not simply depart in peace, as some are suggesting?  We cite four reasons:

1.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is at stake.  Where the Gospel is at stake, the souls of men and women for whom Christ died are at stake, as is the article upon which the Church stands or falls.  This is really the second round of a war that began in the 1970’s.  Then, the formal principle of our theology was at stake - the Holy Scriptures.  Today, the material principle of our theology is at stake - the message of justification by faith alone through grace alone for Christ’s sake alone.  This conflict is really nothing more than a continuation of unresolved conflicts of the “Seminex” era. 

2.  The institutional structure of the synod is useful.  We have two fine seminaries, a network of universities, an historical institute, a radio station, a publishing house, and a system of districts and circuits that could, if run properly, serve our congregations and the spread of confessional orthodoxy throughout the world.  To abandon this structure would mean to start everything over from scratch, something that is certainly possible but not practical.  To walk out would be to relinquish ownership of the synodical machinery into the hands of those who clearly have little use for it.

3.  The LCMS name continues to be recognized in the world as a leader of confessional Lutheranism.  Thanks to our mission and human care work, confessional Lutherans worldwide look to the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod for theological leadership.  In spite of efforts to change our name, we enjoy a high degree of name recognition among Lutherans in Africa, the Pacific Rim, eastern Europe, Russia, Siberia, the free Lutheran churches of Europe, and our persecuted brothers in the Scandinavian free churches.  It would be a shame to abandon the LCMS name to those who do not wish to fly the banner of confessional orthodoxy.

4.  The LCMS is neither our grandfather’s church nor is it our church.  The LCMS is a fellowship of churches who have been called by Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Church, to stand firm in the one true faith.  It is the church body who gave us CFW Walther, Franz Pieper, Walter A. Maier, Oswald Hoffmann, A.C. Piepkorn, Kurt Marquart, Norman Nagel, and so many others who contended for the faith.  Our fathers and grandfathers are being dishonored in word and deed, and by extension, so is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, we are called to rise and speak in the present moment.  We owe it to our fathers in the faith to contend for what they taught us and not let our Reformation heritage be adulterated by false prophets and misleading methodologies

We believe there is a faithful remnant in the LCMS that holds fast to our tradition of hymnal-based liturgical worship and biblical-confessional theology, that grieves over the disunity caused by those who would effect change and introduce novelties into our churches, that is resolved to resist the intrusion of false theology and misleading methodology into our fellowship of churches.  We stand together with them to inform and inspire.

For these reasons, we choose to stay and mount a vigorous resistance so that the glorious light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ may once again shine forth clearly from congregations gathered under the banner of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

Oh, therefore, let us never listen to those who praise and extol the conflict of the Reformation for the pure Gospel but want to know nothing of a similar conflict in our days. God's command: "Contend for the faith!" applies to all times, also to ours. Let also our hearts be kindled by the fiery zeal with which Luther and his faithful helpers fought. Let us not like a coward surrender without a fight what they in hot conflict and with word, writing, blood, and tears gained by conflict, but faithfully preserve it and courageously defend it against all assaults until death. Let us consider no truth revealed for salvation as insignificant and agree to its falsification; for here applies: "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." Nor let us be concerned that for the sake of our conflict our names are rejected as malicious people. Even Luther and his helpers once had to experience this, and today millions bless them after they are long since at rest in their graves. If today we show that we are not the degenerated but the true children of the Reformation, some day when we also lie dust to dust, our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will bless us.  (CFW Walther, Sermon for Reformation, 1876)

Comments

[Janky-o]

Hah. You give yourself away with the Formal and Material principles. But I won't tell.

Oh, but I get so sick of this. I landed in the LCMS from a denomination now in apoptosis that had been eaten from the top down by Liberalism - sloppy thinking and poor doctrine. I thought to myself: At last, I have discovered a church founded on the authority of scripture, on salvation by faith alone, a church that was intellectually rigorous and doctrinally zealous, and ah! that liturgy, filled with scripture. Peace and safety. And now, while my church indeed is so blessed, it turns out that the denomination is diseased. I really would like to just say, "go to Hell."

But you are right: there is value to it, and there are the faithful scattered through the churches. I suppose it's indeed worth fighting for.

[FreeSpeechLutheran]

I agree that the LCMS is worth fighting for. I also really like the quote by our first Synod president, CFW Walther.

[Adam Earthling]

We must stand up for the truth. That is all we can do. We are no less sinful begars than they, we must just have the truth on our side. The chips fall where they may, the Lord is in charge of that.

[DRB]

As has been noted, many congregations in the synod seem to value the true gospel less and less (for example, moving away from songs full of pure doctrine) and to engage in practices expressing indifference to false gospels more and more (open communion, endorsement of heterodox books, etc.). I wonder if a campaign to elect officials who will discipline blatant disregard for the confessions might succeed if more debatable issues (like the use of shallow songs that do not actually teach false doctrine) were put on hold for a while.

[Rick]

I am WELS laity and we need you to win this battle for all confessional Lutherans worldwide. There is a saying that what happens to the ELCA happens to the LCMS happens to WELS happens to ELS. At some point, confessional Lutherans need to not only win a battle (like Seminex) but also to turn the tide in the war for Lutheranism. Look where ELCA is leading: http://www.herchurch.org/. Without the LCMS, who will challenge ELCA's claim to Lutheran leadership?

[Greg Johnson]

Guys like Dick Bolland need to leave. He and his ilk have been talking a "big game" about leaving, for years. Put up, or shut up, Dick.

Great post.

[Bob]

Rick,

I deeply appreciate your comments and your perspective.

I feel more kinship with confessional Lutherans of any stripe -- WELS, LCMS, ELS, ELCA -- than with fellow LCMSers who are enamored with sticking their finger in the air and have bowed to the gods of size and relevance -- and the ones who just don't get the treasure that is Lutheranism.

[mark]

Could you please be a bit more specific. What needs to be done? If we need to replace the denominational president what are the rules? Is the vote by denomination?