# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1965_S81 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) MISSIONS 81 Resolved, That we affirm that the church is Christ’s mission to the whole society; and be it further Resolved, That we recognize the difficulty of under- standing in every instance whether God desires Chris- tians to act corporately or individually or both in His mission to the whole society; they will, however, seek His will through prayer and mutual study; and be it further Resolved, That Christians be exhorted to serve God in every honest occupation, recognizing that all of life is the arena of a Christian’s ministry to God and man; and be it further Resolved, That Christians be encouraged to seek the peace of the city, as God commands, working together with their fellow citizens of the nation and of the world, whatever their race, class, or belief; and be it finally Resolved, That Christians be encouraged as they at- tempt, under the judgment and forgiveness of God, to discover and further His good purposes in every area of life, to extend justice, social acceptance, and a full share in God’s bounty to all people who are discriminated against and oppressed by reason of race, class, creed, or other unwarranted distinctions. Christians recognize that all their fellowmen come from the Father’s creating hand and that His Son’s nail-pierced hands reach out in love to all of them. Action: This resolution was adopted. The Church Is Christ’s Mission to the Whole Man RESOLUTION 1-01 E Wuereas, The Scriptures teach us that God’s love reaches out to the whole man, for God the Father lov- ingly creates and preserves man; the Son redeemed him in body, soul, and mind; the Holy Spirit brings him to faith and moves him to use body, soul, and mind in God’s great mission; and Wuereas, Our Lord became a man and ministered to the needs of the whole man, forgiving sins, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and even providing wine for a marriage feast; and Wuereas, Our Lord at His return will solemnly re- port whether or not we fed, clothed, and visited Him in the least of His hungry, naked, and forsaken brethren; therefore be it Resolved, That we affirm that the church is God’s mission to the whole man. Wherever a Christian as God’s witness encounters the man to whom God sends him, he meets someone whose body, soul, and mind are related in one totality. Therefore Christians, individ- ually and corporately, prayerfully seek to serve the needs of the total man. Christians bring the Good News of the living Christ to dying men. They bring men in- struction in all useful knowledge. They help and be- friend their neighbor on our small planet in every bodily need. They help their neighbor to improve and protect his property and business by bringing him economic help and enabling him to earn his daily bread in dignity and self-respect. Christians minister to the needs of the whole man, not because they have forgotten the witness of the Gospel but because they remember it. They know that the demonstration of their faith in Christ adds power to its proclamation. Action: This resolution was adopted. The Whole Church Is Christ’s Mission RESOLUTION 1-01 F Wuereas, Every Christian is commissioned a mis- sionary through baptism, for through the selfsame water and Word the Holy Spirit makes us both God’s children and His witnesses to the world when He says: “Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have com- manded you”; and Wuereas, All who are baptized into Christ are bap- tized into His death and resurrection, into His mission, and into His body; therefore be it Resolved, That we affirm that the whole church is Christ’s mission. Therefore we deplore anything that seeks to divide what God has joined together. We de- plore the clericalism that views a congregation primarily as God’s instrument to sustain the ordained ministry, thus smothering the diverse gifts of the Holy Spirit to His people. Equally we deplore the laicism that chafes under the shepherding by which a loving God seeks to equip His children for His mission. We deplore the racism which refuses to repent of its sin and denies the unity of all Christians in Christ and His mission. We deplore the desecration of Christianity by the multipli- cation of sects as though the Gospel were a religion of human design instead of God’s outreach after men in the giving of Himself. The divisions in the institutional church are as real as the unity in Christ’s body which joins all Christians together. We deplore the wars and political struggles that set Christians and other people in one nation against those in another. We recognize that the Christian lives in the tension between his own imperfect understanding of God’s truth and his knowl- edge that in spite of errors and divisions he is joined together in Christ’s body with all who truly believe in its Head. The Christian lives in the tension between Christ’s lordship, which is perfect, and his own disciple- ship, which is not. The Christian rejoices over the existence of every fellow believer in Christ his Savior, because thereby Christ is preached and His mission is implemented, for the whole church is Christ’s mission. Action: This resolution was adopted. To Effect a Single Board for Missions RESOLUTION 1-02 Report 1-01 (CW, p. 1) Overture 1-20 Un (URO, p.3), replacing Overture 4-07 (CW, p. 157)