# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2001_S445 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) ADDITIONAL. THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS AND REPORTS—OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT 445 nifies not a cultic following of Martin Luther but rather fidelity to Christ and His Word. (Preface to the Book of Concord) It follows that Lutheran distinctives should not be eliminated in favor of a generic Christianity. Therefore, it is spiritual harmful: When the name and confession known as “Lutheran” is replaced by a generic Christian identity, which may include heterodox teaching and practice. When the name Lutheran is removed from our churches, jeopar- dizing the visibility of some of the key teachings of our Biblical confession, such as the real presence and compromising consci- entious Lutheran pastoral care exercised in the loving Biblical practice of close(d) communion. When a generic Christianity downplays controversial Biblical truths in favor of a least-common-denominator approach to doc- trine, practice, and fellowship, thus compromising Christ’s mis- sion on earth. (Formula of Concord SD X, 5-7) When pastors or congregations presume to change or alter the wording of the Ecumenical Creeds to suit their local circum- stances. VI The “theology of the cross” defines the mission and ministry of the church. The Holy Spirit uses the “foolishness” of preaching Christ cruci- fied (1 Corinthians 1:21) together with Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper to build Christ’s church on earth. This great treasure of the Gospel of the cross, and it alone, offers the power of God for salvation to all mankind. Any alternate ways to build Christ’s church are illusory, essentially deny God’s Word, and are contrary to God’s revealed will. (Romans 1:16; Galatians |:6—10) The risen Christ has won this salvation, not by what the world would recognize as victory, but by the humiliation, suffering, and defeat of the cross. John 12:23—25; John 12:32) As the Son of God, in taking the form of a servant, humbly hid His majesty in the lowly manger and on the despised cross (Philippians 2: 6-11), so He continues His work under the lowly cover of preaching and Sacraments. And just so He draws close to His children in their sufferings and weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) As at Pentecost, God built His church with dramatic increase in numbers through the proclamation of the cross; so in the days of Noah, Elijah, and Jeremiah, He built His church in times of de- creasing numbers. (1 Peter 3: 17-22) Faithfulness on the part of pastor and congregation includes the work of evangelism, that is, the proclamation of Christ crucified in community and world. (! Corinthians 9:16-19; 1 Peter 2:9; 3:15-16) In an unbelieving world, as Christ’s faithful bride, the church lives under the cross, she may expect contempt, hardship, strug- gle, and suffering. (Matthew 10:19-25; Mark 10:28-30) e It follows that the “theology of glory” (the wisdom of the world) misleads the church. Therefore, it is spiritually harmful: When spiritual life is measured in terms of personal happiness, earthly success and appearance, worldly wisdom and human glory. (1 Corinthians 1:21-25) When behavioral and social sciences are given a shared authority with the Word of God as a measure of spiritual truth. When it is thought that saving faith can be imparted by human market strategies or that the growth of the Holy Christian Church can be adequately or accurately measured by numbers. (Matthew 7:13—14; 16:18; Acts 2:47; Colossians 2:19) ¢ When a congregation sees itself as necessarily more faithful be- cause it is not growing. Or, conversely, when a congregation views growing numbers and income as an indication that Christ is necessarily building His church. Numbers, large or small, are not a litmus test of the Gospel!’s power. (Matthew 7:24-27) ¢ When anything other than faithfulness by pastor or people to the pure Gospel and Sacraments of Christ is used to measure the “health” of a congregation. (1 Corinthians 2:2) Part Two The Cultural Issues THE CHURCH GROWTH MOvVE- MENT JS AN ATTEMPT to address the contemporary culture, which has become increasingly secular- ized and in need of evangeliza- tion. The question then becomes, to what extent should the church change its practices to accommo- date the culture? Clearly, Chris- tians exist in a particular culture, as do the non-Christians we hope to reach with the Gospel. The church must communicate in a lan- guage and in a way that the surrounding culture can understand. On the other hand, following the lead of a secularized culture can only Jead to a secularized church. Further complicating the matter is the fact of cultural pluralism. America today embraces many different cultures, so that attempts to appeal to one (for example, affluent white baby-boomers who live in the suburbs) may not appeal to others (African-Americans, Hispanics, rural midwesterners, Generation-Xers). These pluralistic cultures are themselves under assault from the commercial “pop culture” which reduces all cultural expressions to a homogenized commodity to buy and sell. The Lutheran Church is blessed with a theology that offers a specific, comprehensive framework for addressing the relationship between the church and culture. The doctrine of the Two Kingdoms can help us address the cultural issues raised by the Church Growth Movement in a positive way. The Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions state that the world in essence is essentially good but accidentally evil. (The Confessions utilize Aristotelian terms to describe both “essence” and “accident”). Original sin is not of the nature or essence of man (FC SD I, 55-58). Therefore, the earth is the Lord’s. In Luther’s two-kingdom paradigm, the kingdom of power is where God op- erates as the Creator. It is not the world of Satan. Both Christians and non-Christians co-exist in the kingdom of power. I The Lutheran Theology of the Two Kingdoms teaches that God reigns in all cultures, but that the church is to be ruled by the Word of God alone, and not by the culture. ¢ The Two Kingdoms are defined as the Kingdom of Power, which God rules today by virtue of His creation, and the Kingdom of Grace, which Jesus Christ rules today by virtue of His redemp- tion. ¢God’s earthly kingdom—or “Kingdom of the Left Hand” or “Kingdom of Power”’—includes all persons in the world whether they are Christians or non-Christians, and remains subject to God’s Law, His created orders and His providential care. ¢ God’s spiritual kingdom or “Kingdom of the Right Hand” or “Kingdom of Grace”—-includes only those persons who have been given faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, are thus under the Gospel. * God’s earthly kingdom is subject to human reason, cultural dy- namics, and scientific laws. God’s spiritual kingdom is subject only to His Word. Both kingdoms belong to God. (Augsburg Confession and Apology, XIV, XVI, XXVIII) * God is active in His earthly kingdom, for both Christians and non- Christians, through human vocations—the family, citizenship and 2001 Convention Workbook