# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1872_S81
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— 81 —

the thought could easily arise that no one may contradict them any longer,
and that whoever does so is a revolutionary against the Lord Christ. The
congregation, however, should be able to notice in its preacher that he is
humble and that it costs him something when he has to tell it bitter truths.
But if the congregation has reason to think: oh, he enjoys it when he gets
to paint us in a bad light, when he gets to give it to us properly — that is
not a good sign. One of the most wretched things is to needle one's
opponents from the pulpit, to caricature them and make them recognizable
to everyone. When a congregation can say, "he meant that one," that is
sad; that is not preaching at all, but mudslinging [*Waschen*]. It is
utterly unjust to attack someone in a place where he cannot defend himself,
where he must remain silent. Likewise, letting tales be carried to oneself
is shameful and an abuse of the holy preaching office. It is distressing
when all sorts of complaints arise about preachers, but the heart grows
especially heavy when things stand so that they no longer have any desire
to serve, but want to rule instead. Our older pastors rejoiced to serve;
scarcely a thought was given to the abundant hardships that came with
their hard service. At their gatherings people spoke only of the many
opportunities to be able to serve poor fellow Christians. Now one hears
only too frequent complaining.

After the sin of the lust for dominion had thus been painted in such
frightening colors by the older preachers, a delegate also raised his voice
and testified that everything said here about the preachers' lust for
dominion might well be right and true, but that congregations were also
quite often such that everyone turns on the pastor and will accept nothing
from him — in short, that the pastor is very often falsely accused of a lust
for dominion when it is really the congregations that will not let God's
word rule over them. — Finally it was further remarked that while the
younger preachers in particular had now been warned, even earlier, in the
so-called "good old days," there had been no lack of various desires for
dominion, as one could tell from the many false excommunications that
occurred in those days.

The discussion then moved to the point that we preachers, in order not
to bury the blessing we have received, must also diligently "keep
studying," and that not only Holy Scripture but also the writings of our
Lutheran teaching fathers. Continued study is necessary not only for city
pastors but also for country pastors, and not only for pastors but also for
teachers. It is, of course, to be wished that preachers and teachers also
increase in other branches of knowledge, but above all one should study in
Scripture. It is also certainly good to take the newer theologians into
account in one's studies as well, but if one does not want, in one's
theological studies, to fall into all sorts of errors, if one wants rather to lay
a good foundation on every point, then the doctrinal writings of the old
teachers must lay the foundation