# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1847 06 15_S115
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

would have been spoken, how many bitternesses of spirit would have occurred less often, how many steps toward improvement we would have taken more, how much further along we would now be in many respects, if each member had better fulfilled the duty that rests upon him for the common good! Oh, would that those who feel themselves struck by this would not thereby embitter and poison their hearts, but rather let them be softened, so as to say: Dear brothers! you shall no longer work for me; I will myself lend a hand; through my fault you shall never again labor in vain; if I have an objection, you shall hear it at the proper time; I will gladly bow beneath the commandment of love, for by this shall all men know whether we are Christ's disciples, or not.

But if now perhaps someone should object here that he does not belong among those who hold matters up without necessity; that he renounces his vote whenever he is not present at the meeting, and approves everything that is decided even without him — to him I now give my fifth reason to consider; it is this: because it is against conscience to say yes to everything that others determine, without the necessary examination. One can judge a matter far more surely when one has heard and weighed the reasons for and against it. A matter often seems to us, on hasty consideration, highly expedient and beyond dispute, but a single remark that some brother makes about it casts so bright a light upon it that we are at once moved to change our opinion. Is it not, then, against conscience to give one's decisive vote, without having been present at the discussion, often on important matters? With my own conscience this by no means agrees. Here I must also mention this: in our meetings, when inquiry is made, a stranger who presents himself is received on the basis of testimony given; now if the very person who might perhaps give a better account of a suspicious individual happens to be absent, then through his fault a mangy sheep may be taken in, one that can infect the whole flock, or at least give occasion for our enemies to slander us and our doctrine and bring us into ill repute.

But hear now my sixth reason. It consists in this: "because through such indifference the freedom of the congregation must necessarily be endangered, and the government must fall into the hands of a few individuals." What is it, dear brothers, I ask you, that we, after years of distress and affliction of conscience, have here found, besides the pure preaching of the Gospel, through God's inexpressible mercy, and which is of such incalculable blessing to us? It is churchly freedom; it is deliverance from tyrannical, spiritual guardianship; it is the enjoyment of an apostolic constitution of the

congregation, in which all are equal to one another, all have their vote, all must be heard, no one may issue commands to men, and no one need be obedient to men; in which the Word of God alone, and the law of love, peace, discipline, and order alone, hold sway. Yes, thank God, there exists among us the relationship between congregation and teacher and elders, and among the members themselves, as we find it in Scripture. For there we read that in the meetings in which matters of doctrine, church administration, and church discipline were to be settled, all were present and all had equal votes. As we read, among others — to cite but one example — in the fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles: at Antioch a dispute had arisen as to whether the newly converted Gentiles must be circumcised. When they could not agree about this, Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to obtain a decision there according to God's Word. In Jerusalem the whole congregation, together with the elders and apostles, then assembled. The latter presided; a great dispute arose, which was finally settled by two speeches, namely those of Peter and of James. The decision was at last put in writing and signed in the name of the apostles and elders and all the brethren. Behold here the glorious equality that was observed at that time in church government. It is, of course, understood that women and children were excluded from this, for the apostle Paul says plainly, 1 Corinthians 14: "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church." Concerning minors, however, the apostle Peter says, 1 Peter 5:5: "Ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder." The younger, then, as it stands in the Greek, are not to be drawn into participation in church government. — Compare with this our own constitution, and you will find the true apostolic form again. No one has learned, to his own greater spiritual harm, how sad it is when a discrepancy exists here, more than the stock from which our congregation sprang; no one, therefore, ought to recognize more vividly what a blessing we enjoy in this respect than we ourselves. Thousands long for it in vain. How, then, could we act more foolishly and more unconscionably than by not doing everything to preserve this great possession of church freedom? But what else can finally result from the ever more insidiously creeping habit of neglecting the congregational meetings, than that only a few will, and must, attend to everything belonging to church government? And what will follow from that, when dishonest men stand at the head? — These will in the end make of it a right belonging exclusively to themselves, and the disregard of freedom will have as its consequence the loss of that same freedom. Should the congregation, in particular — which God forbid — ever obtain a domineering preacher, then he will gladly make use of the congregation's lukewarmness in administrative matters, in order to arrange everything according to his own will together with a few of his favorites; and his tyranny over conscience will perhaps be discovered only too late. Why are many congregations in the East no longer free? Is it perhaps because they could not remain free? No; no church tyrant, whether a single individual or a smaller body, finds any protection in American law. The cause lies, therefore, in this: disregard and indolence have voluntarily sold and squandered away the precious possession. Woe to us, therefore, if the individual loses interest in the whole; if at last the individual thinks: I go to church, and that is enough! I have no time to concern myself with the whole! That is not my office. — Where such views finally gain the upper hand among the majority, and such indifference and apathy toward the common welfare become dominant, then the time has also come when we ourselves arrange the funeral for our own precious freedom. But, I hear one or another object at this point, who will hinder me if I give up a right that I have? Do I not also have this freedom? — Indeed, no one can hinder you in this; indeed, you may make use of this freedom in America and everywhere, but it is another question whether you are excused before God when you surrender it without necessity. And that is what I deny to you. This brings me to my seventh reason; it runs thus: "We have no right, without necessity, to give up a right that God has granted us." God knows best what is salutary for us; but in His wisdom He has entrusted to the whole church the keys of the kingdom of heaven, that is, the entire authority of the church; He has done this for our salvation. May we then cast away such a gift? By no means; God will have His gifts not despised. All the ruin of souls that arises from the loss, brought about through our own fault, of churchly freedom and of the full exercise of congregational rights, falls upon us, and for it we shall one day have to give account to God. As important as this point in particular is, I nevertheless break off here, since in this matter, so often discussed, I am certain that only hints are needed. I hold myself firmly assured of the agreement of all, without any great expenditure of words. The past speaks too powerfully here to our hearts for us to be able to resist the force of this proof. I therefore call to you once more only this: Be warned, dear brothers, open your eyes, and recognize what Satan again has in mind.

I cannot, however, yet conclude. Grant me still a few moments of an open ear. My eighth reason for the obligation of all to take part in the meetings,