# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1975_S476
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

476 THE MISSION OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN THE WORLD

this we are motivated by the Gospel. Thus Christians
seek the good of others, not primarily because we share
a common humanity, nor because we are all sinners, but
because of our Christian faith. The love which we
manifest toward others in their misery and need is a
fruit of our faith and a product of our new birth by the
Holy Spirit through the Word. (AC XX, 27-29, 35-39:
LC I, 189-196, 250-253: FC SD IV, 11-12)

However, in view of the popular trend to substitute
social involvement for the proclamation of the Gospel,
we find it necessary to offer the following clarification:

1. In declaring that the church is Christ’s mission to
the whole society, the intention of this affirmation is not
to suggest that the task of the church is determined by
the physical needs of the world or by the ferment for
social improvement. While the church must be alert to
society’s problems and injustices, we do not favor the
popular view that if the church is to be relevant, it must
‘tallow the world to write its agenda.’ This obscures the
world’s need for the Gospel and is apt to make the
primary goal and function of the church social and
political in nature.

2. We reject the type of reasoning which argues thus:
As Lord of the earth, Christ is at work wherever there
is social ferment, wherever there are men and women
striving for liberation from prejudice and_ injustice.
Therefore, the church’s principal task is to direct atten-
tion to areas where Christ is at work and mobilize the
church for active and vigorous participation. This accent
fails to take into account that the mission of the church
has been determined by Christ when He told His dis-
ciples: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that
I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19-20)

As a fellowship of Christians, the institutional church
is also concerned with the general well-being of all men.
It, too, has certain responsibilities over against the social
order. Since it acknowledges that civil government is
God’s servant instituted for the purpose of maintaining
peace, justice, and the general welfare of all of its
citizens, the church implores God’s guidance and pro-
tection in behalf of all who are in authority. It seeks to
support the state by instructing and activating its mem-
bers to be good citizens ‘‘subjecting themselves to the
higher powers” (AC XVI, 5-6; Ap XVI, 57-58; LC III, 74;
Table of Duties, 5). In times of unrest and civil distur-
bance, the church may seek to assist the state in restoring
peace and good order by means of good counsel and
peaceful persuasion rather than by force. As needs have
arisen, it has in times past organized programs of aid and
assistance for the ill, the victims of war, of floods, and
of similar disasters.

Under certain circumstances the church may claim
its right to be heard also on controversial issues, espe-
cially on matters where moral questions are involved.
The church is deeply concerned that a proper level of
civil righteousness be maintained within a society.

Our churches are not to engage in partisan politics, in
lobbying for national issues, in competing with secular
organizations ‘‘for a place in the political sun,” nor in
seeking to impose on society the church’s particular
beliefs and regulations, making the Gospel into a new
form of law.

Our church recognizes that many political and social
issues of the day (war, welfare programs, certain racial
questions, etc.) are very complex in nature. It should real-
ize that any human program is fallible and ought to re-
frain from absolutizing any solution to a social problem.
Especially when the church endeavors to speak on cer-
tain political and social issues about which the Scripture
is silent, it ought to exercise great care and restraint lest
the Gospel be blamed and the cause of Christ suffer.
Especially a Christian minister should realize that the
world considers him to be a representative of the church
and not simply a private citizen.

There may conceivably be times when the state goes
beyond its God-given authority and requires of its
citizens that which is contrary to their consciences and
their individual religious convictions. In such eases the
church reserves the right to protest. However, since the
church always acknowledges the state to be a divine
institution, it does not resort to force. From the Biblical
point of view violence, force, rebellion, and revolution
are rarely justified.

V. The Church Is Christ's Mission
to the Whole Man

As Christians we recognize that God’s love reaches
out to man in his entire being. Our body, soul, and mind
have all been created by God; they have been redeemed
by Him, and as Christians we have by the Holy Spirit
been brought to faith and newness of life in our total
person.

We also acknowledge that our Lord in His life here
on earth ministered to the needs of the entire man,
forgiving sins, healing illnesses, feeding the hungry, and
in other ways providing for both the spiritual and the
physical wants of man. We acknowledge further that
Jesus has placed upon His followers the responsibility
of ministering to the needs of the total person.

In accord with the Mission Affirmations we therefore
assert that the church’s mission encompasses man in his
entire being. ‘‘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, individually and corpo-
rately, prayerfully seek to serve the needs of the total
man.” (The Mission Affirmations, V)

We acknowledge that when God’s children thus
demonstrate their love toward their fellowmen, such
acts may gain a hearing for the Gospel among the people
of the non-Christian world. However, deeds of love and
service cannot add power to the Gospel since such power
comes from the Holy Spirit who works in and through the
Word.