LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1965, Page 81

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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)