LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1967, Page 62

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62 THE DOCTRINAL ESSAY

Matter of Concern

One cannot say, however, that unity is not the
Proper concern of a denomination, both within and
without.

the early church is any criterion, the unity of the
Spirit will be kept in the bond of peace not only by
talking about unity but also by learning to live to-
gether in unity.

Article VII of the Augsburg Confession set the
tone for considered Lutheran action in the very com-
plex picture of disunity presented by organizational
structures of the church today. Institutions and customs
established by men should not be allowed to stand in
the way. The Lutheran Confessions say that the unity
of the church is a unity of faith. For such unity there
must be consensus regarding the doctrine of the Gospel
and administration of the sacraments. Everything else,
including the necessity of identical church constitu-
tions, is secondary. When it comes to the unity of the
church, unity with the Son of God, to whom all men
are subject, and unity of the Holy Spirit, who creates
faith in Jesus Christ, without whom there is no saint
on earth, is all-important,

Not Supermundane

What must be remembered, first of all, is that the
unity of the church is a unity on earth. It does not

world to come.
Not Denominations

Second, it must be remembered that when St. Paul
spoke about members of the body he was not speaking
about various denominations, some of whom favor ec.
static experiences and some, emphasis upon social ac-
tion; some of whom are liturgical and others nonliturgi-
cal; some, folk churches, and others, free churches. St.
Paul knew nothing of denominations and was not speak-
ing about denominations. He talked about people, mem-
bers of Christ’s body — saints who know that they are
sinners saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. There
is a oneness here which cannot be disregarded by any
thinking Christian growing up into the maturity of the
stature of Christ,

Expressed in Action

Third, the oneness of the church in apostolic times
and at all the best times in its history has been expressed

munities (circumcision and uncircumcision), still all
felt the unity which exists in the body of Christ and
maintained it—donating to the impoverished, They
maintained the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace

by extending the hand of help. In doing so, they only
reflected glory on the Gospel which had brought them
all to faith in Jesus Christ.

No Superchurch

Fourth, the unity of the church is not established oy
maintained by monolithic institutional establishments oy
by the unification of church bodies in a superchurch,
This superchurch is not just a bugaboo created by
separatists, as the Lutheran Reformation demonstrates,
Monolithic organization is generally matched by its
ungainly clumsiness in approaching the problems of
people who are genuinely searching for the truth.

Practical Points

If one considers everything said about the unity
of the church in the New Testament, several practical
points stand out:

First there should be no needless fighting in the
church. Gal. 2:9 provides us with an example of the
Christian attitude which ought to be fostered in the
church today. About the disagreement on a very im-
portant point, circumcision, involving a very important
part of the church, the Christians at Jerusalem, which
was the seat of the apostles, Paul tells us that every-
body recognized the church ought not to split or fight
needlessly: instead, after discussion, all the Jerusalem
leaders extended the right hand of fellowship to Paul
and to Barnabas; indeed, they divided the world. Paul
went to the Gentiles with Barnabas while J ames, Peter,
and John, the pillars in J erusalem, remained to serve the
Jews according to their customs. Peace prevailed, They
did not divide. Unity in Christ had been so deeply im-
pressed upon these people that they could never con-
sider severing their fellowship with one another.

Do we reflect similar attitudes today? In our dis-
agreements do we even bother to greet our brothers
with a welcome smile and a hearty good wish in the
Lord’s name? Do we extend the right hand of fellow-
ship to those with whom we differ as Paul and Peter
did? How practical are we in our application of the
doctrine of the church? Whether layman or clergy-
man, we are all equally members of the body of Christ,
of the church of God. All must take an equally respon-
sible view of the church, created by the Holy Spirit
through faith in Jesus Christ. This means that any
kind of action which attempts to fragment the church is
certainly not in agreement with Scripture. The estab-
lishment of criteria regarding who is in the church and
who is not in the church must be exercised with great
care. Reconciliation must come first in all our thinking.
Clergymen and laymen can work on this together. If
this is true of our own church body, it is also true of
others. We must be fair, we must speak the truth in
love. St. Paul said this is a mark of maturity in grow-
ing up to the measure of the stature of Christ.

Second, we must pray. We must pray as our Lord
prayed that the Spirit of God would help us to un-
derstand our brothers in Christ as well as the historical
situations which have often brought about events in the
church that disturb and cause misgiving.