LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1967, Page 67

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PERRET EERIE E TOE OIL ELE LTT SPILT ME BOS OT IES EIEN I

THE DOCTRINAL ESSAY 67

are grateful. “Greet the ekklesia in their house,” said
Paul.

To the church at Corinth, which apparently misun-
derstood the fact that he served this congregation at
no cost to its people, Paul said: “I have robbed other
churches, other ekklesiai, accepting their support in
order to serve you.... I have been a fool! You forced
me to it, for I ought to have been commended by
you. For I am not at all inferior to these superlative
apostles, even though I am nothing. The signs of a true
apostle were performed among you in all patience, with
signs and wonders and mighty works. In what were
you less favored than the rest of the churches, the rest
of the ekklesiai, except in this one particular that I my-
self was not a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!”
(2 Cor. 11:8; 12:11-13)

To the Philippians, on the other hand, he wrote most
genially: “You know, yes, you Philippians, that in the
beginning of the Gospel, when I left Macedonia, no
ekklesia entered into partnership with me in giving and
receiving except you only. Why, even in Thessalonica
once and then again you sent me help. Not that I seek
the gift, but I seek the fruit which increases to your
credit. I have received full payment and more; I am
filled by having received from Epaphroditus the gifts
you sent, a fragment offering, a sacrifice acceptable and
pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need
of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ
Jesus.... Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The breth-
ren who are with me greet you; all the saints greet you,
especially those who are of Caesar’s household. The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”
(Phil. 4: 15-19, 21-23)

No Distinctions

Here we have the apostle talking to the church, the
church catholic. No distinction is made between Jewish
and Gentile Christians. No geographical distinctions
exist between those of the east or the west. The churches
are all part of the church, and the church is there in all
of the churches. The members of the churches are the
Saints held together by their faith in Jesus Christ, by
which they are justified before God and hallowed to
His service.

The church catholic is the church of God. Paul
writes to the Corinthians, with all of their sectarian
and schismatic spirit: “To the church of God which is
at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to
be saints together with all those who in every place
call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their
Lord and eurs: grace to you and peace from God our
Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” There are
no geographical or racial barriers in this church. Paul
is going to ask them all to give an offering for the poor
at Jerusalem. They belong to the church, which is not
an institutional entity but the church of God, the fel-

’ lowship of those gathered around the Lord, all those

who call upon the name of the Lord in every place.
He is their Lord, says Paul, as well as ours.

Consideration for All

Consideration must be shown for all in the church
of God. “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,
do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or
to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to
please all men in everything I do, not seeking my own
advantage but that of many, that they may be saved.
Be imitators of me as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 10:31 to
11:1). Do you fail to show consideration for others
who also call upon the name of the Lord? “I hear that
there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it,
for there must be factions among you in order that
those who are genuine among you might be recognized.

. Do you despise the church of God and humiliate
those who have nothing? What shall I say to you?
Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.” (1 Cor.
11: 18-22)

Paul was not a provincial. He addressed the Corin-
thians as “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will
of God ... to the church of God which is at Corinth,
with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia.”
He wishes them all grace and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

No Dead Letter

Paul knew nothing of denominationalism, of course.
That is our problem today. Denominationalism is very
likely quite a different problem from what either the
ecumeniacs or the separatists have made it out to be.
Denominationalism is neither the highest good nor the
greatest evil. It is the given, the heritage from the past,
with which we must deal when we say and confess that
in the 20th century, no less than in the Ist century of
the Christian era, the church is catholic, universal,
Christian. Wherever the church of God exists on what-
ever scene today, the church is catholic amid all the
complexities of human relationships, racial, national, so-
cial, denominational, and individual. That, too, is the
given— given by God. Somehow the confession of
catholicity, if we take it seriously, cannot be a dead
letter in our own lives.

Shy Away

Some people shy away from the term “catholic” to~
day because they do not want to associate themselves
in any way with the Roman Catholic church. Others
react almost with revulsion to the word itself, feeling
that it gives the Roman Catholic church a propaganda
advantage over others. Still others campaign against the
word “catholic” because they do not believe it to be
true. Having no doctrine of the church themselves, they
completely disregard what the Scriptures have to say
about the church and do not accept the Nicene Creed.

As for us we do accept the Nicene Creed. It is our
confession, one of the symbols of our faith. We believe
that Christendom has conceded too much to the Roman
Catholic Church, giving it almost exclusive use of the
term “catholic” and only contributing to the miscon-
ception that one church body can lay full claim to being