LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 176

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7. UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

To Aid Our CUS Schools
in Clear Confession
RESOLUTION 7-08
Overture 7-21 (CW, 474); President’s Report, Part 2 (TB,
1:24)

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Identity Statement drafted by
the Concordia University System (CUS) presidents,
approved by the boards of regents of the CUS schools, and
adopted by the Synod in convention (2016 Resolution 701A, 171), provides:
As educational institutions of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod (LCMS), the colleges and universities of
the CUS confess the faith of the Church. The Concordias
uphold the teachings of Sacred Scripture and its
articulation in the Lutheran Confessions. This includes
the biblical teaching that Jesus Christ—true God and
true man—is the sole way to God’s mercy and grace; that
at the beginning of time the triune God created all things;
that life is sacred from conception to natural death; and
that marriage between a man and a woman is a sacred
gift of God’s creative hand—over against the
reductionistic assumptions of many in our culture who
view men and women as only transitory and material
beings;
and
WHEREAS, As educational institutions of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), the CUS schools joyfully
welcome all students, including students not of our faith,
who want the high-quality, distinctively Lutheran
education that the CUS schools offer (1 Cor. 5:9–10); and
WHEREAS, The boards of regents of each CUS school have
a responsibility to ensure that “the teachings of Sacred
Scripture and its articulation in the Lutheran Confessions”
(2016 Res. 7-01A) are confessed clearly and consistently on
their campus in all areas of its operations: academic, cocurricular, athletic, administrative, student life, and
otherwise; and
WHEREAS, Scripture clearly teaches that all CUS students
and all humanity, of whatever background, share the same
orientation and possess the same problem: our sinful
nature (Ps. 51:5; Eph. 2:1); and
WHEREAS, The CUS schools must bear an intentional,
faithful witness of the Gospel and the goodness of God’s
mercy to all people who encounter The LCMS through its
CUS schools; and
WHEREAS, The CUS schools show love for our neighbors
(including our neighbors who are CUS students), whether
of our faith or not, when they share the Law and Gospel in
their truth and purity, rightly divided, thereby proclaiming
the vicarious atonement of Christ for all our transgressions,
recognizing that “if we say we (or others) have no sin, we
176 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2019 (67TH) LCMS CONVENTION

deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:1–10);
and
WHEREAS, Glorying in oneself is idolatry, as explained in
the Commission on Theology and Church Relation’s report,
Racism and the Church (adopted 1994, 9), which states:
“That to which your heart clings and entrusts itself,” Dr.
Martin Luther wrote in the Large Catechism, is “really
your God.” “If any one boasts,” he continued, “of great
learning, wisdom, power, prestige, family, and honor,
and trusts in them, he also has a god, but not the one,
true God.” If anyone should claim superiority over others
and treat them as inferior because of racial origin or
characteristics, we may add, that person, too, has a god,
but not the one true God”
and
WHEREAS, Therefore, to avoid the sin of idolatry, the CUS
schools should not allow activities on campus that are
based upon or derived from manifestations of our sinful
nature, including but not limited to student clubs; and
WHEREAS, Sacred Scripture is clear, not only in
identifying sin, but in identifying the Gospel promise of
forgiveness available to all of us (1 Cor. 6:9–11):
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit
the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the
sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men
who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy,
nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the
kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you
were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our
God
and
WHEREAS, Bylaw 3.10.6.6(i) provides that the president of
each CUS school, as the spiritual, academic, and
administrative head of the institution, “shall carefully
watch over the spiritual welfare, personal life, conduct,
educational progress, and physical condition of the
students and in general exercise such Christian discipline,
instruction, and supervision as may be expected at a
Christian educational institution”; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod in convention affirms that all
students at CUS schools who seek to come and learn should
be welcomed with love and respect, consistent with the
Lutheran identity of the CUS schools as institutions of the
church; and be it further
Resolved, That we affirm that “welcoming with love and
respect” means loving and serving our neighbors, speaking
the truth in love, and caring for souls by calling people away
from sinful actions that are destructive to their temporal
and eternal well-being, as Christ instructed in Matt. 28:19–
20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and

Resolutions