LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 178

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178

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

service to neighbor is a matter of the Law, the way God calls those
who have received the Gospel to live their lives. But they cannot
live God-pleasing lives of service apart from the change worked
by the Gospel. [President Christian responds, “CTX holds that its
primary vocation, as Lutheran Christians, is to believe in the true
Gospel of Jesus Christ. Any intimation that CTX does not believe
or hold this as truth is both misleading and inaccurate. At the same
time, the vocation of the university and its employees is also one of
education for all who choose to learn here. They learn at the foot of
the cross; they learn from those who honor Scripture and the Confessions; and they learn of the saving love of God through Christ.”]
CTX falls short of a robust, vibrant, Lutheran identity. This
problem reflects other occurrences of vague, undefined “Lutheran”
identities that are rightly criticized as “Lutheran in name only.” The
sine qua non of a Lutheran identity is the Gospel, the full and free
forgiveness of sinners for the sake of the perfect, substitutionary
death of the incarnate God, Jesus Christ, on the cross. Lutherans
rightly confess two kingdoms, over which God rules in distinct
ways. He rules His Church through the Gospel, the forgiveness of
sins. He rules society through His Law, the ordering of His world
according to the pattern of creation. Colleges, like families, straddle both kingdoms. Therefore, to engage the broader culture, to
converse in the secular, left-hand kingdom, a Lutheran university
must have an inviolable, robust Lutheran identity. This is not a way
to survive in academia; it is the only way a Lutheran institution will
survive in academia, on the bleeding edge of culture, without being
Lutheran “in name only.”
The three tenets of the CTX mission, to empower students “of
all backgrounds to lead lives of critical thought, compassionate action, and courageous leadership,” cannot be realized in any student
apart from the Gospel, the Good News of a Savior who died on the
cross to redeem sinful mankind. This is the essence of a Lutheran
identity. Any talk of vocation separated from talk of repentance and
forgiveness is pointless, incomplete, and misguided.
In the updated statement on Lutheran identity on the CTX website, and in the accompanying document, “Here I Learn,” CTX
adopts the phrase “Keep Concordia Weird” as an unofficial motto.
I love it.
But vocation is not weird. Lives of selfless service to others are
not weird. Unless shaped by the new life in the Holy Spirit, lives
of “critical thinking, compassionate action, and courageous leadership” are not weird. Most institutions in the greater Austin area encourage their constituents and stakeholders toward this basic level
of weirdness. And if everyone is doing it, it’s no longer weird.
What is weird? In the shadow of a city that wants to keep itself
“weird,” that wants to embrace all forms of sexual preference and
gender identity, that celebrates all things against the grain, what is
truly weird is the Good News of a God who gave Himself in the
place of sinful men. Clinging to and teaching the sacred and unchanging truths of Scripture is weird.

Austin. Pointing sin-scorched consciences to the rock-solid Means
of Grace would be exceedingly weird in Austin.
So I fully agree with the idea of keeping Concordia weird. I
just think it should actually be weird. CTX should stand out from
other Austin, other Texas, other higher education models. Rigorous
and unapologetic Lutheran catechesis for new faculty, staff, and
students should be the weird norm at 11400 Concordia University
Drive on the outskirts of a city where being “progressive” is no
longer weird but expected.
To be a campus truly normed by Scripture, where the Gospel is
rightly preached and the Sacraments properly administered, would
make CTX truly weird. This is my hope and prayer for CTX.
I am encouraged by CTX’s willingness to admit past mistakes
and reframe conversations in a more Lutheran lens. I am optimistic that the proposed new governance documents do not shy away
from stating that the university subscribes to the Lutheran Confessions. I believe the beautiful campus can be more beautifully
adorned with the purity of the Gospel. The truth that the university
wants to inculcate in her students begins with the Word of God.
We—the Synod and CTX—are in this together. We are allies,
not adversaries. We share a common mission of preaching Jesus
Christ and Him crucified for the salvation of sinners. We have a
united vision of the “weird” future in the resurrection, when “a
great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from
all tribes and peoples and languages, [is] standing before the throne
and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches
in their hands” (Rev. 7:9), confessing with one voice the salvation
found in the one, peculiar, weird, exclusive Savior alone.
Now is not the time for separation, but for closer affinity. Now,
the mission of the Synod and the mission of CTX can be best advanced and preserved through greater affiliation, not less. Now is
the time for the universities of the Synod to embrace their Lutheran
weirdness and cast off cultural banality. Now is the time for the
Synod to buck popular trends in higher education and embrace the
weirdness of being distinctly and unapologetically Lutheran.
I fully agree with keeping Concordia weird. The weirdness the
world needs will be found in a closer relationship between university and church body. The weirdness of Christ crucified for sinners,
delivered in perceptible Means of Grace, is best expressed when
congregations and their universities continue to walk together. This
is the path forward for Concordia University Texas and for The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod as a whole. Let’s be weird together.
Matthew C. Harrison, President

Appendix
Summary of Response to the Synod President’s Report
on the Ecclesiastical Visitation of Concordia University Texas

Repentance is weird. Forgiveness is weird. The Word of God is
weird. Baptism is weird. The Lord’s Supper is weird. And yet, these
are what we believe and confess toward the world because they are
true, beautiful, and comforting.

President Dr. Don Christian sent a response on behalf of CTX
saying, in summary, the following: Concordia University Texas
(CTX) is deeply committed to its Lutheran history and tradition
and working toward continuing a meaningful and productive relationship with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

CTX seems to have lost these Lutheran distinctives in favor of
blending in to a not-that-weird culture of half-religious liberalism.
A genuinely Lutheran identity would be altogether weird in Austin.
Preaching Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sinners would be
weird in Austin. Calling sinners to repentance would be weird in

However, CTX criticized the report for being sent so long after the conclusion of the visitation on April 22, 2022; for including findings that were gathered after the visit; for leaving room
for subjective conclusions; and, in its opinion, for not including
some facts that would provide additional background or supporting

2023 Convention Workbook