LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1995, Page 60

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60 REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

Lutheran Confessions. I am aware that there will be those
who want to play down this confessional heritage of our
synodical family.

- In many Christian denominations, there is a great
struggle going on simply to retain even the most basic
truths of God’s Word. We need to be warned by this. Let us
commit ourselves, as a synodical family,.to ‘confessing the
entire truth of God’s Word. Let us, more than ever before
in our history, commit ourselves to a pure confession of the
Word of God in accordance with the Lutheran Confessions.
I need to underscore with you what a tremendous blessing
this has been for our church body down through the years.
That is why at the Pittsburgh convention I could say; “Keep
the message straight, Missouri.” And that is also why, with:
out any hesitation, I included in the fivefold vision point
4—that we need to. remain faithful to the Scriptures and
the Lutheran Confessions. If our LCMS is to continue to be
a genuine blessing to our own people as well as to others,
one of the two major strengths that we will need to hold
high and which will continue to distinguish us will ever:be
the retention of a strong, confessional Lutheran theology
within our LCMS family.

But there is yet another major emphasis that always
needs to remain as an equally high priority among us. This
priority I also summarized at the Pittsburgh convention
when I said, “Get the message out, Missouri.” Another pri-
ority that must mark our Synod as we move into the future
is to remain absolutely committed to reaching out and shar-
ing with everyone we can possibly reach the Good News of
that salvation which is ours, yes, and theirs, in Jesus
Christ our Lord. So; when I said at Pittsburgh, “Keep the
message straight, Missouri. Get the message out, Mis-
souri,” I meant that we as a church body must retain our
strong confessional Lutheran commitments, but thén also
aggressively, energetically, and positively reach out with
this message. We need to do this on a personal, congrega-
tional, and synodical level.

First, we need to reach out strongly and boldly on a very
personal level. We are tempted to take too much for
granted. We work with people all day long. We live next to
people in our neighborhoods. We enjoy family relationships.
But do we really ask ourselves whether or not these people
have a saving trust in Jesus their Savior? Do we ever take
the time to speak to them about the faith? On a very per-
sonal level, here is where our commitment to outreach
must start as we seek opportunities to reach out with the
Gospel.

Second, we need to reach out on a congregational level.
As. our personal level of commitment to outreach grows, so
will our congregational commitment. Our congregation’s
outreach efforts are no stronger than the commitment on
the part of our individual members. A forward-looking and
aggressive vision for outreach is part of a congregation’s at-
titude when it is healthy and strong. At times we Missouri
Synod Lutherans are tempted to be fearful of outreach or
are somehow intimidated by other groups which seem, at
least on the surface, to be doing a better job than we are.
We have no reason to feel intimidated. And we certainly do
not need to imitate them! No, not at all. Rather, we need to
recapture the missionary zeal of our synodical founders

who were very committed to outreach. We need again to
recognize in the Lutheran Confessions the strong dimen-
sion on confessing the faith, teaching the faith, reaching out
with this bold confession of the faith. Our synodical forefa-
thers clearly recognized the great challenge that faces a
genuine confessional Lutheran church-in this country of
ours where the prevailing ecclesiastical culture is shaped
and influenced by a generic sort of Christianity which
deemphasizes doctrine and overemphasizes emotions and
a rather subjective approach to the faith. - ;

Each of:our Synod’s congregations needs to view itself
as a mission outpost. For where the congregation is, there
is the Gospel: Where the Gospel is preached and taught and
the Sacraments administered according to Christ’s institu-
tion, there is the church. And where the church is, there is
Christ Himself who reaches out with His love and mercy.
And so our congregations need to view themselves as being
on the front lines of mission.

And then finally, as congregations we unite as a Synod
to reach out nationally and internationally through our co-

‘ operative efforts. Here is where the reason for.our Synod

comes in. Our Synod was formed to facilitate work that.in-
dividual congregations could not do by themselves. Our
Synod was formed to present a united front for the sake of
confession of the faith and the resulting mission outreach
with the faith. This summer we celebrate the 100th an-
niversary of our world mission program. In 1895, our Synod
resolved to send missionaries across the seas for the very
first time. Since ‘then, we have continued to work to spread
the Gospel among people around the globe, sharing the sav-
ing message of Jesus Christ.

These then I would see as the two great strengths that
need to mark our LCMS family as we move into the future:
one, a strong, bold commitment to the confessional
Lutheran theology which has marked us as a synodical
family down through the years, and two, a strong, bold
commitment to reach out with the Gospel.

Sometimes when I encourage this twofold emphasis, I
sense that people are trying to play what I guess you could
call a “priority game.” They try to move one of these two
emphases into first place and put the other one in second
place. They try to make it seem as though one is better
than the other, of more value or importance. But as a
Synod we need to recognize that they are of equal value. A
Lutheran church that does not do everything it can to re-
tain among it a strong, bold confessional Lutheran. theol-
ogy will soon cease to be a Lutheran church and even risks
losing the very Gospel itself. A Lutheran church that does
not do everything it can to reach out strongly and boldly
with the Gospel will cease to exist and will become only a
museum piece to be studied by church historians.

And so, we as a synodical family need to hold very high
these two priorities: keep the message straight. and get the
message out. This is what will continue to make our syn-
odical family strong, vibrant, and forward-looking as we
move into the years ahead. It is what will also make for a
good synodical convention

Now I would like to share some of the key activities I
have been privileged to be a part of during the past three
years. Needless to say, given the space constraints here, it