LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Page 61

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REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
lieve, teach, and confess as a church body. It is not just
something that begins and ends with confirmation. As we
go about this important task of catechesis, that is, as we
underscore, teach, declare, proclaim, and put into practice
the truths of God’s Holy Word in our daily lives—and do it
in an unashamed, clear, and unambiguous manner—God
will bless. He really will! And the years ahead will also be
marked by our continuing to be a great church body in
Jesus Christ.
Practicing the Faith
But there is another point that needs to be made in this
connection. We as a Synod also need to recognize that
teaching the faith goes hand-in-hand with confessing and
practicing the faith. I need to sound a note of warning and
caution to our Synod. It is extremely tempting, particularly
in this our culture, which many are describing as “postmodern,” to water down, compromise, and otherwise overlook pure doctrine and correct practice. One of the most important lessons that the study of the church’s history
teaches is that when a church begins to look with disinterest on maintaining purity of doctrine and practice in its
midst, it begins to move away from the confession of the full
truth of the Word of God. And when that happens, the mission of the church suffers greatly, for no longer do people
look with urgency and excitement on the task of reaching
out to the lost and teaching them everything our Lord has
commanded us.
As you are no doubt aware, we have a number of important doctrinal resolutions before us at this convention. In
that respect, this convention is no different from previous
conventions. I recognize that a number of the doctrinal resolutions before us are emotionally charged. You as delegates have a solemn duty to make decisions based not on
sentiment or emotion, but on solid theological reasoning,
and upon the biblical and confessional truths that have
marked us down through the years.
Unity in Doctrine and Practice
A number of the doctrinal matters before us involve the
important question of our unity in doctrine and practice—
let me repeat that—in doctrine and practice—as a church
body. These sorts of doctrinal resolutions involve questions
of how we go about studying issues together and making
decisions together as a church family. We are a Synod. This
means that we are committed not merely to walking down
a somewhat similar road together, but actually walking the
same road, and walking down it together—united in both
doctrine and those practices that are drawn from and flow
from pure doctrine.
It is precisely for the sake of unity in both doctrine and
practice among us, that our Synod adopts doctrinal resolutions that affirm and carry out our commitment to the
truth of the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions.
One of the doctrines that is very important for our Synod
is the doctrine and practice of church fellowship.
As a Synod, on the basis of the teachings of God’s Word,
we agree together and make a solemn promise to one another that our pastors will not officiate in worship services
with clergymen of church bodies with which we are not in

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fellowship. This position is clearly stated in the Constitution and Bylaws of our Synod and has been affirmed repeatedly in convention resolution after convention resolution. It is nothing new within our fellowship. It is clearly
the position of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. It
is inappropriate to portray this truth in any other manner,
as though our Synod is unclear on this issue.
Expectations and Duties of Synod’s Elected Officials
There is an equally important issue before us as we consider these important doctrinal resolutions. Let me explain
this issue in the form of a question I have asked when I am
with groups of our pastors and lay leaders all across the
Synod. It this question: “What is your expectation of me as
synodical President and all the other elected officers of our
Synod when it comes to the doctrines and practices of our
church body? Do you want your synodical President, or any
other elected officer of this church body, to pick and choose
which doctrinal resolutions they will carry out, and which
they will choose not to carry out, or ignore?” The answer is
always resoundingly clear: “We expect you, and for that
matter, all of the other elected officials of our Synod and
Districts to carry out our church body’s positions.” The reason why this is always the response I receive is because our
people recognize that if our Synod is going to go the route of
a “pick and choose” approach when it comes to our Synod’s
doctrinal positions, this will be the first step in the dismantling of the Missouri Synod and everything that it
stands for. It is just this simple.
I need to make it very clear that our Synod does not expect perfection from our elected leaders, but we do expect
them to carry out their duties faithfully and consistently.
And when and where this does not happen, we as a church
body have every right, and even the solemn duty, to ask officials who have made errors in judgment to acknowledge
the inappropriateness of their actions and to provide assurance to the Synod that such errors will not be repeated.
To me, in addition to all the other things I have mentioned,
this is simply a matter of good old-fashioned common sense,
not to mention a matter of faithfulness to the duties of our
office as elected leaders of the Synod.
Again, I genuinely recognize that some of the issues before us at this convention are emotion filled. I would like
strongly to encourage you as delegates to look past the emotional rhetoric and consider the more important principles
and deeper issues involved, as I have sketched them here in
this the third part of my report to the Synod.

Outreach: the Challenge
and Opportunity
Now let me shift gears and direct your attention to the
second key word on which we wish to focus our attention,
namely Outreach.
For the past several months, in various settings, I have
shared with many people all across our Synod what we are
calling the “3/10 Emphasis.” It is a greatly increased emphasis in evangelism outreach on the part of our church
body as we move into the years directly ahead.