LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 98

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98

CONVENTION ESSAYS AND REACTIONS

Christian churches less by any fellowship practices which
compromise that doctrine.
I said before that for me as a pastor, an awful lot of
evangelism was all that visiting and teaching I did with
prospects. The other thing that “doing evangelism” meant
for me as a pastor was this: educating and motivating my
own members to “Tell the Good News about Jesus” every
day at work, at school, wherever God put them. Here, too,
for our own members, our fellowship practices not only enhance but are necessary to “teach all things.”
A few years ago, in one of the more famous case studies
in marketing research, an ad agency for Curtis Mathis televisions made an interesting discovery. Curtis Mathis was
at that time offering a full line of TVs, from small blackand-white portables to huge color consoles. Their researchers found that their market share and profitability
were very strong with the big, jazzy models, while all their
other products were mediocre or worse. So even though it
would cost them total sales, they recommended dropping
everything else and pushing one kind of TV. Their advertising slogan became—maybe you remember—“Curtis
Mathis: the most expensive name in television and darn
well worth it.” Their profits soared.
Now, we in the Missouri Synod are not going for snob appeal, and we’re certainly not expensive. But we do have
something on which we are very strong, and we should be
aware of it and feature it. It’s our doctrine. In order to do
evangelism with full commitment and enthusiasm, our own
members need to know that they, we, have something very
unique to share with the world, something that saves
souls for eternity: pure doctrine. Not everything else we’ve
got is so good—at least not uniquely so. Even if we did admit
everybody to our altars, we might or might not be the friendliest church in town. Even if our pastor is visible at every
community worship event, he might not outhustle the nondenominational minister down the street. But we have what
we believe, teach, and confess only the true Evangelical
Lutheran Church has: “all things whatsoever Christ commanded.” If our folks think their job is to market “friendly,”
“great programs,” “inspiring worship,” then their motivation
is purely human. If they realize that they are sharing the
pure Word of God, a Word that alone can save souls, a Word
the friendly church around the corner doesn’t have quite
purely, then their motivation is from God Himself.
I’m not sure our own members know what a unique
treasure from God we have in our doctrine. But I am sure
they will never know if we do anything that suggests differences in doctrine don’t matter.5 Our Synod’s fellowship
practices, properly carried out, help to make this clear.
I happen to believe that our own failure to appreciate
our unique treasure of doctrine is the greatest hindrance to
evangelism that we are struggling to overcome today. Conversely, really appreciating our doctrine again may be the
key to becoming powerful tools for God. Years ago, at a time
of phenomenal growth in our Synod, an official publication
of another Lutheran body, one not in fellowship with us,
wrote this about our church:
It may be out of place to enter minutely upon the
history of the Missouri Synod, the greatest and most
important of the Lutheran Synods of our country; but
there is one fact that I do not like to pass over in si-

200l Convention Proceedings

lence— . . . I see before me no more striking instance of
the blessing which God bestows on men’s faithfulness
than this very Missouri Synod. If it had not with such
iron tenacity held to its confession of pure doctrine; if it
. . . had not fought against each and every deviation
from . . . the only true way; if it had adapted itself in
ever so small a measure to the views of our rather impressionable age, it would not have achieved the results
it may now claim. . . . [T]hat attitude of hers the Lord
has rewarded. In the view of the earliest and the present members of the Missouri Synod, the glory of God
and the unalloyed truth of His Word . . . is to be esteemed more highly than the favor of men. . . . If the
Lord God had not taken pity upon the Lutheran Church
in America by placing the Missouri Synod in its midst,
we would today be an insignificant band.6

Today, in a totally new era, we still desire to be a blessing to those around us by “Telling the Good News about
Jesus.” We want everyone to hear of the Savior so that
someday we can do everything with everybody. In the
meantime, for those few things we can’t do together, let’s
understand that it’s for a vitally important reason. It’s because God has called us to continue that confession of pure
doctrine, “teaching them to observe all things,” those things
that alone can save their souls.
Outline:
WHY IS OUR PRACTICE OF FELLOWSHIP VITAL TO
FULFILLING THE GREAT COMMISSION?
I. Because the Great Commission requires “teaching them
to observe all things” that Christ has commanded.
A. Christ’s command to “teach all things” is an essential
part of the Great Commission—not just an afterthought.
B. “Teaching all things” is essential to the salvation of
souls.
II. Because our fellowship practice is necessary to “teach all
things.”
A. For the unbeliever to be evangelized
B. For our own members to do evangelism
Carl C. Fickenscher II
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, IN

Notes
1. The Synod affirmed in 1986 Res. 3-08, and reaffirmed
in 1995 Res. 3-08, ‘that the pastors and congregations
of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod continue to
abide by the practice of close Communion, which includes the necessity of exercising responsible pastoral
care in extraordinary situations and circumstances,’
and beseeched the Synod in love to remember that
‘situations of emergency, and special cases of pastoral
care, or extraordinary circumstances’ are, by their nature, relatively rare.” 1998 Resolution 3-05, “To Reaffirm Our Practice of Admission to the Lord’s Supper,”
Convention Proceedings, 115.
2. That is, the evangelism method offered in D. James
Kennedy, Evangelism Explosion, with a foreword by
Billy Graham (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers,
1977).