LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 405

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THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS 405

confession. So important is this distinction, that The Lutheran Un-
derstanding of Church Fellowship calls special attention to it as
one of three “basic assumptions” in the Introduction of this docu-
ment: “The church’s internal unity [“the fellowship of all believ-
ers”], Known only to God (Eph. 1:4), is expressed by an external
or outward fellowship based on Confession” (5). The Commission
expands on this assumption by stating:
While the church’s internal unity is perfect and known only to God
(Eph. 1:4), the limits of external fellowship are determined by whether
the Gospel is preached purely and the sacraments are administered ac-
cording to Christ’s institution. The Gospel and the sacraments are in
themselves always pure. In this way they create and preserve the church
in her hidden unity throughout the world. Yet, when church bodies
make public confession of the Gospel and the sacraments, tragically
some obscure or explicitly contradict the teaching of the Gospel and the
proper administration of the sacraments. For this reason the limits or
boundaries of the external fellowship are creeds and confessions.
Churches in altar and pulpit fellowship share the same confession, in-
cluding the rejection of errors that contradict this confession. Where
churches cannot agree on a common confession, the basis for church
fellowship does not exist. (5)

The fundamental distinction set forth in the above-mentioned as-
sumption is obscured by statements in “That They May Be One.” One
might cite, for example, declaration one (1) of the document (noted
above) which states that fellowship (altar and pulpit fellowship) with
heterodox church bodies “destroys fellowship with Christ [presumably,
membership in the una sancta ecclesia], Who insists that we teach all
[emphasis original] things that He has commanded us.” This statement
is misleading and confusing, for it suggests, without qualification, that

church fellowship with heterodox churches destroys the unity of the:

church, the body of Christ (unitas; cf. A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal
Position of the Missouri Synod, paragraphs 26-29). While agreement
in doctrine establishes the limits and boundaries of external fellowship
(church fellowship), the church’s internal and perfect unity (hidden to
us but known to God) is preserved in spite of those who err concerning
some aspect of the teaching of the Gospel and the correct administration
of the sacraments.

2. Definition of Civic Events.

Declaration seven (7) admits “that civic events often present an
opportunity to proclaim the Gospel, and that Christians can pub-
licly offer prayers to the Triune God at such events.” Civic events,
the declaration continues, are to be distinguished from “Interfaith
prayer services,” which “‘by definition, cannot be considered [such]
civic events, but must be considered unionistic and syncretistic ser-
vices.” Declaration 8 then utilizes a definition of a worship “ser-
vice” as that which contains elements “used by a regularly desig-
nated worship leader of the church” and concludes in a “rejection,”
“We reject the teaching that events of the type described here can
be considered civic events.” Declaration 9 then begins by affirming
the following: “We are to make a clear confession of the Gospel at
every opportunity presented to us. Further, one can pray in the pres-
ence of those who are non-Christian, if all the prayers are offered
only to the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and only

by those confessing faith in the Triune God. In this regard we do

not speak of prayer services, as elsewhere described, but strictly of
prayer itself.”

We appreciate the attempt here to say what a “civic event” is
not, but it is not at all clear how the document, exactly, defines a
“civic event.” Evidently, it is not an event where proclamation of
the Gospel and prayers in the presence of non-Christians are nec-
essarily absent, though one reading of Declaration 9 might suggest
that all prayers offered must be Trinitarian and spoken only by
those confessing faith in the Triune God. If this is the case, does
the document then mean to say that civic events are actually occa-
sions at which prayers are spoken only by Christians?

Whatever the document means in its references to “civic
events,” it is certain that further reflection and discussion needs to
be given to this topic in the Synod. The Commission itself has on

ry

its agenda an assignment to provide further clarity and guidelines
on this matter.

3. The Question of Joint Prayer.

Related to the previous point is the question of joint prayer. The
“rejection” paragraph of Declaration 9 condemns “‘the teaching that
those who confess the name of Christ can join in prayer with those
who are part of non-Christian faiths.” The Commission whole-
heartedly agrees that such teaching is contrary to the scriptural and
confessional principles of fellowship. Christians cannot pray with
non-Christians without compromising their witness to the biblical
faith.

But this leaves unanswered the question as to whether “prayers”
offered by both Christians and non-Christians at public events must
necessarily be regarded, and in all circumstances, as joint prayers
(leaders of a public event could make clear, for example, that they
are not to be regarded as such).

4. Function of the “Condemnations” and/or “Rejections.”

“That They May Be One,” as we have noted earlier, begins by
observing that “some [in our Synod] have contended that this [Yan-
kee Stadium event] was merely a civic event,” while “others have
maintained that the event’s agenda calls into question this con-
tention.” The document presents its strong argument that partici-
pation in the Yankee Stadium event was syncretistic. However, the
document repeatedly “condemns” the view opposing its own in
such a way as to imply that those who hold to this opposing view
also are guilty of positions that few if any in our Synod have ac-
cepted or would ever accept.

Charitably, we surely may assume, not every person who re-
gards the Yankee Stadium event as a civic affair would accept
views such as the following singled out in the condemnations: “that
differences in doctrine are trivial” [2]; “differences of doctrine are
in someway a blessing from God rather than a curse of Satan” [5];
“that one can ... pray with non-Christians” [6]; “that every prayer
which uses the name ‘Jesus’ is automatically prayed to the Triune
God and thereby an expression of the Gospel” [6]; that we may
“present the Gospel as one option among many” [9]; “that prayers
are made worthy because of human actions” [10];”that charity and
license are the same thing” [13].

A “if the shoe fits, wear it” response will not be sufficient here,
when fellow-members of the Synod are being publicly targeted for
condemnation and rejection.

5. Scriptural and Confessional Argumentation.

“That They May Be One” promises to be “‘a scriptural and con-
fessional statement concerning church fellowship and public
prayer,” and in reference to Art. VI of the Synod’s Constitution de-
clares, “God’s Word is clear on this issue” {unionism and syn-
cretism].

However, the document presents little by way of specific and
sustained argumentation based on scriptural and confessional texts.
There is, in fact, a paucity of scriptural texts cited that actually deal
with the subject of church fellowship and public prayer (see The
Lutheran Understanding of Church Fellowship, esp. pp. 6-9, for
more extended discussion of pertinent texts). Moreover, aside from
three initial references in paragraph one to the Epitome of the For-
mula of Concord, the Small Catechism, and the Augsburg Confes-
sion (and one later citation from the Athanasian Creed), no focused
discussion of confessional principles regarding church fellowship
and public prayer is given.

Conclusion

The Commission shares the conviction, expressed also by “That
They May Be One,” that God-pleasing concord in the church,
under His guidance and blessing, is achieved through concerted and

2004 Convention Workbook