LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 82

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82

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

Part III
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
The year was 1941, during World War II. The conditions of
world unrest caused questions and fear to lie upon the hearts
and minds of the people, not unlike those causing trouble and
restlessness in the lives of people in our world today.
During June of that year, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod gathered in convention in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
President John W. Behnken, who had served as pastor of
Trinity Lutheran Church here in Houston, the host congregation for yesterday’s communion service, addressed the delegates. His words were timely for his audience and also speak
to the conditions of the world in which we live today. Here is
part of what he said:
For the second time within the short span of twenty-five
years our beloved Synod is in convention at a time when practically the whole world is in the throes of a destructive war.
No one can foretell what the future may bring.
The Church dare not brush aside the horrible realities of
war with a mere shrug of the shoulder. They are laden with
lessons which call for earnest consideration. Unquestionably,
the Savior’s specific reference to wars and rumors of wars as a
forerunner of the approaching dissolution of this world demands serious consideration at this time. These catastrophic
conditions seriously affect also the work of the Church. For us
Christians the question arises, How are we to carry on the
Lord’s work during such abnormal days? . . .
[Behnken continued.] What shall we say when we view the
situation within the church today? I am not referring to the
situation throughout Christendom in general, but am addressing this question to our own church body. At the twentyfifth anniversary of the Synod, Doctor Walther preached an
earnest sermon calling for repentance. He told the great number of delegates that our church and our people were no longer
what they were when God brought them to our shores. The
devotion to God’s Word, the interest in God’s kingdom, the
earnest desire to serve the Lord in genuine godliness, were
waning. What shall we say today? . . .
And what shall we say about the pronounced decline in
stalwart godliness of life? Where is the sharp line of demarcation which should be drawn so clearly and distinctly between
the life of the world and the life of Christians? When you listen
to the conversations of our Lutherans, when you think of the
excessive drinking and sinful pleasures, the greed and the
selfishness, the gambling and dishonesty, the loose morals,
and in fact, the general worldliness which has crept into our
circles, not merely among the young, but also among older
people, does it not fill your heart with deep concern? Furthermore, consider the disrespect for the ministers of the Word,
the cheapening of the Gospel ministry, so manifest today.
Think of the little interest manifested in thorough Christian
education. Statistics speak aloud and present an awful indictment. Think of the lack of zeal for the extension of God’s kingdom. We are told that, while Rome burned, Nero fiddled.
While the world today is afire, and while millions are running
headlong into the flames of hell, what have we been doing?
Oh, where is that burning passion for souls which ought to be
ablaze within the heart of every member of our Synod? [emphasis added]

These words from President Behnken’s address have
proven timeless even as citizens of our country have experi2007 Convention Proceedings

enced not only world wars but also conflict after conflict, even
to the current day in which, once again, our country is embroiled in an international conflict, similar to and yet vastly
different from previous wars. But in addition to our concern
for national safety and homeland security, consider the
lethargic response of the contemporary Church to a lost, immoral, decaying and dying world that fares no better than
when the cry of 1941 was heard: “Oh, where is that burning
passion for souls which ought to be ablaze within the heart of
every member of our Synod?”
The awful indictment of statistics today echoes the cries
that were shouted in 1941. You know the story. You’ve
heard it before. The baptized membership of congregations
in our Synod continues to slide as it has for the past 35
years. The confirmed membership and average weekly worship attendance of the congregations in our Synod also continue to decline.
And all of this in the face of a growth spurt that has seen
the population in our country mushroom to more than 300
million people. When one compares the growth and size of
our country to the impact we have made as a voluntary association of congregations, ordained and commissioned
ministers in its midst, we are barely a blip on the screen of
recent history.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this ought not to be! I
believe God has called us to instill within the heart of every
member of our Synod a burning passion for souls—hearts that
will be ablaze with the purpose of taking the Gospel of Jesus
Christ to every hill and every valley, every city and every
community in our land!
But we cannot do this alone. It will be accomplished by the
very hand of God.
• It will happen as we come together in the power of the
Holy Spirit fervently and faithfully preaching the
Gospel and administering the Sacraments.
• It will happen as we move beyond the complacency
and parochialism that have plagued us in the past.
• It will happen as we realize the great blessings God has
given our Synod and the crying need, more pronounced
every day, for us to share these gifts with the world.
• It will happen as we address the reality that for most
of our 160 years as a Synod we have been a confessional Lutheran Church in a mostly Christian country, while in the past few decades, and certainly today,
we are faced with learning how to be a confessional,
evangelical Lutheran Church in a largely unchurched,
pluralistic, postmodern, narcissistic country, where
Muslims, Mormons, and those claiming “no religion”
are the fastest growing religious groups in our nation.
• It will happen as we trust in God—overcoming our
fears, ceasing our internal warfare, willing to abandon
unfaithful and unfruitful methods of the past.
I believe even the first President of our Synod, Dr. C. F.
W. Walther, would see things differently today than he did
more than a century and a half ago when he is reported to
have said, “If ever our Synod should lose the German language, it will be in danger of losing the Gospel.”
Boldly, we must grasp the new opportunities that await
us from Almighty God—moving forward for the sake of