LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — September 3-4, 2011, Page 13

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supervision (Bylaws 1.2.1 [g]; 2.1.2). vi For any member or organization of members to advocate
disagreement with and unwillingness to use the Synod’s Bylaws without following the approved dissent
procedures or dispute resolution procedures invites the member’s/members’ ecclesiastical supervisor(s) to
use those same Synod-established procedures to discipline them.
The permissibility under the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod for a member or any association or
organization of members to advocate not following a bylaw of the Synod has been previously raised.
During a time when the Synod was dealing with a controversy within the Synod with regard to the
certifying, placing, calling, ordaining, and installing graduates of Seminex, the Commission on
Constitutional Matters issued its October 11, 1974 landmark opinion, “An Analysis of Assertions in
Present Controversy.” vii A portion of that opinion, in answer to a common objection raised at that time,
namely, “Christians are ruled not by laws but by the Gospel,” speaks to this issue:
There are several ways in which this theme has been stated in denigrating the Constitution and Bylaws of
the Synod and thus finally making them of no effect…
So much can be said for the law of God. It has a place in the life of the Christian. But is there room for
human, man-made laws in the life of Christians together? We submit that there is. Whenever two
individuals, even Christian people, enter into a relationship with each other—whether it be in marriage or
in a business partnership or in whatever relationship it may be—certain agreements, rules, contracts,
covenants—“laws,” if you will—become necessary. The same is true when Christians join together as a
worshiping and serving community of God in the world. It is customary for Lutheran congregations to use
not only the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions but also unwritten traditions and especially written
Constitutions and Bylaws as instruments under which they agree to govern themselves. This is true also of
larger federations of Christians, such as agencies, councils, and synods.
In our Synod we make certain commitments to one another. We agree what we shall do and how we shall
do it and why we shall do it. These agreements are spelled out in a Constitution, in Bylaws, and in
resolutions. We promise to walk together according to the agreements that we have made. We pledge one
another our word.
Since Christians recognize the law of Christian love as the highest law of human conduct, it governs also
our life together within the Synod. In Christ we love those with whom we have joined hands and to whom
we have given our pledge, and so we keep our word to them. We carry out our solemn covenants and
agreements. To set aside any article of the Constitution, a bylaw, or even a resolution of the Synod, simply
because in our personal estimation it is not acceptable, means to exalt our own will above the will of the
Synod stated especially in its Constitution and Bylaws. That would be self-seeking, self-righteousness,
judgmental, and loveless. This is not the way of Christians with one another.
To be sure, there are genuine instances when conscience is involved. It may be a conscience instructed by
the Word of God or it may be an erring one. Lutherans are sensitive to the plea of conscience. Lutherans
sometimes forget, however, that Martin Luther placed his great emphasis on the conscience which is
informed and instructed by the Word of God. We need to guard against using conscience as a misnomer for
person desire and opinion. The Synod has always made provision to respect the genuine demands of
conscience. However, the individual who is troubled in his conscience must also respect the conscience of
those who do not agree with him and be prepared to support his position from the Word of God. As our
teachers have so long pointed out, one must distinguish carefully between the giving of offense and the
taking of offense. If the Synod were to halt its operations whenever someone takes offense at its action, the
Synod would be paralyzed. To be sure, the Synod must be on its guard never to give offense. But the
individual, over against the Synod, must also exercise great care that he is truly governed by love and not
by self-interest or self-will.

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