Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1954, Page 92

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

92 Proceedings of the Forty-Third Convention,

drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor.
10:30.)

“Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats
which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them
which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is
good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving;
for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.” (1 Tim. 4:3.)

The example of Paul praying his table prayer on shipboard in
the presence of all, the passages just quoted, points to the need of
receiving what we receive in the way of food with thanksgiving
to God. Such prayers are not necessarily an expression of church
fellowship, as we have explained it, though they can be made
a part of such an expression.

In the Wisconsin Synod Tract 10 of the “Continuing in His
Word” series, on “Prayer-Fellowship” (pp. 6—8), private prayer
with people of other synods, even though not yet united with us
in doctrine and practice, is recognized as possible and even called
for under particular circumstances. The words of the Apostle Paul,
Rom. 16:17: “Avoid them,” are not applied to this kind of prayer.
The one thing that is demanded is that the fellowship principles
laid down in God’s Word be not violated. Our Wisconsin brethren,
too, realize that there is something like private prayer, which is
not always a violation of the church fellowship principle, but in
line with it, and is not religious unionism, even if it is a joint
prayer with someone who belongs to a church not one with us in
doctrine and practice.

Joint prayer at intersynodical conferences may well be placed
into this category. We list some of the reasons for this claim:

1, Joint prayer at intersynodical conferences as we know them
is not a part of the practice of church fellowship, of unrestricted
pulpit, altar, or prayer fellowship. It is not in all ways like the
private prayer the Wisconsin Synod Tract 10 alludes to with the
Christian grandmother, a member of A. L. C. but ignorant of dif-
ferences in doctrine, though that prayer, too, is not considered
a part of the practice of church fellowship. It is more like the
prayer that Tract 10 leads up to but does not face. We read, p.7:
“If, however, my cousin is not only aware of the synodical diff-
erences, but defends his church’s errors, I cannot pray with him —
not even in the privacy of his home.” That is correct. But what if
that cousin, aware of the differences in doctrine, asks you to help
him by joint study of the Word of God to arrive at the clarity and
conviction given only by God’s Spirit, because he does not want to
uphold error, would you join him in prayer for God’s help upon
his urgent request? If not, on the basis of God’s Word, why not?
If so, would you call that practicing church fellowship?

So also intersynodical conferences, as we have had them, are
free conferences, where people who trust solely in the merits of
Jesus Christ and want to be guided by His Word alone come to-
gether for joint study of God’s Word, that by the means of this
study the Holy Ghost may lead them into all truth and help them
remove the differences that as a man-made barrier separate them
from the practice of unrestricted church fellowship. By what
stretch of imagination can such prayer for the Spirit’s help to
achieve these ends (removal of error so we can have real church
fellowship) be called a practice of church fellowship?