A paper produced in 2008 has received high acclaim from certain people. The paper is entitled: IT’S TIME: LCMS UNITY AND MISSION - The Real Problem We Face and How to Solve It. The paper is promoted through links on various blogs and web sites. In fact, it now has its own URL and web site here.
This image from the cover of the paper is very clever and attractive. It is very artfully designed and appealing. Everything about the paper is crafted expertly and has the appeal of a supurbly well prepared steak dinner.
I have repeatedly contemplated writing a response, as the premise of this paper causes me deep distress. The premise of the paper is that something less than 100% unity can be called acceptable and even be set forth as a noble goal. Several times I have taken notes and have sought Scripture verses to show the fallacy of this notion. Every time I began such an endeavor I realized that such methods have little effect upon those who have already accepted this notion as worthy of consideration and perhaps even acceptance.
In this paper the author presents the following claim:
It is possible to unify 85% of the Synod in doctrine, practice and mission, I’m convinced.
It disturbs me that the ludicrousness of this does not immediately strike others as it does me. This notion is entirely preposterous, yet many find it perfectly reasonable.
As a means of setting forth just how preposterous this notion is, the high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus is presented below, with the notion of 85% inserted where He prays concerning unity. It is not inserted in every possible instance, but in the more significant places it has been inserted. Read for yourself how dramatically this notion offends when this majestic prayer of the Lord Jesus is made to conform to this notion of unity.
These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,
Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might 85% know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me 85% with thine own self with the glory which I 85% had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me 85%; and they have kept thy word 85%. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are 85% of thee. For I have given unto them 85% of the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known 85% surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed 85% that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are 85% thine. And all mine are 85% thine, and thine are 85% mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be 85% one, as we are.
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled 85% in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be 85% one; as thou, Father, art 85% in me, and I 85% in thee, that they also may be 85% one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be 85% one, even as we are 85% one: I 85% in them, and thou 85% in me, that they may be made 85% perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:1-26)
Perhaps a person may respond, thinking: “That is blasphemous!” At least, I am hopeful that others may see that this is so. To speak of any percentage of unity as a goal for the saints is truly blasphemous and should never be found acceptable among those professing to be of Christ.
3 comments:
I guess I didn't get come away with reading the paper that the author thought 85% was desirable. I think he was showing optimism for the goal of rooting out false doctrine and practice for the LCMS. Some districts are so infected with Church Growth, Purpose-Driven, etc., that having 85% of the churches in a district that practice and confess the right doctrine would be a major improvement.
Obviously unity, 1:1, 100% is the desirable number.
Dan, thanks for your thoughts.
Please remember that this rationale is the problem.
100% is the desirable number?????
From whence does this reasoning come? This is exactly the opposite of what the Lord Jesus prays, teaches, and demands.
Consider Luther’s excellent explanations for the 2nd Commandment and the Introduction of the Lord’s Prayer. Consider the Augsburg Confession’s precise and Scriptural definition of the Church in Articles VII & VIII.
In his paper Harrison follows the false reasoning of the LC-MS on pg. 4 in making the obviously false claim that ". . . we—the Missouri Synod—are still here, and we still confess the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Then on pg. 8 he makes the claim, "It is possible to unify 85% of the Synod in doctrine, practice and mission". Which is it? Does the LC-MS confess the pure Gospel or does it confess a compromised Gospel of less than 85%? In the LC-MS, for generations, the hypocrisy has continued, pretending to confess the PURE Gospel, while really confessing and practicing and carrying forth in mission a mingled and polluted Gospel.
Is it possible to demonstrate from the Scriptures that this is in any way acceptable? Do the Scriptures EVER declare anything less than 100% unity to be counted as the Church of God on earth? What designations do the Scriptures assign to a body that perverts doctrine, practice, and mission?
Answer that honestly and this paper will be shown for what it really is— a product of sin and rebellion, a product of the LC-MS doctrine, practice and mission. It is merely a juggling of terms so as to present the deception of unity where compromise and schism are the reality.
This is not a matter of the sin of individuals. This is the compromise of the Gospel. This is a question of whether or not the saving faith of Jesus is being administered and received. It is a matter of damnation being served in the guise of salvation. This is not of God. This is a false Gospel. It has no power to save, only to deceive and lead to perdition. This is why it must be exposed.
Dan, by the way, observe in AC VII & VIII the difference from what is confessed among Lutherans today. AC VII &VIII declare that the Church is one holy Church, truly united concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments, and that the Church is properly called the congregation of saints and true believers, even though many hypocrites and evil persons are mingled therewith. AC VIII rightly declares that both the Sacraments and the Word are effectual because they are being administered rightly and purely even though evil men administer them.
Lutherans today, however, say that the Sacraments and Word are effectual even though they are not being administered rightly. Lutherans today are claiming that the mere claim of pure confession is enough, even though pure confession is not happening and the Sacraments and Word are not being administered in accord with Christ’s institution and command. Lutherans today are claiming that even without unity in doctrine and practice that the Sacraments and Word are still effectual.
This modern teaching is not at all what the Confessions teach and most certainly not what the Scriptures teach. And this is the very reason that the various church bodies continue to go the ways of men rather than to be brought to the true repentance that the Holy Spirit works. More and more anthropomorphic remedies and machinations will be sought, proposed, and utilized and the effect will be the same as always.
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