The LCMS used a two-lane, one-way road to truth

By Charles S Mueller, Sr.

 In the late 1950s Bishop Hans Lilje said “…the primary task of the-church-to-the-church is: 1) to help Lutherans realize that at the heart of every decision in life there is a Christian question and 2) to make them think.”  Wise words from a world-renowned Lutheran leader.  Doing both represents a two-lane road to the truth.

JESUS FIRST supports that opinion.  Maybe that’s why we threaten some in the family.  When thought-provoking questions are sincerely considered, change of some kind is sure to follow.  That has been a constant in the church from St. Paul to now. 

Early Christians were not wishy-washy or unsettled in their beliefs.  Not at all.  But they recognized that their world with its issues was changing.  Each new uncertainty forced God’s people to ask, “In the light of what we are facing, what does it mean to be faithful to His mission in our day?” 

They refused to give an inch on Biblical basics as they re-examined matters about which the Scripture does not present a fixed position.  Like?  The role of laity, the authority of clergy, the shape of worship, the relationship with other Christians. They wrestled with divorce, interest, abortion, slavery, the proper rearing of children, drinking, civil obedience, support of the church, etc.  A final Biblical word on many corners of those issues is hard to nail down.  So they defined issues, thought them through, and often changed.

19th Century Issues

In previous articles I sketched this sequence over the seventeen centuries after Christ.  It’s how our 19^th century LCMS forebears survived when as an immigrant church when faced with some awesome challenges.

Their first challenge that supports Lilje’s point was how they handled their trusted leader, Martin Stephan, after he was found guilty of sexual improprieties.  They deposed not only him but also many of his ideas about how they should govern themselves.  In short order they crafted new ways of governance while establishing different internal relationship of great consequence.  Not a few proof tests that proved little were dumped.   

How did it work out?  Some of the “new” standards of conduct came and went fast, like Schwagerehe (a prohibition to marrying a sister-in-law); Tanz und Theaterbesuch (forbidding dancing and going to theaters – half the ban disappeared fast while the other half hung around for a century); Wucher (charging interest on borrowed money). 

Other changes came slower, like prayer fellowship, a teaching that forbade praying with anyone with whom you are not in complete doctrinal agreement and exclusive male suffrage—both practices supposedly grounded in Scripture.  The latter position did not change until long after the 19^th Amendment enfranchising women voters was adopted in 1920. 

Current Issues

Issues that are still on our agenda include who may commune at LCMS altars, whether women may serve as pastors in the church, and inter-Lutheran relations.  I do not want to contest any of these and many other concerns.  I do want to suggest we recognize that we have dealt with hundreds of issues, held every bit as intensely over the years, and have changed!  What’s important for us is to own up to how it has happened.

The first LCMS position in all these matters has been to identify what we saw as a Scriptural buttressing for our stance.  When further and better Bible study weakened our LCMS position, we did not admit we may have been wrong.  We quietly dropped our objections (at least most of us did) and just  changed.  I can’t remember the LCMS ever recanting any past position.

Interpretations of “Proof Texts”

Which is part of our problem today.  Since we have never admitted we may have overstated our position in the past, some cannot conceive we may be on less than solid ground on some of our present positions. They find it frightening that there may be legitimate and fully Lutheran alternative interpretations to some of the “proof texts.” 

Instead of engaging in familial and thoughtful consideration we use convention voting as the determinant of truth.  That’s not how the Creeds were adopted or the Confessions.  They came our way via the Lilje approach: find the Christian question and, in the company of others in the family, work toward our latest best guess at what is right and then, if we must, sin boldly into the future trusting God’s mercy.

Scary?  For sure.  But it’s the proven Lutheran-Christian’s way to find the truth without abusing God’s Word by saying more or less than it means. 

Next issue we will flesh out this premise with some of the specific changes the LCMS has dealt in the 20^th century.