Let Church Politics Be a
Responsible Ministry of Influence

Editor’s note: An LCMS Convention is inevitably political.  Below are some excerpts from the 1988 LCMS Council of Presidents statement on “The Ministry of Influence in the Church.” The full document can be found at www.ministryofinfluence.org.

“Let’s face it! There is a much needed Ministry of Influence that takes place in the life of the Church.  To influence is a privilege, right and responsibility that every member, pastor, teacher, voter, delegate, etc. possesses. It must not only be recognized, but preserved, encouraged, facilitated and exercised.

The Art of Influencing Others

“If properly understood and used, ‘politics’ is the art of influencing others. It is the art of sharing or promoting an idea, philosophy, candidate, or opinion. For these who have the opportunity, it can thus be a wholesome responsibility to offer solutions for problems and to seek the support of and for others. Such a Ministry of Influence should be both encouraged and facilitated in the life of a congregation and its voters, etc. as well in the life of a district and synod.

“A responsible ‘Ministry of Influence’ in its purest sense should be for the purpose of building up one another. As a member of the body belongs to all the other members, we serve, teach, encourage, lead, and show mercy to one another.

Done In a God-pleasing Manner

“While such a ministry should not be thwarted or blocked, it should also be carried out in a God-pleasing way and according to agreed upon processes and structures (done decently and in order). It is a way by which we carry out our priesthood as members together in the Body of Christ. Thus the art of influencing in a Christian way is to be encouraged and not condemned. But that ‘way’ is to be done prayerfully and humbly with the heart of the Good Shepherd. A good kind of ‘politics’ can be described in the above way.

“A responsible Ministry of Influence will not seek to be ‘a party of power’ in the Church. Instead it will seek to live under the only power, which is the Word. It is the power of the Word that creates, shapes, molds, moves, instructs, and sustains the Church.

Abuses

“Our life together involves bearing with the failings of the weak for his good and to build him up—all that with one heart and mouth our God may be glorified.

“Therefore, we are not to abuse this ministry by acts of covetousness, by sins against the Fourth and Eighth Commandments, nor by demanding our own way; degrading another person and striving to get our own way (self-serving). Regardless of our desired ends, exalted as they may be, we cannot attempt to attain them through destroying, controlling, hating, promoting one at the expense of the other or by appealing to base human nature.  We can also demean or seek self-serving control by accusing others of some destructive influence ‘activity’ when in fact they truly may be acting responsibly.

“The Ministry of Influence in the Church is to be under the influence of the Word, which shapes our own influence into a loving and caring exercise that is both responsible in itself and seeks to lead others to be responsible both to God and to one another. Any other influence needs to be resisted and uprooted in the Church.”

DSL