Delegate Newsletter -- No. 9

What is Jesus First? 
(part 2)

By Rev. Jon Coyne

Last week I shared with you that the leaders of Jesus First are diverse, Christ confessing, loving people ending with this question: “Why would anyone NOT want to be part of Jesus First?”  There are two “perceived”, but inaccurate reasons.

1)      Politics is wrong in the church.

When I was 16 I attended the 1979 LCMS Convention in St. Louis. It was a wonderful opportunity to witness the work of the convention and to meet other youth who were active in district youth work. In 1981, I was blessed to attend the LCMS Convention again. I saw politics in the church for the first time. I watched family members fighting on the floor of the convention. I was told that all candidates for President except Dr. Ralph Bohlmann had campaign buttons. In my naïve world, I was happy to hear that the one person who did not campaign with buttons was elected. I returned to finish college and contemplated all that I had seen and heard at convention. It was not long before I decided that politics in the church was wrong and I should not be a pastor in the church.

A few years later, the Lord clearly called me to pastoral ministry. Yet, this one issue remained. How could I reconcile my feelings that politics did not belong in the church when politics were so evident? I decided (again naïve) that I would simply avoid the politics of the church and entered Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne. Less than 6 months at the seminary proved it would be impossible to avoid politics, so I tried to avoid most of it. Yet, the conflict remained. Finally, as a pastor in the California-Nevada-Hawaii (CNH) District, I confronted this apparent conflict with my District President, Pastor Walter Tietjen. I remember with fondness how, in a warm, genuine, and caring fashion, he helped me understand that which had bothered me for so long.

The Council of Presidents has written an essay that explains this apparent conflict. The document is called “The Ministry of Influence”. One major thought in the document helped me to resolve my concerns. If I am supporting a person for office in the LCMS because I know that person will be a servant leader with special gifts for the office, then I am doing the right thing. However, if I am motivated by my personal ambition to promote myself that would be wrong. Likewise, if I am promoting another person for my personal gain, that would be wrong. Finally, it is very important to speak only the truth about other candidates and honor the 8^th commandment.

A simple example will illustrate this point: In the CNH District, President Walter Tietjen retired in 2003. Prior to his retirement, congregations nominated pastors to fill his position as District President. Like many other people, I went to Pastor Bob Newton and asked him to allow his name to stand for election. He planned to decline the nomination, but God led him to see that he could not reject the support of so many people who felt his gifts would be a benefit to the District. During that time, four other men were also nominated. I am happy to state that I never heard a negative thing about any of them. They were all fine candidates and I consider all of them brothers in Christ and friends. But I felt, and many others agreed that we needed the specific skills of Pastor Newton, who had served as a missionary, to help us meet the mission needs in our culturally, ethnically, and language diverse district. Pastor Newton was elected, but it has not changed our personal relationship. I did not benefit. This is the way it ought to be in the church. Jesus First supports political activity in a Christian manner as described above.

2)      Jesus First is “tainted” because “you know what they believe!”

Jesus First had no sooner been formed than our leaders were threatened and labeled with names that are neither Christian nor accurate. I was told by numerous pastors that my career would be over if I helped Jesus First. These same pastors wanted to help, but were worried that it would impact their life and ministry in a negative way. They were not trying to hurt me. Rather they wanted to save me from the “mistake” of joining a group that would be the object of mean-spirited attacks. Little could I know how hurtful and inaccurate the attacks would become. I attended the first two days at the 2001 convention as one of the 50 “Heroes of Pentecost 2000”. In the first sermon, I heard a direct attack from the pulpit stating, “some say they want to put Jesus first.” It was only a prelude to the things I would read in Christian News as I walked out of the hotel on the first morning of the convention. Suddenly, we were being accused of everything and anything that might seem harmful to our reputation. I was hurt and angry that this would happen in a Christian church body.

Five months later in a Jesus First meeting of leaders, I made a decision that we needed to proclaim the truth about our reputation. We had been accused of supporting this, and not supporting that, while none of it was true!! My job was to make sure that people in the LCMS would know the truth about Jesus First. I will not bore you with the details, but I will say that this has been an uphill battle. Ugly lies spread easily. The truth takes much longer to cultivate.

People often write to the website asking, “What does Jesus First believe?” Jesus First has not in the past nor will it in the future write a statement of confession. Jesus First is not an organization to determine the doctrines of the church. It would be presumptuous and arrogant of Jesus First to make any attempt to “steal” the authority of the Synod to determine doctrinal positions. Jesus First does provide eight affirmations, that we feel are important for the church. These have been prominent in our publications and on our website from the beginning. Over one thousand people have chosen to endorse those affirmations. Yet, these affirmations are NOT doctrinal statements. Jesus First believes that the church must work through evangelical dialogue to elect leaders, make decisions, and further the work of the Lord in our midst. Jesus First believes that we can and should engage in evangelical dialogue about the practices of the church where there is currently disagreement. The LCMS has changed its practice before, and God willing when the time is right, the LCMS will change again. Yet, God remains changeless and, “The Word of the Lord endures forever.”

One of the things I learned at the seminary was that it is our job as pastors to take the sacred texts of the Bible and apply these to the lives of the people in the congregation and people who have not heard the message of salvation. In a sin-filled world, all people will be caught in the constantly changing values of the world. It is our job to take the message of our unchanging God to them in a way that people can understand. If that were not one of the concepts of Jesus First, I would not be part of the organization.

Join us in electing a team of people who will put Jesus first. Join us in ending the kind of negative politics that have been part of the LCMS for so long. Let us say “NO” to the smear campaigns, the character assassinations and the mean-spirited writing that permeates so many political newsletters, newspapers, and websites. Let us join together  in the One Mission and One Message as God’s One People.

  Pastor Jon Coyne - Bethany Lutheran Church – Menlo Park, CA