The Numbers Are In

Those who follow LCMS politics might be interested to know that the nominations for Synod President have been counted. Occasionally I write for a website called Cross Focused Leadership for Missouri. This site has posted a review of these nomination tallies. The review is pasted below.



The numbers are in. LCMS congregations have submitted their nominations for the office of president, those nominations have been tallied, and the numbers have been reported. For the office of president, Matthew Harrison 1,332; Gerald Kieschnick 755; Herbert Mueller, Jr. 503; Carl Fickenscher II 5; and Daniel Gard 3. Those numbers tell an interesting story.

For the last nine years Gerald Kieschnick has served faithfully as our synodical president. Those years have been challenging and at times controversial. Yet through the challenges and even through the controversy, support for President Kieschnick has remained consistent. Even though some have questioned his approach, congregations have opted to give him the benefit of the doubt, backing him with their support through their nomination. For example, President Kieschnick received 1,055 nominations for the 2007 convention. The next closest was John C. Wohlrabe Jr. with 607. That is a difference of more than 400 congregations.

The latest round of nominations tell a new story. As the Synod faces organizational and financial challenges in addition to the doctrinal stresses of the past decade, congregations are nominating a new leader to lead us through these difficult waters. Rather than renominating our current President, who has sought to address these challenges through structural change (via the recommendations from The Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and Government), congregations are instead nominating a man who maintains that our problem is not structural, but relational. Our biggest problem is not that we need to become more efficient, like a business. Our biggest problem is that we have lost the ability to talk through our differences, like a family. Congregations appear to be in agreement that the structure will work just fine and the financial situation will improve if we stop brushing our issues under the rug and do the hard work of getting together to discuss those things that divide us.

Take another look at the numbers. Whereas in previous years and based on nominations the synod has given its nod to keep going with the direction Gerald Kieschnick had set, this year the margins are quite different. Kieschnick does not enjoy such a wide margin of support. In contrast, Pastor Matt Harrison, who has outlined a plan to bring the family back around to the table, has suddenly received 1,332 nominations.

So what has changed? In the past three years, Matt Harrison has demonstrated great leadership. This leadership has been evident as he spearheaded relief efforts in New Orleans following Katrina, and more recently in Haiti. He has shown himself to be a man proficient in our Lutheran Theology. He has demonstrated a knowledge of our history as a denomination and is conversant with our Missouri Synod source materials. He has a pastoral heart. In addition to his leadership, he has also provided a plan to help lead us out of our challenges and problems; financial, organizational, and relational!We are encouraged that more congregations of Missouri are putting their support behind the man who wants to keep the conversation “all in the family”. This bodes well for our synod.

We hope that delegates to the convention listen to the congregations, elect Matt Harrison as our President, and elect men and women in all offices who support his vision for cross-focused leadership for Missouri.

Vocation and Basketball

It was one of the most exciting moments of the 2010 NCAA Basketball Tournament. Greivis Vasquez, the star of the Maryland Terrapins took the ball the length of the floor and scored to take a one point lead with 6 seconds left in a hard fought contest. The Spartans in-bounded to ball to Draymond Green. Green took the ball to the other end of the floor, dished to Korie Lucious who drained a three pointer as time expired.

I’m a Spartan. I love college basketball and I love the Michigan State basketball program. I have for years. I am also a basketball player (or at least I was). I have played a lot of basketball. I have played enough to know that success in basketball or in any sport is in part physical, God-given ability but it is also psychological and even spiritual. You get the ball in your hands with seconds left on the clock and you know what’s at stake: the game, the tournament, the season, Sportscenter (okay, Sportscenter was never on the line for me personally). You get a lump in your throat. A twitch in your spine. A twinge of excitement and nerves. And then you let the ball fly.

What makes it go in? At times we will claim it’s “divine intervention”. I suppose there might be some of that; after all if God directs military contests (Proverbs 21:31) he can also direct the athletic. But there is something to be said for the psychology and the nerves and the confidence that goes into that shot. There are a lot of things that can throw off your concentration and throw off your game. Not the least among them is sin.

Having the ball in your hands with the game on the line provides ample opportunity for the Old Adam to suit up and call for “the rock”. Sinful pride begs for glory and fears shame. I have had the ball in my hands with the game and glory on the line. I have felt that twinge of excitement and nerves. I have felt the urge for glory. I have felt the fear of shame. Many a shot has bounced from the rim with those thoughts in my mind. The game, for the glory of the self, is sin.

If you saw the post game press conference. Izzo and his team talked about playing for each other. Korie Lucious told the injured Spartan star, “I’ve got your back.” Even the left hand kingdom understands the negative effects of pride and selfishness. How much more the right hand! The Gospel moves the Christian to confess that pride. The Gospel sets the Christian free from that pride; free to serve. Free to work. Free even to play.

Lutherans hold to the Doctrine of Vocation. Set free by the Gospel the Christian works for the good of the neighbor. That holds just as true on the basket ball court as it does anywhere else. The game is not for glory to me, but for service to my neighbor; for the good of the team. When I finally figured this out, the doctrine of vocation actually made me a better player. It kept my head in the game. If I had the shot, I took it. Why? Because a good shot helps the team to win. If the other team was on a break away and someone needed to get back on defense, I did it for the good of the team. If I could make a pass that would set up a teammate, I looked to get them the ball. Why? Because I was set free my Old Adam who kept trying to get in my head to mess with my game.

Now, let’s be real. Coach Izzo probably doesn’t understand the doctrine of vocation. The Michigan State Spartans likely don’t understand the doctrine of vocation. But they played, not for themselves, but for the team. Kalin Lucas was on the bench with an Achilles tear. Chris Allen was on the bench with a sprain in the arch of his foot. The normal go to guys were out so Draymond Green stepped up for the team. Korie Lucious stepped up for the team.

Some people say doctrine is boring. Some people say doctrine is abstract and useless. Doctrine sets us free – not just in some intellectual and inaccessible sort of way, but in real, everyday life ways: in the work place, at home, and even on the basket ball court.

Chasing Sheep

I suppose its true in any other profession, but it seems that pastors are good at professional one-up-manship. Pastors like to tell tales about the stuff they have going at their parish; building programs, stewardship, average worship attendance, etc. etc. etc. It is easy (for me anyway) to come away thinking that I need to get moving and make my congregation more like theirs.

It is way too easy to get sucked in.

I was recently reading on a friend's blog a posting by Matt Harrison (find it here) and discovered a quote that I found both inspiring and at the same time helpful.

Our vocation is not to save the ninety-nine, but to seek the one. One at a time. One here and one there. One child cared for. One person nursed to health. One life saved. One hurting soul comforted with the name of Jesus. One man loved. Our vocation is not to change Haiti, or to change the whole world, or to change the economic realities with which Haitians wrestle. Our vocation is to act and make a life-changing difference one at a time. And acting one at a time, we find that over some hours, over a few days, and over a couple of weeks, the flock of those helped in the name of Jesus has grown to be surprisingly large.

Pastor Harrison is talking about the parable of the Lost Sheep from John 15 and applying it to the needs of the people in Haiti following their devastating earth quake. He points out that Jesus went after the one. One at a time. One by one. This has been for me a profound insight.

There is always that pressure to be the church that has the budget surplus, that has the great attendance, that has the busting-at-the-seems programs. (I suppose I might confess it is easy to covet...) So churches always try to become this by implementing policies and adopting programs. "If they haven't attended in 3 years, drop them from the roles." "Let's write a series of form letters." "Let's hire a consultant to tell us how we can fix ourselves." These things don't work, or if they do work they have worked the wrong thing. Faithful pastoring doesn't mean you have budget surpluses and rear ends in the pews. It means that you preach God's Word; law and gospel. Week in and week out. And, when necessary, one at a time.

Instead of cleaning up the roles, instead of lopping off the dead wood, I have resolved to seek one. Reach out to one with God's Word. Rightly divide it. Mercifully apply it. And who knows, maybe after a time the flock will have grown quite large.

Contemporary Worship and the Gospel of Relationship

I recently had the opportunity to attend the LCMS Model Theological Conference on Worship. During the conference there were a schedule of worship services that were intended to be examples of different styles of worship; the first was entirely traditional, the second was traditional liturgy accompanied by a praise band, the others began to rearrange portions of the liturgy, substitute custom elements for those prescribed by the hymnal combined with a greater array of contemporary worship songs.

As I was observing the different worship options, one thing that was pointed out (ironically by one who practices contemporary worship) was that during the traditional worship service the pastor was impersonal. The man and his personality were divested from the service. And, sure enough, as the contemporary worship forms were in use the personality of the pastor was on greater display.

This alerted me to an interesting reality; in classical Christian worship (ie. “traditional worship”) the personality of the pastor is muted. The man is there, but the personality of the man is inconsequential and it is unnecessary. What is important is that the man is present mainly to be the one who points the worshipers to Jesus. Who he is, how funny or clever he is, is ultimately of no effect. The thing that makes the worship service work has nothing to do with the man. It does have every thing to do with the Word. The man speaks the words and promises of Jesus. The man holds out the forgiveness of sins given by Jesus. The man is merely a vessel, empty and worthless except for the words given him by the Gospel.

Contrast this to contemporary worship. There is of course a continuum in place here, there are extremes. Let's consider Lakewood Christian in Houston an extreme. The thing that makes that worship work is the personality of the pastor. Joel Osteen's personality is fully on display. He is clever. He is witty. He tells stories from his own life, about his relationship with his wife, his children, his parents. His jokes and his stories draw the people in so that they are included in his life. Thus the effectiveness of the worship is directly connected to his personal life. The personality of Joel is the key for making the whole experience work.

In former posts I have mentioned what has been termed a “gospel of relationship”. As I have defined this “gospel”, one thing it does is reduce the Christian life to a relationship. The gospel takes on less of the character of forgiveness and instead is defined according to relational categories. It is emotive (a feeling), it is subjective, it is personal to an extreme. Jesus is discussed as a friend or even a lover, God is a daddy, the Holy Spirit is sensory.

If the gospel is truly reducible to "having a relationship with Jesus", it is then only subjective and relational. Therefore the entire worship service must be structured around those things that are subjective and relational. Take, for example the music. The music style is akin to the genre of the rock ballad, a genre that communicates feelings and ideas of love to the listener. The lyrics of the songs fall in step so that they carry the freight of a love songs to Jesus. (I could swap out the name “Jesus” for the name of my wife in many of the songs and sing it to her without changing anything else). Often during times of prayer there is “mood music” softly playing in the background. Many of the sermon topics have to do with either your “relationship” to Jesus or you relationship to your spouse or to someone else (eg. “Making Your Marriage Work", "Christians and Sex", etc.).

Very often, the pastor and his personality is the lynch pin. If the pastor is clever, funny, if he knows how to work the crowd, then the service works. People are attracted, seekers come to check it out and then come back in the following weeks. It is not enough for the pastor to simply point the way to Jesus and His objective means of forgiveness, the pastor has to be a performer and an entertainer.

Perhaps this is why there is so often an awkwardness to Lutheran contemporary worship. The forms don't fit together. In Classical Lutheran worship the pastor is a vehicle. The personality of the pastor can get lost in the liturgy because Christians haven't come to see the pastor. They have come to see Jesus. Granted, Jesus is hidden. He hides himself in the Word. He hides himself in, with, and under the bread and the wine. He hides himself in the proclamation of the absolution. But that is where Jesus is. Evangelical worship denies that Jesus actually and physically arrives when Christians gather to worship, so there is the need to conjure him up. Ambiance created through the right music, the quick wit and appropriately timed jokes of a clever pastor provides just the right stuff to set the mood for the romance with Jesus to begin.

Baptism vs Pietistic Self Delusions

I recently learned of the infidelity of a former colleague. I am troubled by the news - both out of heartfelt love and concern for my friend, and also because of the dishonor done to Christ and His preaching office. The damage on both counts is great and I mourn the loss.

When we learn of such infidelity, there is always the temptation for judgment. We pretend that we know better. We tell ourselves we would never do that. We pretentiously select the character flaw that we assume contributed to their demise. This is naive and unrealistic. Sinners fall into sin because they are sinners. And we are all sinners. Any one of us could just as easily fall into the same sin at a given moment. After all, who among us has not felt in some moment of weakness the bitterness of life and its great pressures weighing heavily on us? Who among us might not have fallen at that moment had the opportunity presented itself? It is only the grace and mercy of God that preserves any one of us from duplicating these sins. Such occasion calls each of us to repent and beg the Lord for mercy.

While we are foolish to pretend to offer explanations, what is of concern is that there often seems to be an influence of pietism on such situations. Pietism has at its heart the notion that the individual is and can be better than they are. Pietism promotes a self-delusion of personal righteousness that one must hold on to at all costs. Because pietism is built on your moral improvement you have to hold out for your own goodness, you have to pretend on the surface that you are "pulling it off", that you are living the Christian life, that you are an example for everyone else to follow. As a result, pietism forces us to overlook the sin that lurks within.

Pretending we are righteous doesn't make the Old Adam go away. He's still there, still lurking in the shadows. Still waiting for his opportunity to get out and do exactly the sin he has been scheming. Pietism overlooks that Old Adam. It pretends he isn't' there, that he has gone, that we have wrestled him away. But then, when the moment of weakness arrives, the old man is provided with just the opportunity he needs to sneak out and surprise us with what we should have seen coming.

The only antidote against sin is the gospel. Confession and absolution. Daily drownings in the waters of baptism. Paul commands us to shine the light of God's Word into the deep, dark places of our hearts and walk as children of light (Ephesians 5). Covering up the sin in a pietistic self delusion won't due. Only turning the bright light of God's Word into our hearts can expose that sin so that we acknowledge it, confess it, and are absolved from it. The sinner does not have the strength to overcome his sin. The sinner needs Jesus!

The only confidence we can have is in the grace and mercy of Jesus. For all those who have fallen, there is the promise that He will not hold their sins against them. "Though their sins be as scarlet, yet they will be whiter than snow." For those of us who have been preserved from such a fall, the only confidence is Jesus - in turning our hearts in confession and repentance to Him and daily living in the forgiveness that He provides in His means of grace.

Lord Jesus, may the New Man of my baptism spring to life again today as I confess my sin to you. Amen.

The Love of Money

“What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet loses his soul?
Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:26

A few years ago, Americans were collectively outraged when the corporate fat cats of Enron made off with millions from a company they had run into the ground while their loyal and hardworking employees suffered the loss of pension and livelihood. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. The government's prosecution of these corporate scoundrels provided what we all knew that justice demands.

While we all could smell the rat in the Enron scandal, we tend to believe our own stew has a less pungent odor. We tell ourselves, “I haven't stolen anything.” “I haven't cheated anyone.” Perhaps not, but the greed that moves the executive to swindle and the thief to steal is the same greed that cools our hearts with a love of money and possessions. “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil,” writes the Apostle Paul.(1Timothy 6:10) He is proven right from the scandals made public in the news and in the scandals that live on privately in our own hearts.

Jesus had it right. “A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15) Of what then does life consist? What is it that gives life value? Again, Jesus has the answer. “Do not seek food, clothes, what you will eat or drink... Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”

It is the Kingdom of God! A kingdom that does not decay, that won't grow old, that won't wear out, that won't need to be replenished or replaced. God's kingdom is eternal. God's kingdom will be going strong long after the polish has worn off the Rolls Royce and long after the Rolex has stopped counting time. God's kingdom is forever.

But what of that justice? If the Enron execs got what they deserved for their greed, what about us? What is the cost for our sins? Higher than we can pay. It's one thing to sin against your neighbor, it's quite another to sin against God. You can pay off your neighbor and make that right. But you can never pay off God.

So God paid for us what we could not pay. “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1Peter 1:18-19) God sent Jesus, his own son, to die in our place, to pay our debt for our guilt so that we could inherit the kingdom of God.

How's that for a return on an investment! We put in nothing but our sin. We receive in return the riches of heaven. It's hard to imagine. But that is God's gift to us.

Worth a Listen!

In a former post I referenced an excerpt from At Home in the House of Our Fathers by Matt Harrison. The essay referenced in now available in mp3 format, as well as several others from the book at the It is Time website. The referenced essay is available below. Click the link to hear the rest!