Together We
Can Be God’s Instruments
in Leading
More Souls to Christ
The
following excerpts are from a speech delivered by Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod President Gerald B. Kieschnick on
September 18, 2004 in St. Louis.
Speaking
to 187 newly installed officers representing twenty-two
boards, commissions and entities of The Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod (67 more than the 120 disciples gathered
in Jerusalem for Pentecost in A.D. 33), President Gerald
Kieschnick acknowledged disharmony in our church body but
said, “I know that we want to do better than this . . . and
I believe with all my heart that we can!”
Pledging
to work with all synodical leaders, Kieschnick said, “I
intend to help create an atmosphere in which we can discuss
our differences–frankly and productively–and bring these
differences to God-pleasing resolution. I believe we can do
this while working toward the same vision: being God’s
instruments in leading more souls to Christ.”
Power
to Turn the World Upside Down
Kieschnick’s
remarks made it clear that harmony is not the ultimate goal;
harmony is the means to a greater end: Having the spiritual
energy and courage to push out into a big “world in
desperate need of the Good News, yet at the same time often
hostile to it.” “There was something remarkable about these first
Christians in the cradle days of the Christian church. They
did almost everything together. . . . They were truly one
people, with one mission.” Over and over again, in larger and larger concentric circles,
the critical event occurred. “It happens when a
Christian tells a non-Christian or a lapsed Christian that God
came in the flesh to live and die for him that he might be
forgiven and have eternal life.”
“The
impact of these early Christians was enormous. . . Because the
followers of Jesus lived out their faith, the culture around
them was gradually reshaped to conform to the Master.”
What
did God accomplish through
that tiny band of one people with one mission
and one message?
·
Early Christians rescued unwanted babies,
founding orphanages
·
They took the sick into their homes and later
established hospitals
·
They were responsible for the emancipation of
women, the abolition of slavery and the founding of colleges
and universities
·
They had a profound effect on art, architecture,
music and literature
It
Sounds Harsh and Politically Incorrect
Most
important of all, the early believers shared the Gospel! So
must we! While acknowledging that it sounds harsh and
politically incorrect to say it, “say it we must: Those who
don’t come to faith in Jesus Christ and embrace Him as their
Savior and Redeemer are on their way to eternal destruction. .
. I don’t want to see that happen. . . . I love America, and
I love the American people–even those who may not seem very
lovable some of the time.”
Our
21st Century Frontier
What
we face today, said Kieschnick, “is a frontier not unlike
that confronted by our spiritual forebears in First Century
Jerusalem. It is characterized by people whose attitude toward
the Good News of Jesus is often cynical, hostile or, perhaps
worst of all, indifferent.” This frontier includes:
·
Islamic terrorism, barbarism and cruelty
·
culture wars in our own country–pervasive
infatuation with non-Christian philosophies that leave many
Americans unable to know right from wrong
·
Post-modern rejection of any absolute truth,
branding as “arrogant” and “intolerant” any
suggestions that your world-view, your set of value, your
religion is any better than someone else’s
“In
all this we see in America the Christian church being
nudged–you might even say shoved–to the sidelines.”
Shall we, like other churches, bend ourselves “into a
pretzel to accommodate the beliefs, values and practices of
the day”?
A
Double Goal
What
should we do? “We
must push into the frontier and establish more mission
outposts! Every congregation must see itself as an outpost on
the new frontier. . . If only one-third of our current
congregations, working with Districts and perhaps other
congregations, would raise the Christian flag over one new
outpost within the next 10 to 15 years, we’d have 2000 new
congregations by 2017.
“The
other goal . . . is equally ambitious but nonetheless doable
with God’s help: working with our brothers and sisters in
Christ in our 29 partner churches around the globe to reach
100 million people worldwide with the Gospel by 2017.”
“The
Gospel was no more acceptable in the First Century than it is
today. . . . Our passion for evangelism rises from the
conviction that the Gospel ‘is the power of God for the
salvation of everyone who believes’ (Romans 1:16). This
conviction of the uniqueness and transforming power of Jesus
Christ is what motivated those First Century Christians to
cross barriers–cultural, linguistic, geographic
barriers–to offer their lives in self-giving service to
their fellow men and women. Now it’s our turn.
Not
Passed on in the Bloodstream
“Former
President Ronald Reagan once said about freedom in this
country, ‘Freedom is never more than one generation away
from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the
bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on
for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset
years telling our children and our children’s children what
it was once like in the United States where men were free.’
“Just
like freedom, the faith is not passed on in the bloodstream.
We must contend for the faith and pass it on to the next
generation in this new frontier.
“It
is time for The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to be
transformed by the renewing of our minds and the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit. We need synodical solidarity in the big
things. And the big things are the one mission, the one
message and the need to work together as one people.
“This
is not a one-man job. I need your help. I will try to
encourage you. And I need your encouragement. I will seek to
provide resources. And I will need your help in that too. I
will be your brother. And I need you to band with me as
my brother and my sisters. You can count on me. I pray and
trust that I can count on you.”
