21^st Century Mission Affirmations

For pastoral and congregational study

and suggested changes

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The Church Is God’s Mission
RESOLUTION A

WHEREAS,

The Father sent forth His Word to create and preserve the world; and

WHEREAS, Upon humankind’s revolt the Father sent His Son into the world to redeem the world; and

WHEREAS, The Son in obedience to his Father’s commission laid aside his glory, became a human, and died on the cross to reconcile all things unto God; and

WHEREAS, The risen and victorious Lord sent forth his church on his mission when Christ appeared to His disciples on the day of resurrection, declaring: “Peace be unto you; as My Father has sent Me, even so send I you”; and

WHEREAS, The Father and the Son together sent the Holy Spirit into the world as the great Missionary until our Lord’s return; therefore be it:

Resolved, That we affirm in faith, humility, and joy that the mission is the God’s; God is the great Doer and Sender; and be it further

Resolved, That we affirm that the mission is not an optional activity in the church, but the church is caught up in the manifold and dynamic mission of God; and be it further

Resolved, That we thank the Lord of the church for all the ways in which He has graciously used us and our church body in his mission, blessing us and making us a blessing unto many; and be it further

Resolved, That we repent of our individual and corporate self-centeredness and disobedience, whenever it has caused us to regard our local congregations or our Synod or Churchwide as ends in themselves and moved us to give self-preservation priority over God’s mission; and be it finally

Resolved, That we affirm that the church is God’s mission. The church’s ministries of worship, service, fellowship, and nurture all have a missionary dimension. We rejoice that for Christ’s sake God forgives us our sins of self-centered disobedience, and we place ourselves, our congregations, our Synod, and Churchwide into God’s loving hands as willing instruments of God’s great mission to the world.

The Church Is Christ’s Mission to the Whole World

RESOLUTION B

WHEREAS, God so loved the world that God gave God’s only-begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life; and

WHEREAS, Christ has sent His disciples out into all the world, saying: “Go and make disciples of all nations”; therefore be it

Resolved, That we affirm that the church is Christ’s mission to the whole world. Christians will approach people of other faiths in humility and love. They joyfully acknowledge that God is active in the lives of all people through God’s continued creative and providential concern, through the Law written in their hearts, and through God’s revelation in creation and nature. Christians affirm a common humanity with all. They confess a common sinfulness. They rejoice over a universal redemption won for all in Jesus Christ; and be it further

Resolved, That we re-consecrate ourselves with everything we are and have to the task of witnessing Christ in deed and word to all the world, thankfully making full use also of the latest media tools which God is offering to the church through science and technology to address the many crises of this age and be it further

Resolved, That in the face of the great unfinished task we rejoice over all faithful Christian efforts to witness Christ to all the world; and be it finally

Resolved, That we continue to companion with sister churches that have been placed by God into other contexts as partners in God’s mission to the whole world.

The Church Is Christ’s Mission to the Church
RESOLUTION C

 WHEREAS, Every Christian by virtue of the saving faith which the Holy Spirit creates in his heart is bound to Christ and enters into a real and living unity with every other member of Christ’s holy body, the church; and

WHEREAS, The same Word of Christ that bids Christians to go and teach all nations also instructs them to teach their fellow Christians all things whatsoever Christ has commanded them; therefore be it

Resolved, That we affirm as Lutheran Christians that the Evangelical Lutheran Church is chiefly a confessional movement within the total body of Christ rather than a denomination.  The Lutheran Christian uses the Lutheran Confessions for the primary purpose for which they were framed: to confess Christ and his Gospel boldly and lovingly to all Christians. and be it further

Resolved, That we affirm that the church is Christ’s mission to the church. In response to Christ High Priestly Prayer: “That they be one” we will continue to deepen our relationships with our ecumenical partners and consolidate mission efforts based on local contexts and needs and be it further

Resolved, That we affirm that because the church is Christ’s mission to the church, Christians should speak the Word of God to one another as they nurture, edify, and educate one another for Christian faith and life. Therefore we value our strong tradition of Christian higher education and seek to extend it throughout life, for laity and clergy. Far from employing agencies of Christian education primarily in our own institutional self-interest, we will endeavor to make them ever more effective tools in equipping God’s people for God’s mission.

The Church Is Christ’s Mission to the Whole Society

RESOLUTION - D

WHEREAS, Jesus Christ is Lord of all the world and in every area of life; and

WHEREAS, The Christian recognizes no area of life that may be termed “secular” in the sense that it is removed from the lordship of Jesus Christ, though it may not be under the control of the institutional church; and

WHEREAS, The Christian does God’s work in the world through various vocations in the home, church, and state as distinguished by Dr. Martin Luther; therefore be it

Resolved, That we affirm that the church is Christ’s mission to the whole society; and be it further

Resolved, That we recognize the difficulty of understanding in every instance whether God desires Christians to act corporately or individually or both in God’s mission to the whole society; they will, however, seek God’s will through prayer and mutual study; and be it further

Resolved, That Christians be exhorted to serve God in every honest occupation, recognizing that all of life is the arena of a Christian’s ministry to humankind; and be it further

Resolved, That Christians be encouraged to seek the peace of the city, as God commands, working together with their fellow citizens of the nation and of the world, whatever their race, class, or belief; and be it finally

Resolved, That Christians be encouraged as they attempt, under the judgment and forgiveness of God, to discover and further God’s good purposes in every area of life, to extend justice, social acceptance, and a full share in God’s bounty to all people who are discriminated against and oppressed by reason of race, class, creed, sexual orientation, or other unwarranted distinctions. Christians recognize that all people are created in God’s image and that Christ’s nail-pierced hands reach out in love to all of them.

The Church Is Christ’s Mission to the Whole Person

RESOLUTION - E

WHEREAS, The Scriptures teach us that God’s love reaches out to the whole person, for God the Father lovingly creates and preserves all; the Son redeemed us in body, soul, and mind; the Holy Spirit brings us to faith and moves him to use body, soul, and mind in God’s great mission; and

 WHEREAS, Christ became human and ministered to the needs of the whole person, forgiving sins, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and even providing wine for a marriage feast; and

WHEREAS, Christ at his return will solemnly report whether or not we fed, clothed, and visited him in the least of the hungry, naked, and forsaken; therefore be it

Resolved, That we affirm that the church is God’s mission to the whole person. Following the Judeo-Christian mandate to love one’s neighbor Christians seek the welfare of the whole person following these words attributed to St. Francis: “Preach the Gospel, if necessary use words.” Therefore Christians, individually and corporately, prayerfully seek to serve the needs of the total person. Christians bring the Good News of the living Christ to the dying. They bring instruction in all useful knowledge. They help and befriend their neighbor on our small planet in every bodily need. They help their neighbor to improve and protect his/her property and business by bringing him/her economic help and enabling him/her to earn his/her daily bread in dignity and self-respect. Christians minister to the needs of the whole person, not because they have forgotten the witness of the Gospel but because they remember it. They know that the demonstration of their faith in Christ adds power to its proclamation.

The Whole Church Is Christ’s Mission

RESOLUTION - F

WHEREAS, Every Christian is commissioned a missionary through baptism, for through the selfsame water and Word the Holy Spirit makes us both God’s children and witnesses to the world when he says: “Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you”; and

WHEREAS, All who are baptized into Christ are baptized into his death and resurrection, into his mission, and into his body; therefore be it

Resolved, That we affirm that the whole church is Christ’s mission. Therefore we deplore anything that seeks to divide what God has joined together. We deplore the clericalism that views a congregation primarily as God’s instrument to sustain the ordained ministry, thus smothering the diverse gifts of the Holy Spirit to God’s people.

Equally we deplore the laicism that chafes under the shepherding by which a loving God seeks to equip his children for his mission. We deplore the racism which refuses to repent of its sin and denies the unity of all Christians in Christ and his mission. We deplore the desecration of Christianity by the multiplication of sects as though the Gospel were a religion of human design instead of God’s outreach to all in the giving of himself. The divisions in the institutional church are as real as the unity in Christ’s body which joins all Christians together.

We deplore the wars and political struggles that set Christians and other people in one nation against those in another. We deplore the hateful rhetoric and the divisive disinformation in our nation.

We recognize that the Christian lives in the tension between his/her own imperfect understanding of God’s truth and his/her knowledge that in spite of errors and divisions he/she is joined together in Christ’s body with all who truly believe in its Head. The Christian lives in the tension between Christ’s lordship, which is perfect, and his/her own discipleship, which is not. The Christian rejoices over the existence of every believer in Christ, because thereby Christ is preached and his mission is implemented, for the whole church is Christ’s mission.

Submitted by:

Rev. Kenneth R. Storck

October 30, 2022

 

Adapted from The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod’s 1965 Mission Affirmations