The Authority of the Church in the World:  A United Church of Christ Perspective, Rev. Dr. Susan E. Davies
 

The Authority of the Church in the World: Theological Principles and Practical Considerations from the Perspective of
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Dr. Joel D. Lehenbauer
Associate Executive Director, Commission on Theology and Church Relations, LCMS  

The question of “the authority of the church in the world” begs the question of the authority of the church as church.  What is this authority?  On what basis does the church presume the right or responsibility to speak “authoritatively” in any context?  

The parting words of Jesus to his disciples at the end of Matthew’s Gospel help to position us for proper reflection on these questions.  “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” says Jesus.  “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age,” (Matt. 28:18-20). 

These words of Jesus make it clear, first of all, that when we speak of “the authority of the church” we are always speaking of a derived authority.  Any and all authority that the church possesses or exercises is authority that has been given to it by the co-creator of heaven and earth and the Lord of the church, Jesus Christ.  Second, the authority given by Jesus to the church in Matthew 28:18-20 (and similar passages in the New Testament) is a very specific kind of authority, to be used in a very specific way.  This is what I am giving you the authority to do, says Jesus: make disciples of all nations, by baptizing in the name of the Triune God and teaching those who wish to follow me to observe everything I have commanded.  Similarly, in John 20:21-23, Jesus breathes on his disciples and says: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you…Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”   

Two Kinds of Authority

Lutheran theology emphasizes the importance of distinguishing clearly and carefully between the unique authority that God has given to his church on earth—the authority to baptize, preach the Gospel, teach his Word, and bind and loose sins in Christ’s name—and all other kinds of authority.  In this connection, Lutherans have found it helpful to speak specifically of two kinds of authority through which God works in the world in different ways and for different purposes.   

St. Paul refers explicitly to “the governing authorities” when he says that “there is no authority except that which God has established.  The authorities that exist have been established by God,” (Rom. 13:1).  God himself, Lutherans believe, is mercifully at work in this world through the (fallen and imperfect) structures of temporal authority in the civil realm.  God works through these earthly authorities (as through “masks,” to use Luther’s imagery) to provide and maintain some measure of the peace, stability and justice that are necessary for people to live in community in this world.  These authorities are under obligation as “God’s servants” to reward those who “do right” and to punish those who “do wrong” in the civil realm (Rom. 13:3-5).  Although this kind of authority is often viewed and used wrongly in this sinful world (by “rulers” and “subjects” alike), it is (in and of itself) a great gift and blessing of God.  It is not, however, the unique authority that Christ has entrusted to his church in the world.    

The unique authority given by Christ to the church is the authority spoken of in passages like Matthew 28:18-20 and John 20:21-23, namely (in the words of the Augsburg Confession) the “power and command of God to preach the gospel, to forgive and retain sins, and to administer and distribute the sacraments.”  “Temporal authority is concerned with matters altogether different from the Gospel.  Temporal power does not protect the soul, but with the sword and physical penalties it protects the body and goods from the power of others.” “The Gospel,” on the other hand, “protects souls from heresies, the devil, and eternal death.” [1]  

Therefore, the two authorities, the spiritual and the temporal, are not to be mingled or confused, for the spiritual power has its commission to preach the Gospel and administer the sacraments.  Hence it should not invade the function of the other, should not set up and depose kings, should not annul temporal laws or undermine obedience to government, should not make or prescribe to the temporal power laws concerning worldly matters.[2]   

While Lutherans “distinguish the two authorities and the functions of the two powers,” they also urge “that both be held in honor as the highest gifts of God on earth.”[3] 

The history of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) gives evidence of its concern not to “mingle or confuse” the distinct kinds of authority that God has given to civil government (sometimes called God’s “left-hand” realm or rule) and to the church (God’s “right-hand” realm or rule).  As a church body, the LCMS has been noticeably (and intentionally) reticent about speaking directly and authoritatively on social, moral, or political matters that seem to belong more properly in the realm of civil government.  Its primary way of speaking authoritatively in and to the world has been to focus on the unique authority given to the church by her Lord: the authority to make disciples of all nations by baptizing, preaching and teaching; the authority to proclaim God’s law and Gospel in the name and by the authority of Christ himself, so that all might repent and receive the forgiveness obtained for the whole world by his life, death and resurrection; the authority to seek to “strengthen congregations and their members in giving bold witness by word and deed to the love and work of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and extend that Gospel witness into all the world.”[4] 

The Church’s Twofold Gospel Witness in and to the World

This is not, however, the last (or only) word of the LCMS on the subject of “the authority of the church in the world.”  The LCMS has always recognized, first of all, that the “Gospel witness” that the church seeks to extend “into all the world” by Christ’s own authority is a witness that issues forth in both “word and deed.”   

                In grateful response to God’s grace and empowered by the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacraments, the mission of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is vigorously to make known the love of Christ by word and deed within our churches, communities and world. (LCMS Mission Statement, 2004 Handbook, 10; emphasis added) 

The LCMS strongly emphasizes, on the one hand, that  

                …the church lives and is nourished by the Gospel of Christ alone; it is first and foremost an assembly of believers gathered under the cross around the Word and sacraments that create faith and sustain their common life; it calls all people to share in that common life within the body of Christ; nothing must be allowed to dislodge the Gospel which makes Christ present from its central place in the church’s mission. (Faith Active in Love: Human Care in the Church’s Life, A Report of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (February 1999), 30) 

At the same time, it recognizes that   

                …faith created by the Gospel is active in love, and love in turn seeks to respond to human need.  Recognizing this, the church in its communal dimension in society cannot ignore—and indeed has not ignored—opportunities to organize for Christian care.  Christian care that serves neighbors in need—both the brother and sister within the Christian community and the stranger, or even the enemy whom we are called to love and serve—is inevitably present in the common life of Christ’s body. (Faith Active in Love: Human Care in the Church’s Life, A Report of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (February 1999), 30) 

Both Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions make it abundantly clear that Christians who seek to be faithful to Christ’s mandate to “observe everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20) “will leaven the whole social loaf in which they find themselves by practicing a faith active in love.”[5]   

                Love, care and concern for those in need are actions motivated by the gospel, when faith apprehends the righteousness of Christ and his merits…. Love for the neighbor, while an action mandated by the law of God, is a reflection of the very being of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (1 John 4:7)…. Christ’s mandate and example of love for the whole person remains our supreme example for life in this world, and for care of the needy, body and soul. (“Theology for Mercy,” A Statement of LCMS World Relief and Human Care (2004), 4) 

Accordingly, fourth in a list of ten constitutional “objectives” of the LCMS is to “provide opportunities through which its members may express their Christian concern, love, and compassion in meeting human needs.”[6]  Furthermore,  

                The vocation to mercy is addressed to the church at all levels.  The vocation to diakonic love and mercy is as broad as the need of the neighbor (Luther).  While the call to love the needy applies to Christian individuals as such (love your neighbor as yourself), the call to diakonic mercy is particularly addressed to Christians as a corporate community (church!), whether local or synodical or even national or international (1 Cor. 16:1-4; Acts 11:28; Rom. 15:26; 2 Cor. 8:1-15; Acts 24:17). (“Theology for Mercy,” 5) 

Two Hands—One God

The LCMS also recognizes, secondly, that although God works in different ways,  through different means, and for different purposes when he uses one or the other of his “two hands” (the “left hand” of temporal authority and/or the “right hand” of spiritual authority), both of these hands belong to the same loving and caring God.[7]  While it is essential to distinguish between these two kinds of authority, therefore (and between the unique and primary responsibilities that accompany these two kinds of authority), it is also crucial not to separate them—as if to suggest that God’s work in the left-hand realm has nothing at all to do with his work in the right-hand realm (or vice-versa).  

When the church fails to properly distinguish God’s work in the two realms it runs the risk of “dislodging the Gospel…from its central place in the church’s mission.”[8]  In such cases the Gospel can be supplanted by social and political endeavors that (while perhaps well-intended and even essential) do not constitute the church’s unique calling and authority entrusted to it by Christ himself.  When the church separates God’s work in the two realms it runs the risk of succumbing to a kind of social or political quietism that fails to take seriously the church’s God-given responsibility to speak prophetically in and to the world (e.g., Is. 3:14-15; Jer. 5:26-28; Hos. 6:6; Amos 8:1-7), and to remind the civil government (whatever form it may take) of its own essential and God-given responsibilities in the world.   

In a report titled Render Unto Caesar…and Unto God: A Lutheran View of Church and State, the Synod’s Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) offers guidance for avoiding both of these extremes on the basis of the historic Lutheran understanding of the twofold rule of God as summarized above.  The discussion that follows is drawn largely from this report as a way of outlining the practical implications of the Lutheran understanding of the two kinds of authority for the church’s speaking in and to the world on issues of moral and social concern.[9] 

The Church’s Message: Principles, Purposes, Priorities and Prudence

When it comes to the church’s “public message” in a given context, questions must be raised first of all about the principles underlying this message.  “Is the message concerned with spiritual righteousness or with civil righteousness?  Is it focused on sin and grace or on the neighbor and social justice?  Is it grounded in the revelation of God in Christ or in human reason and natural law as well?” [10]  While the LCMS regards Holy Scripture as “the only rule and norm of faith and of practice”[11] for the church, it also recognizes that “the normative principles of the civil order are reason and justice.”   Thus, “when speaking to different audiences, the church’s message must be sensitive to the biblical principles that are most appropriate to each audience.”[12]  

Lutherans are well-known for their emphasis on the proper distinction between law and Gospel, but ecclesial speech in the public realm also involves distinguishing between the various uses and purposes of God’s law.  The church’s primary purpose in proclaiming God’s law is to bring sinners to repentance so they may hear and receive Christ’s forgiveness, but the law (which can be perceived to some extent by all people—Rom. 2:14-15) can also be spoken by the church for more general purposes: e.g., “to restrain harmful behavior and enhance our life in a fallen world.”  “Speech to the government regarding sinful behavior,” suggests the report, “is less appropriate than speech regarding the social consequences of sinful behavior,” even though (obviously) “there is a profound connection” between the two.[13] 

The issue of priorities must also be considered in the church’s speaking publicly on moral and social issues.  “The church simply cannot speak with equal effectiveness to all human concerns.  To say that all human needs are equally important is simply an evasion of the prioritizing that human life (and Christian stewardship) requires.”[14]  Finally, there is the issue of prudence.  Here the Commission commends an axiom suggested to it by Richard John Neuhaus:  “When it is not necessary for the church to speak, it is necessary for the church not to speak.”[15]  

The Church as Messenger

Consideration of the church as “messenger” involves the recognition that there is more than one way of viewing the church as it exists in the world.  Lutherans define the church principally and theologically as “the assembly of all believers among whom the Gospel is preached in its purity and the holy sacraments are administered according to the Gospel.”[16]  “But the church is also a social organization—in the Missouri Synod, congregations, districts and Synod.”[17]  As a legal and social entity in the world, the church has certain institutional interests and concerns that may well require public speech and action.  In addition: 

                Between these two understandings of church…lie individual Christians pursuing their vocations (“callings”) to serve God in all things…. Here there are numerous social concerns: for civil and human rights, for economic and political justice, for world peace, and so on.  And Christians must address these subjects in order to avoid the kind of social quietism that resulted in the submission to Naziism of the German churches.  But this understanding of church actually involves an intersection of the two kingdoms, because it is the individual Christian who lives simultaneously in both kingdoms. (Render Unto Caesar...and Unto God: A Lutheran View of Church and State, A Report of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (September 1995), 66)

The LCMS also recognizes the value of various “mediating structures” in society (e.g., public interest groups and para-church ministries), through which “Christian citizens can work together on common social concerns with non-Christians as well as Christians outside their church body—and can even work against fellow Christians of the same denomination—without their church body itself entering into much potentially destructive conflict.”[18] 

The Means of Delivering the Message

In its discussion of the various “means” through which the church speaks to (and seeks to influence) the culture, society and government in which it exists, the report draws on the work of Robert Benne, who has described four possible “connections” between the institutional church and the wider “political” world.  These connections are not precisely defined “categories,” nor are they mutually exclusive.  Most churches (including the LCMS) make use of several (if not all) of these means at various times and in various ways, sometimes with reference to the same moral or social issue. 

Historically, the LCMS has engaged predominately in what Benne calls “indirect and unintentional influence,” which “involves simply preaching and teaching the Word of God and trusting the Holy Spirit to work through that Word to shape the lives and characters of individual Christians who will, in turn, have a transforming affect upon the society in which they live.”[19]  Increasingly, however, as issues of concern have begun to receive greater attention within the church and in society, the Synod has felt compelled to engage in what Benne calls “indirect and intentional influence.”   Using this approach, the church seeks to influence society or government indirectly by speaking intentionally to its own members on issues of serious social or moral concern (e.g., racism, poverty, life concerns, etc.).  The historically “reticent” LCMS has even deemed it necessary in recent years to speak not only intentionally but also directly to those outside the church (“direct and intentional influence”) regarding certain issues (e.g., apartheid, same-sex unions; stem-cell research) that it “deemed to be of critical importance for the church’s life and work, its witness, or its own moral responsibility (as church) to seek and promote the welfare of the state and its citizens.”[20]   

Benne’s fourth means, “direct and intentional action,” has as its explicit goal “changing or effecting policy in the civil sphere.”[21]   “Rarely, if ever,” says the report—due to the Synod’s deep-seated convictions and concerns about the unique nature of the church’s authority and the primacy of the church’s Gospel-centered mission—has the LCMS ventured into this explicitly “activist” area.  Yet some issues—most noticeably the issue of abortion—have moved the Synod to act in some rather direct and intentional ways in the civil realm, not only because of the clarity with which (the LCMS believes) God’s Word addresses these issues, but also (in the case of an issue like abortion) because of “the state’s own God-given and self-professed (i.e., constitutional) responsibility to ensure the ‘right to life’ of its own citizens.”[22]   

Concluding Observations

Several points drawn primarily from the epilog of the CTCR’s report Render Unto Caesar (91-92) may serve to summarize considerations offered in this brief essay on “the authority of the church in the world” from the perspective of the LMCS.  

·         “The Law/Gospel distinction of Luther and the Lutheran Church”—along with the distinction between the two kinds of authority—helps us to see that “the primary concern of the church must always be the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins, for Christ’s sake, through faith alone.  From this perspective, the church speaks most appropriately through the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments.  While this is certainly ‘public’ speech, it is also spiritually persuasive, rather than temporarily coercive, for it is addressed to those with ‘ears to hear’ (Matt. 11:15; cf. 13:11-17).”  Simply by “being the church” and doing what only the church has been given the authority to do—preaching the Gospel, administering the sacraments, living holy, Christ-like lives of love and forgiveness—the church serves as a powerful and counter-cultural witness in and to a watching world. 

·         “The church reaches out with the love of God for a suffering world primarily through the words and deeds of its members.  From this perspective, the church speaks most appropriately”—and perhaps most effectively—“through the voices of Christian citizens, as they participate in the political pursuit of liberty and justice for all.”  As noted above, however, the church also clearly has “a corporate life of mercy,”[23] which includes the responsibility to speak publicly and corporately at times on issues of grave moral and social concern to both the church and the world.  

·         When the church does feel compelled to address itself to the world regarding such issues, it is critical that there be “a clear process by which the institutional church may speak and accountability for that speaking,” together with the exercise of discretion and “self-restraint” so that the primary mission of the church is not displaced or undermined. 

·         “That the church must speak the Word of God to the various crises of contemporary human existence is self-evident.  But the complexities involved in such a simple assertion require that Christians pay close attention to their choice of message, messenger, and means.  Failure to do so will only compromise the deep moral conviction that emerges from the timeless Word of our everlastingly faithful God.”