Full Text for Confessing Christ: Office and Vocation (Text)
LOGIA ~JUL ;j 0 1998
A JOURNAL OF LUTHERAN THEOLOGY
HOLY TRINITY 1998 VOLUME VIi, NUMBER 3
CONTENTS
Correspondence .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Preface .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Inklings by Jim Wilson .................. ............................................................. ......................................................................................................... 4
ARTICLES
~ 'Or4/' .
Confessing Christ: Office and Vocation ,« .].t..f.
B N . h' M aki f i ,'(; 'ky aomlc 1 as .......................................................................................................·..·.·..·.....·.f'j':!S;....·..·....·...·.·.........··~· ........ ............... 5
Christ's Ambassadors: A Confessional Perspedive on the Missionary Office ofthe Church ,:~~ \::. ,
:'::~::::=::;;~;;:;~~;:~:;.:;~;=:;~~~.~:~~;..................................\~:::....:.......................;;,.)l-........ ...... ~
Analysis ofthe Spread of Christianity in the First Five Centuries "'':'\'~:5' "fi~\'Jr:{j:fl/
By Andrew Pfeiffer ........................................................................................................................................::.:.~:::~~~:'::.................................. 19
The Motivation for Lutheran Missiology
By Ralph Patrick .............................. ;................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Lutheran Missions Must Lead to Lutheratl Churches
By Matthew Harrison ..................... .......... ..... ..... ..... ..... ........ ......................... ....................... .............. .............. ... ........... ................................... 29
How Are They to Believe? Romans 10:14-15 in the Light ofthe Lutheran Confessions
By Jonathan Lange ....................... ..... ....................................................................................................................... ..... ...................................... 35
A Call for Manuscripts ........ ................................................................ ..................... ..................................................................... ....... ............... 43
The Borga (Porvoo) "Common Statement"
By Tom G. A. Hardt ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 45
The Question ofthe Church's Unity on the Mission Field
By Hermann Sasse ........... ............. .......... ... ....... ... ........................................ ............ ........... .......................... ...................................................... 53
REVIEWS .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 61
REVIEW ESSAY; Church under the Pressure ofStalinism: The Development ofthe Status and Activities ofthe Soviet Latvian
Evangelical-Lutheran Church in 1944 -1950. By Touko Talonen.
On Being a Theologian of the Cross: Reflections on Luther's Heidelberg Disputation, 151S. By Gerhard O. Forde.
Dining with the Devil: The Megacharch Movement Flirts with Modernity, By Os Guinness.
Galatians, Ephesians. By Armin 1, Panning. The People's Bible Series.
Welcome to Christ: Lutheran Rites for the Catechumenate. Edited by Paul Nelson, Frank Stoldt, Scott Weidler, and Lani Willis.
Women and Religion: The Original Sourcebook ofWomen in Christian Thought. Edited by Elizabeth A. Clark and Herbert Richardson.
Prince, People and Confession: The Second Reformation in Brandenberg. By Bodo Nischan.
Lord, Teach Us. By William H. Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas.
Lost Daughters. By Reinder Van Til. Foreword by Martin E. Marty.
BRIEFLY NOTED
LOGIA FORUM .................................................................................................................................................................................... 73
A Missionary Prayer • Disappearing Disciples • How Christians Look at Graves
Sacred Obstacles • Trivializing God • Pastoral Calls • Ecclesiastical Authority • Aesthetic Contradiction
Supermarket ofDesire • Luther Poster Available • The Fathers on Numbers • A Day's Journey into Nineveh
The Baptism of the Penguins • Anatomy ofa Takeover • The Hymnals of Unionism and Rationalism
Confessing Christ: Office and Vocation
NAOMICHI MASAKI
--~-------~----------- f:---------.-------
LONG WITH THE SLOGAN "everyone a minister;'l one may
encounter a similar phrase today: "Every Christian a mis
sionary." Yet is it biblically correct to say that every Christ
ian is being sent? By contrast, in the history of The Lutheran
Church- Missouri Synod missionaries have sometimes been
categorized within some auxiliary office to that of the holy min
istry. Thus one may ask: Is there such an office that may be called
"the office of the missionary"? And to probe yet more deeply: Are
missionaries not actually carrying out the apostolic office of the
holy ministry? These are the questions this article addresses.
"EVERY CHRISTIAN A MISSIONARY"
Where does the phrase "every Christian a missionary" come from?
There exists an extensive body of missiological literature where
this phrase can readily be found, both explicitly and implictly.2
Lutheran circles are no exception. For example, in his inaugural
speech for the Lutheran Society for Missiology, the Lutheran mis
siologist Eugene W. Bunkowske stated that the first of twelve such
trends is "a dawning realization that Christians should no longer
be divided up into 'sent ones' and 'receiving ones,' but rather that
all Christians are 'sent ones' (missionaries)."3 Several years later he
repeated the same thought, saying, "All are sent as messengers."
He sought to substantiate this point by providing some biblical
references given in a footnote, among them Ephesians 4:7-16;
Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:12-20; and Psalm 68:18.4
Another example comes from an official document from the
mission department of the LCMS by Robert Scudieri. There
the phrase "every Christian is a missionary" is introduced sim
ply as one of the "truths" related to the mission work in Amer
ica and is biblically referenced to Luke 24:46-47; Acts 8:1, 4;
and Acts 11:19-21.5 The use of this phrase in these examples gives
expression to good intentions, as it seeks to involve more people
in mission work. Like the slogan "everyone a minister;' however,
this phrase and its intent are not without theological problems.
THE BIBLICAL MOTIF OF SENDING
At first glance, one might notice that the proof-texts for the
word "missionary" or "sentness" above are the texts that speak
of the office of the holy ministry.6 The word "mission" comes
NAOMICHI MASAKI is a doctoral student at Concordia Seminary,
St. Louis, Missouri.
from the Latin words mitto ("to send") and missio (a sending or
being sent to do something somewhere else). These words are
used in such passages as John 17:8 and John.:2.9::2,1.!_w.J1icllPllt ~
i~t?_()l1g()j!ljL9pgIatiouJohn's.core theme of sending, heard
again in holy_ordi~~
sionary" should be reserved for the ordained missionaries who
are placed into the office of the holy ministry.43 This explanation
already implies the answer to our second question: Are mission
aries in the apostolic ministry? The answer that I submit is yes.
My observation is that the appearance of the phrase "every
Christian a missionary" is but another consequence and manifes
tation of the theology of mission that is shaped by un-Lutheran
presuppositions. The old enthusiastic, pietistic notion of "the less
distance between clergy and laity the better" should therefore not
be permitted to make its way into the church. Instead, a renewed
understanding of missions intrinsically connected to the office of
the holy ministry leads us to receive his gifts "without measure"
in the means ofgrace and so in the liturgy. The Lord gives his gifts
even more abundantly. His blessing thus moves us out into our
calling, where his gifts have their fruition.44 Thus, to paraphrase
Luther's words, "one is born to be priest, one becomes a mission
ary (a sent one)."45
To understand missions in the way of the office of the ministry
is thus to confess that the Father sent Jesus, committing everything
to the Son. This "sending" includes everything he did, his life, his
death, and his resurrection. God's Word must not be understood
except as having been sent.46 The Father speaks through the Son.
The words of Christ are those with which the Father has sent the
Son, words that are Spirit and truth On 3=34, 6:63,14:6). The Spirit
receives the words from Jesus, who breathes the Spirit and the
words into those whom he sends, to deliver those words which
give the forgiveness won by Jesus at Calvary, or to withhold that
forgiveness, "in the stead and by the command of the Lord Jesus
Christ" Un 20:10-23; SC v). Here any anthropocentric reference
point that may prompt uncertainty is excluded. It is as certain as
Christ our dear Lord dealing with us himself. How blessed we are
that we can today still hear viva vox evangelii (the living voice of
the gospel) through the men whom the Lord has sent, having put
them into the office of the holy ministry! I.'I.Ilm
Jesus Sending Forth the Apostles
From The New Testament: A Pictorial Archivefrom Nineteenth-Century Sources, Dover Publications, Inc, 1986.
This woodcut by W. J. Linton was reproduced from Cassell's fllustrated Family Bible from Matthew to Revelation, published about 1860.
10 LOGIA
NOTES
1. Oscar E. Feucht, Everyone a Minister (St. Louis: Concordia Pub
lishing House, 1974). Still today, this theme is frequently preached from
our pulpits. Many of our congregations' bulletin covers state: "Minis
ter-every member ofN. Evangelical Lutheran Church."
2. For example, one of the popular text books of missiology in our
seminaries, Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne, eds., Perspectives
on the World Christian Movement: A Reader (Pasadena, CA: William
Carey Library, 1981), contains "Everyone a missionary" (788-789).
3. Eugene W. Bunkowske, "Trends in Missiology Today," Missio
Apostolica 1, no. 1 (May 1993): 7. Trend Three states, "A growing move
ment toward energizing the 'priesthood of all believers' for dynamic,
while you live and work, mission outreach" (10). Not only does the
author misunderstand the doctrine of the priesthood ofall believers; his
wordings are law-oriented. Trend Six is "The realization that Spiritual
and Biblical formation is basic if mission outreach is to produce pro
ductive growth" (12). The author's explanation which follows has no
baptismal or sacramental grounding.
4. Eugene W. Bunkowske, "Mission Work: The Lutheran Way,"
Missio Apostolica 3, no. 2 (November 1995): 69. The biblical citations do
not speak about "sentness" of a Christian. This article concludes with a
very un-Lutheran, anthropocentric assertion: "The Christian can choose
to be an active or passive family member, a helpful or unhelpful messen
ger of that mission. Careless messengers can choose to neglect their God
given part in God's mission. They can choose not to participate. Or by
the power of God's Spirit, they can respond and participate as God's
effective and efficient means for getting the 'means ofgrace' to a world of
lost and dying people" (70).
5. Robert Scudieri, Strategy for North American Mission Fields
(November 27, 1997). The problematic in this document is the proce
dure. The author begins by describing the changing needs. Then as a
reaction he presents a "methodology" of future mission work in Amer
ica. The methodology is "Church Extension through Leadership Devel
opment," which is a modification of Carl George's meta-church model.
Not only does he misunderstand such passages as Acts 2:46, 5:42, 20:20
to mean "well known" home Bible study "in Scripture and early church
history" (7); a "worship service" is not to be started before the member
ship of the small groups exceeds one hundred (9). In contrast, Lutheran
missiology starts at the means of grace and the office of the holy min
istry (AC v). Since the how ofmaking disciples is already given (by bap
tizing and by teaching), the discussion should center on how to apply
the gifts to the given situations. The goal of the mission is not to make
small Bible study groups and train lay leaders, but rather preaching the
gospel and administering the sacraments (AC v).
6. Norbert H. Mueller and George Kraus, eds., Pastoral Theology (St.
Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1990), 233.
7. See the use of those Latin terms in Jobst Schoene, "Church and
Ministry: Part 11, Systematic Formulation," LOGIA 2 (Eastertide 1993): 38.
8. AE, 40: 213-214.
9. AC IV-V; Tr 26. Cf. AE, 41: 155, AE, 38: 200. Thus our observation:
before a man is put into the office, the office already exists {e.g., the way
Luke describes how Matthias was put into the Twelve. The historical
collect for St. Matthias day puts it beautifully: "Almighty God, who into
the place of the traitor Judas didst choose Thy faithful servant Matthias,
grant that Thy Church, ever being preserved from false apostles, may
continually abide in the doctrine of Thy true Apostles; through Jesus
Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth ..." (TLH, p. 90).
Notice the awareness of the office. Also informative is the careful dis
tinction between "big A" Apostles and "small a" apostles).
10. See David P. Scaer, "The Relation of Matthew 28:16-20 to the
Rest of the Gospel," Concordia Theological Quarterly 55, no. 4 (October
1991): 249-250. This thought is later connected with the life of the early
church in Acts 2:42.
n. K. W. Noakes, "From the Apostolic Fathers to Irenaeus," in C.
Jones, G. Wainwright, E. Yarnold, and P. Bradshaweds., The Study of
Liturgy (London: SPCK, 1992), 211.
12. Cyril C. Richardson ed., Early Christian Fathers, Library ofChris
tian Classics 1 (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1953), 171-179.
13. R. C. D. Jasper and G. J. Cuming, Prayers of the Eucharist: Early
and Reformed, 3rd ed. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1990), 31-38.
The liturgy of the eucharist goes as follows:
The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.
Up with your hearts.
We have (them) with the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord.
It is fitting and right.
14. The prayer for the ordination of a bishop goes as follows: "God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of mercies and God of all
comfort (2 Cor 1:3), you dwell on high and look on that which is lowly
(Ps 113:5-6), you know all things before they come to pass; you gave
ordinances in the Church through the word of your grace (Acts 20:32);
you foreordained from the beginning a race of righteous men from
Abraham; you appointed princes and priests, and did not leave your
sanctuary without a ministry. From the beginning of the age it was your
good pleasure to be glorified in those whom you have chosen: now pour
forth that power which is from you, of the princely Spirit (Ps 51:12)
which you granted through your beloved Son Jesus Christ to your holy
apostles who established the Church in every place as your sanctuary, to
the unceasing glory and praise of your name. You who know the hearts
of all (Acts 1:241), bestow (Is 42;1) upon this your servant, whom you
have chosen for the episcopate" (biblical reference added). Paul F.
Bradshaw, Ordination Rites of the Ancient Churches of East and West
(New York: Pueblo Publishing Company, 1990), 107.
15. See Timothy C. J. Quill, "'And with Your Spirit': Why the
Ancient Response Should Be Restored in the Pastoral Greeting," LOGIA
7 (Eastertide 1998): 27-35·
16. In this sense, "I am with you" in Matt. 28:20 and "The Lord be
with you" may be connected to the commissioning scenes in the Old
Testament where Yahweh appoints envoys to speak on his behalf (Ex
3:10-12,4:10-12; Josh 1:9; Is 41:10, 43:5; Jer 1:6-8; Acts 18:9-10).
17. A paraphrase ofIgnatius's letter to the Smyrnaeans 8:2 (Richard
son, Early Christian Fathers, 115). In his article "The Real Who of the
Great Commission in Matthew 28," Robert D. Newton dismisses the
ideas that the recipients of the commission were neither the Eleven nor
the whole church. The important thing for him was not whom but who.
He concludes, "Discussion of the 'who' ofMatthew 28:18-20 will never
bear worthy fruit unless it returns to the Spirit's purpose in recalling
these words for the evangelist's writing and begins the conversation
again in the real 'Who' of his Gospel, our Lord Jesus" (Missio Apostolica
4, no. 1 [May 1996]: 45-46). This approach destroys the sweetness ofthe
specificity and locatedness of the delivery point of the forgiveness of
sins. The early church testifies otherwise, as is shown above.
18. Norman Nagel explains that Johann Gerhardt inherited this
term from Luther and Chemnitz. "Externum Verbum: Testing Augus
tana v on the Doctrine of the Holy Ministry," Lutheran Theological
Journal30, no. 3 (December 1996): 104, no.
19. Jerome Crowe, From Jerusalem to Antioch: The Gospel across Cul
tures (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1997), 126-127.
20. In A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrating the History of the
Church to AD 337, J. Stevenson gives us evidences from the writings of
the early church fathers for such movement of Father-Son-apostles
office of the holy ministry-all people. For example, Clement says: "The
apostles received the gospel for our sakes from the Lord Jesus Christ;
Jesus the Christ was sent from God. The Christ therefore is from God,
and the apostles from the Christ. In both ways then, they were in accor
dance with the appointed order of God's wilL So, when they had
received their orders and had been filled with confidence by the resur
rection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and confirmed in faith by the word of
God, they went out in the confidence of the Holy Spirit, preaching the
gospel, that the kingdom of God was about to come. So, preaching in
country and city, they appointed their firstfruits, having tested them by
the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons of those who should believe ....
Men, therefore, who were appointed by the apostles, or subsequently by
other eminent men, with the approval of the whole church, and have
11 CONFESSING CHRIST: OFFICE AND VOCATION
ministered blamelessly to the flock of Christ in a humble, peaceable,
and worthy way, and have had testimony borne to them by all for long
periods-such men we consider are unjustly deposed from their min
istry" (8-9 [Clement, First Epistle to the Corinthians, XLI!. I-XLIV. 3]).
The Didache tells us to receive the bishop and the teacher "as the Lord"
(I! [Didache XI]). The Didache quotes Matthew 12:31 to say, "Let every
one that cometh in the name of the Lord be received, and then, when you
have proved him, you shall know, for you shall have understanding [to
distinguish] between the right hand and the left" (XII. 1). It seems the
writer of the Didache applies the passage not only to Christ who comes
in the eucharist, but to the bishop. Irenaeus traces the office bearers of
the office of the bishop all the way to Christ (114-116 [Irenaeus, Ill.
3-4]). Tertullian says, "How happy is that church, on which the apos
tles poured forth all their doctrine with their blood!" (164 [De Praescrip
tione Haereticorum, 36]). He also recognizes the line of the Father to the
Son and to the apostles (166 [De Praescriptione Haereticorum, 21D. The
early church fathers may have thought necessary to prove the apostolic
origin to fight against heresies of the time. Still, it is significant to note
they sensed the importance of the office.
21. Wilhelm Lohe, Three Books about the Church, trans. and ed.
James 1. Schaaf (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969), 59.
22. One of many examples is found in Luther's Genesis lectures:
"For when ambassadors and preachers were sent by God into the world,
we must not think that their ministry passes away without fruit. ...
Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon, and Jonah in Nineveh taught the
doctrine of God. Therefore God fathered a church in the world not only
from the one family of the patriarchs but from all nations to which the
Word made its way" (AE, 6: 227).
23. Werner Elert, The Structure of Lutheranism, trans. Walter A.
Hansen (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1962),390.
24. William C. Weinrich, "Evangelism in the Early Church," Con
cordia Theological Quarterly 45 (January-April 1981): 61-62.
25. See Hermann Sasse, "Sanctorum C..ommunio," in We Confess the
Sacraments, trans. Norman Nagel (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing
House, 1985), 151.
26. Gustaf Wingren, Gospel and Church (Edinburgh and London:
Oliver and Boyd, 1964), 125-129. \Vhile it may be understandable when
one has to regard the specific context of this writing, still the statement
"From the very first, however, the Eucharist was the lesser of the two
sacraments" (128) may be recognized as a regrettable observation.
Wingren desires more attention to be paid to baptism and world mis
sion in the church at large. But he could have said this in a way that we
can rejoice in receiving abundant gifts of the Lord each given in its own
unique way.
27. John C. Wolrabe Jr., Ministry in Missouri untilz962 (1992), 10-13,
63,74-77·
28. Lehre und Wehre 9, 179. Quoted from Kurt E. Marquart, The
Church and Her Fellowship, Ministry, and Governance, Confessional
Church Dogmatics 9 (Fort Wayne, IN: International Foundation for
Lutheran Confessional Research, 1990), 222.
29. Lehre und Wehre 71, no. 12 (December, 1925), 425. Quoted again
from Marquart, The Church, 222.
30. Klaus Detlev Schulz, "The Missiological Significance of the Doc
trine ofJustification in the Lutheran Confessions" (Th.D. diss., Concor
dia Seminary, St. Louis, 1994), 167-168.
31. Ibid., 169-173.
32. Martin Chemnitz, Ministry, Word, and Sacraments: An
Enchiridion (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1981), 29. Ap XIII,
12; FC Ep XII, 22.
33. See note 5 above.
34. Martin Chemnitz, Loci Theologici, 2 vols., trans. J. A. O. Preus JI.
(St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1989), 2: 706.
35. Robert D. Preus, The Doctrine of the Call in the Confessions and
Lutheran Orthodoxy, Luther Academy Monograph 1 (April 1991), 21.
36. Norman E. Nagel, "The Office of the Holy Ministry in the
Confessions," Concordia Journal 14, no. 3 (July 1988): 285; "The Spirit's
Gifts in the Confessions and in Corinth," Concordia /ournaI18, no. 3
(1992): 230.
37. See articles of Norman E. Nagel such as "The Doctrine of the
Office of the Holy Ministry in the Confessions and in Walther's Kirche
und Amt," Concordia /ournaI15, no. 4 (1989): 427; "The Divine Call in
Die Rechte GestaltofC. F. W. Walther," Concordia Theological Quarterly
59, no. 3 (1995): 165; and "Externum Verbum: Testing Augustana 5 on the
Doctrine of the Holy Ministry," Lutheran Theological Journal 30, no. 3
(1996): 102, 106; reprinted in LOGIA 6 (Holy Trinity 1997): 27-32.
38. Jonathan Grothe, "A Missionary in Fellowship with the
Church," Lutheran Theological Review 2, no. 2 (1990): 7-14.
39. Kurt Marquart, "Law/Gospel and 'Church Growth,'" in The
Beauty and the Bands (Crestwood, MO: Luther Academy, and Min
neapolis, MN: Association of Confessional Lutherans, 1995),186.
40. The collect for the missionary in the Ordination Rite in the
Lutheran Worship Agenda confesses the same point as Luther: "and
grant him faithfulness in all his labors that through the speaking ofyour
Word the nations may come to worship before your throne in spirit and
in truth; through Jesus Christ ..." (emphasis added) (217).
41. AE, 2: 57. Luther's introduction of Noah as a missionary is actu
ally preceded by his presentation of Noah as "a faithful minister and
the mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit" who "carr[ied] on God's business
before the world" (AE, 2: 44, 56). Luther gives three things that a min
ister does. First of all, a minister occupies himself with the Word of
God. Then, he is to teach his worship. Lastly, he reproves whatever
may be wrong (AE, 2: 56, 20). Luther defines the office by the languages
of catechesis and liturgy. For Luther, the missionary Noah was in the
office of the holy ministry.
42. Alexander Schmemann makes an important point: "The West
ern Christian is used to thinking of sacrament as opposed to the Word,
and he links the mission with the Word and not the sacrament." For the
Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy (Crestwood, NY: St.
Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1973), 21.
43. It seems that the distinction most frequently used for describing
missionaries in our circle is that made between "career missionary" and
"volunteer missionary." Sometimes ordained clergymen are "volunteer
missionaries." The distinction between clergy and laity is avoided. In his
book The Apostolic Church: One, Holy, Catholic and Missionary, Robert
J. Scudieri describes the missionary nature of the Church from the
Nicene Creed and early Church history. He fails, however, to see the
mandate and institution of the office of the holy ministry and applies
what is said of the office to the laity without due explanations (Fuller
ton, CA: Lutheran Society for Missiology, 1995).
44. LW,p. 6.
45. Cf. AE, 40: 18.
46. Ian D. Kingston Siggins, Martin Luther's Doctrine ofChrist (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1970), 57. Siggins has a very informative
little section on the theme ofsending in Luther (54-60).