APPLIED THEOLOGY . . . THE PASTORAL TASK

A Statement from The Office of the President
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
1333 South Kirkwood Road
St. Louis, Missouri 63122
United States of America

Recently I have enjoyed reading through Francis Pieper's Christian Dogmatics. I thought I would share some thoughts from Dr. Pieper with you in this issue of the President's Newsletter. Please don't misunderstand me. I am not trying to send you on a guilt trip. No, not at all. Instead, I want to encourage you, as fellow co-workers in our Lord's ministry. My encouragement to you is that you make time in your schedule for study-plain and simple study, not for that next sermon, or bible class, or lecture, or meeting or whatever else it may be, but simply for the pure joy of digging more deeply into God's Word and how that Word is explained, understood and confessed by the great teachers of our Synod and our Lutheran church.

Here are some points which Dr. Francis Pieper made when discussing the hallmarks of a faithful pastor. I think you will find them both inspiring and instructional. Dr. Pieper lists five qualities of individuals whom God calls to the pastoral office in the church. These qualities also apply to anyone whom the church calls to a full time position of service in the church. The quotations below are found in the first volume of Dr. Pieper's Dogmatics, so we will supply only the page numbers, as needed. What then are some of the chief characteristics of the Lord's ministers?

First, there is their personal faith in Christ, that is "faith in the forgiveness of sins, by grace for the sake of Christ's vicarious satisfaction" (p. 46). The ability to serve God's people is not something with which we are born, but it is a gift given by God Himself. As St. Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 3:5-6: "Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant..." One important element in the minister's personal faith is his conviction that Holy Scripture is the infallible Word of God. This too is a conviction given by the Holy Spirit. Elaborating on this point, Pieper continues.

Second, the theological aptitude of our ministers include their ability to confine themselves in their teaching of God's people to the Word of God. We must suppress our own thoughts and opinions, as well as the mere opinions of other men, and instead derive our teaching from Holy Scripture alone. Those who establish other sources for their teaching are "incompetent and disqualified for the Christian ministry" (p. 48). Here we hear the principle of sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) resounding loudly and clearly.

Third, another skill necessary for Christian ministry is the ability to teach "the entire truth of Holy Scripture" (p. 48). It is for this reason that our pastors, teachers, DCEs, deaconesses, lay ministers, DCOs and all servants of the church must "apply themselves very diligently to acquire ...theological fitness and strive to retain and increase it" (p. 49). St. Paul sounded this theme clearly when he wrote to young Pastor Timothy, "Take heed to yourself and your doctrine; hold to that, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers" (1 Timothy 4:16).

Fourth, servants of the church must be able to refute false teachers. This is listed by St. Paul as one of the necessary qualifications of an elder or bishop: "Holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught; that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convince the gainsayers...whose mouths must be stopped" (Titus 1:9-11). It is sometimes popular in our own day, as it was in Dr. Pieper's day, to say that the church must avoid polemics and that our public servants must avoid identifying error. While it is true, as Pieper notes, that we must avoid being polemical from "carnal motives, in carnal zeal" (p. 49), it is also important to note that we must teach the correct doctrine clearly and refute false teaching. This too is a duty of the public teachers of the church.

Pieper spends a good bit of time on this point, because he recognized how popular it was to say that a church and its ministers must not refute error and must, at all costs, avoid controversy or disagreements. Recently I was informed that a young pastor entering his first ministry in a congregation of our Synod was told point-blank by certain leaders in that congregation that he must not speak against Freemasonry, for there were a number of Masons in the congregation. Neither was he to speak out against people who live together before they are married. He was told if he spoke of these things he would be, and I quote, "canned." This, my friends, is truly outragoeous and totally unacceptable.

Pieper explains why polemics are necessary: "Polemics are absolutely needed. Not only because a doctrine is more fully comprehended in the light of its antithesis, but mainly because the errorists so craftily mask their error behind a show of truth that the simple Christians, if not forewarned, are despite their love of the truth only too easily deceived" (p. 50). In our present situation, surrounded as we are by an even more confusing mixture of truth and error, Pieper's emphasis here seems even more appropriate than ever before.

Fifth, Dr. Pieper points out that the theological aptitude includes "the willingness and strength to suffer for the whole Christian doctrine" (p. 51). This point, perhaps more than any other, may be difficult for us to accept and to deal with. We would much prefer, of course, to avoid difficulties and sufferings as we serve Christ and His people. But Dr. Pieper rightfully points out that "Scripture distinctly includes the readiness to suffer for the sake of Christ and His Word as a necessary part of the theologian's equipment. The Apostle Paul tells Timothy: "You therefore endure hardship" (p. 51). I think of the young pastor I mentioned previously. Truly he is enduring hardship for the sake of the Gospel. We need to join arms to sustain and support our young Aarons in the ministry, and all who labor faithfully in the Lord's kingdom.

We who serve our Lord and His people are unable to avoid trouble in this life when we preach and teach the Gospel. When we proclaim the message that all people have sinned and all deserve God's punishment. As we proclaim that Gospel message of salvation, apart from any human effort or merit, this surely will bring difficulties and troubles to us at time. Particularly when we teach the whole counsel of God, we can expect opposition from time to time.

When we do experience this we need to recognize that it is Satan at work, trying his best to overthrow the work of the Gospel ministry. Thus Pieper notes, "If the minister is not willing to suffer the loss of his goods, of honor and rank, yes, even of his life, he is not a profitable servant of the Church: he will, for the sake of ease, compromise with error; he may even deny Christ, and thus be denied by Him (2 Tim. 2:12).

It is always good to pause and reflect on our church's theology. I have greatly enjoyed over the past several weeks once more reading in Dr. Pieper's magnificent textbook on Christian theology, Christian Dogmatics. There are any number of find books on theology available to you. Here then is a word of encouragement to those who are doing this reading: keep it up! And to those who have perhaps slipped away from a habit of regular reading in theology, I hope the comments above will provide you with motivation and encouragement to make time in the schedule for this sort of reading. God bless as you do!

From: The President's Newsletter, February 1996, p. 3