By David Bunn
The theme of our 1994 Sierra Pacific Synod Assembly was unity. Many stressed the need to unify around the Gospel of Jesus Christ, despite our serious differences on many issues. My question for all of us remains, "What is this Gospel around which we are to unify?"
Our ELCA history and Constitution tell us that the Holy Scriptures, expounded upon and supported by the creeds and confessions, are the foundation of our faith, the definition and explanation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But the escalating conflict over defining right and wrong, good and evil, true and false within the ELCA points to a gradual rejection of this biblical foundation.
When we honestly reflect on the variety of beliefs, pronouncements, activities and language in the ELCA, we are hard pressed to come up with any objective common ground that might define us all as a faithful body of Christ, linked in belief and practice to the great Church Universal, the spotless bride of Christ. Simply examining the central truths of Christianity (the Rule of Faith), truths we are supposed to share with all Christians – let alone those of our own denomination – reveals little agreement.
The Rule of Faith teaches us the concept of the Trinity – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Yet it is becoming ever more common in our church to change the biblical language describing God and to question the nature of God reflected in these divine names.
The Rule of Faith also teaches the deity of Christ, His virgin birth, substitutionary death, physical resurrection and ultimate return to judge the world. Among pastors and teachers in our church one encounters all kinds of deviations and objections to these truths from Scripture. Some reject all or many of the miracles and supernatural events of the life and history of Jesus. Some reject the concept of judgment and hell. Some question the unique and necessary nature of Christ's sacrificial death for the forgiveness of sin. Some, in fact, reject the concept of "doctrine" itself.
The result is that the great concepts of our faith, stripped of biblical authority, no longer have any certain meaning. One theologian describes this as the "epitome of decadence," when our great Bible language, words like faith, truth, sin, repentance, love, judgment, grace and salvation, have been emptied of meaning. The book of Judges in the Bible comes to mind, when "every man did as seemed best in his own eyes."
Contrast this with the Scriptures. Jesus says in John 14: 6: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by me." Unity built on Jesus Christ, the fullness of truth and the only mediator between God and mankind, can be no vague and subjective unity. This unity results from complete and on-going submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all areas of life, "taking every thought captive to obey Jesus Christ" (JJ Corinthians 10: 5), and "not being conformed to this world, but being transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Romans 12: 2).
We in the ELCA are losing a common Rule of Faith, a common language, common definitions and common values. The much-publicized debate over sexual morality and immorality is but a symptom of the deeper illness: we are not unified because we are not faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The challenge to unify in Christ – heart, mind and mission – is always difficult. Without a common foundation in the Biblical Gospel of Jesus – Savior, Lord and Truth – it is impossible.
*David Bunn, a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and a 1985-6Fullbright scholar in Germany, is an agriculturist and a member of the Parish Council of St. Ansgar Lutheran Church in Salinas, Calif.