Citizenship and the Christian School
At the last Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) Convention, during luncheon hosted by the Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF), I was given the honor of providing a 15-minute follow up presentation to Tim Goeglein’s main presentation based on his book, Toward a More Perfect Union. I’ve included the comments below, as I think they have continued relevance as we think through the role of Lutheran education as it relates to citizenship. Please note that this was written for public speaking, hence the non-standard punctation.
LCEF Luncheon Comments, July 31, 2023
Bernard Bull
Luther reminded us that human nature is like a drunken peasant. Having fallen off the horse on one side, he gets back on and promptly falls off on the other side.
This quote could also speak to the Christian's struggle as a citizen.
On the one side, we have the example of the Apostles. When charged by the authorities to remain silent about the Gospel, they replied, "Judge for yourself whether it is right to obey you or God, for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen or heard." When the laws of the land or rulings of those in authority call for us to go against God's Word, we pray for the courage and character to obey God rather than man.
Yet, some fall off the horse on this side, using such a passage as an excuse for disrespect, defiance, and disregard for those in authority, even when there is nothing against God's word. They do so simply because they don't like what is said or done. Like the spirit of the age (and prodded by our sinful nature), defiance comes easy to us. Or we distort such a passage and decide that the task of the Church and the Christian is to take over the government and recreate it in our image.
But what about the other side of the horse? From the Apology to the Augsburg Confession, we read, "For the Gospel does not destroy the state or the family, but rather approves them and asks us to obey them as a divine ordinance, not only because of punishment but also because of conscience." Yet, in our wretched state, we take this truth of God's Word and use it to fall off the other side of the horse. We use it as an excuse for compromising our convictions, remaining silent in the face of injustice, and failing to act on behalf of our neighbors.
What is the solution to this wretched state? Thanks be to God for Christ Jesus, who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. And where do we learn of such good and life-giving news? It is in God's Holy Word.
I've long admired and followed Mark Noll's work. His 2022 800+ page text is no exception. In America's Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization, Noll wrote the following:
"From Christopher Columbus to the present day, the appropriation of universal scriptural values in American history has mingled constantly with its use for particular purposes, sometimes in keeping with those [scriptural] values, sometimes violating them with abandon. That mixed record must temper anything triumphalist Bible believers might say in its favor. Yet an honest assessment of the nation's history, and at no time more than the present, should also recognize that a democratic republic needs something like the Bible more than Bible believers need a democratic republic."
The last sentence in the quote is of particular relevance for a thought-provoking discussion about Christian education, more specifically Lutheran education today. That sentence and Noll's supporting evidence point to a dual claim:
1) Christianity and this grand and beautiful experiment that we call the United States of America are not the same, and Christianity does not depend upon this one nation to exist now or in the future.
2) At the same time, Noll makes the case that many values that help the United States work are scriptural values and that some past and current efforts to extract those values from the American experiment may prove far more dramatic than advocates realize. They may even be necessary to maintain a stable democratic republic.
As such, if we are gathered at a synodical convention where what holds us together in Concord is a shared commitment to the Scriptures and the Confessions, then I contend that this is a worthy emphasis for our discussion. While our purpose as a Synod is about something much more significant than preserving a nation, what we do in our churches and schools can nonetheless be a blessing to this nation. I contend that there may be no greater gift that we can offer to the country but to provide people with an education grounded in the Holy Scriptures. For in them, we are introduced to Jesus Christ and him crucified. I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. We are called to be schools where we are not ashamed of the Gospel.
Or, in the bold and beautiful words of Dr. Luther in his well-known letter to the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany that They Establish and Maintain Schools, "I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth." A nation of people educated at the gates of hell? That sounds like a problem.
Luther warned that God's Word and grace is a passing rainstorm. He recounted instances of persistent rejection of God's Word in a community only to find themselves suffering from the vacuum created by its absence years later. Lutheran education is distinct when and only if it heeds the wisdom of these words and strives for a learning community where we explore a myriad of subjects while placing a high priority on the Truth of 2 Timothy 3:16-17, that "all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Walther said it this way, "You certainly will share the sense of importance which I attach to these new high schools which are coming into being in our Church. Beyond all question, they are the very best means that we have to spread our Lutheran doctrine to the mass of people of this land. From now on our confirmed youth must get the ability to attain to, and to hold with dignity, all American civil positions and State offices, and for this high purpose they must be trained." - "Schools of Higher Learning" in Schulblatt, 1870 -possibly written by C.F.W. Walther
Or in another place, Walther wrote:
"In the first place, we confess that no matter how much we think of learning, we do not rank it above the truth of Scripture, nor even as its equal, but immeasurably below it. Hence we indeed say frankly and openly with Luther: "It is better for learning to be destroyed rather than religion, if learning refuses to be a servant and desires to tread Christ underfoot" (Letter to Amsdorf, June 28, 1534; St. Louis Edition, XXIb, 1912).
Or in yet another place, Walther writes:
"We admit further that as necessary as we consider learning to be, especially the study of languages, logic, rhetoric, and history, for searching the content of Scripture, we nevertheless reject any learning that,
instead of being handmaid and pupil, wants to assume the role of mistress and teacher
instead of merely helping to discover the truth contained in Scripture presumes to sit in judgment,
instead of submitting to Scripture's correction desires to correct Scripture,
instead of remaining in its sphere attempts to elevate the laws that happen to obtain in its field to universal ones and impose them also upon Scripture.
This is why a fundamental distinction of a faithful Christian education is that it is led by educators whose first loyalty is to the Holy Scriptures and that over their disciplinary or professional educator guild."
A faithful Lutheran education is one where God's Word is present and prevalent. It is not merely a school that teaches conservative or Christian values, that teaches the classics, or that prepares citizens. Lutheran education is shaped and reshaped by God's Word. One that heeds the wisdom of Isaiah 55, “For as the rain and the snow come down from Heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
Or how about Hebrews 4? "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
We also turn to the wisdom of our Lord in Matthew 24, "Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away."
An education grounded on the timeless, life-giving Word of God. That is what we are about in the Synod's schools.
Schools where the Bible is not just another classic, but the very Word of God, a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
Schools as learning communities where we point one another to the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Schools where God's students and staff alike encounter God's Word and say like in Jeremiah 23, “My heart is broken within me; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD and because of his holy words.”
Did you know that:
According to an American Bible Society survey, 18% of Americans opened a Bible in 2021.
29% of those surveyed report never using or reading the Bible.
Only 16% of those surveyed reported reading the Bible multiple times a week?
Contrast that to a Lutheran K-12 school or university where God is at work through His word daily. These are communiteis where God's Word is not banned or muzzled but is joyfully read, studied, proclaimed, and shared, given free rein in every class, club, committee, and especially chapel.
In Toward a More Perfect Union, Hillsdale is lifted up as a model and undoubtedly a fine higher education institution. Still, they have a fundamentally different mission and philosophy than Lutheran education. I'm compelled to provide a brief contrast between the Hillsdale and Concordia University approach, as an illustration of a Lutheran education distinction, and I think this is true of all of the Concordias represented here today. Before I do this, Tim, I don't mean any of this as a critique of you or your fine book. I state these things to contrast the foundational differences between a vision of Lutheran education and the Hillsdale model.
Hillsdale is a Christian college. By that, they seem to mean it has a Christian ethos and promotes Judeo-Christian values. When Hillsdale says it is a Christian college, it does not mean anything close to what we mean by Christian college at a Concordia.
At Concordia, 100% of faculty are expected to be Christian and are preferred to be Lutheran. At Concordia Nebraska that is 80-90% of the faculty are Lutheran. If you find a faculty member who is an atheist at Concordia, that is a problem, and people in the Church shout that it is a sure sign of infidelity and compromise. And they should be concerned. That is not who we are. After all, the faculty are crucial to nurturing students spiritually and intellectually, serving as wise Christian counsel and mentors as they equip students for lives of Christian conviction and character. At Hillsdale, being a Christian is not required to be a faculty member, and their website proudly proclaims that it has atheist, agnostic, Muslim, Jewish, and other faiths represented in the faculty.
If any Concordia had a student group that celebrated and supported the practice of Mormonism or Judaism, that would be deemed infidelity and a critical issue that needs to be addressed. At Hillsdale, that is present, accepted, and celebrated.
At Concordia, all graduates typically take 2-3 or more theology courses, a baseline. And these are courses that get students directly into the Word of God. At Hillsdale, one course is required, and it is called Western Theological Tradition.
At Concordia, 100% of theology faculty are, at a minimum, ordained clergy in the LCMS. At Hillsdale, those teaching even this broad theological tradition course come from a myriad of denominational or theological traditions.
At Concordia, there is formal theology taught by superb Lutheran theologians. At Hillsdale, while they have some fine Lutheran scholars…the closest they have is a combined theology and philosophy major, perhaps due to its strong influence of Calvin and Aquinas—that blending and blurring of theology and philosophy.
Hillsdale offers a message about the power of hope in the human spirit. At the Concordias, we offer a message of hopelessness if we depend upon ourselves, our own strength, our own ideas (no matter how great we think they are), or any human institution. Rather, our hope and inspiration come from God's love in Christ.
I do not say any of this to disparage Hillsdale but only to note that our mission and vision for Lutheran education, at all levels, is distinct. We are schools that proclaim Christ crucified, where God's Word runs free as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, even as we equip students for a myriad of callings, equipping them to be blessings in their families, churches, communities, workplaces and yes, to their nation.
That is a fundamental distinction, and while our mission in Lutheran education is not about a more perfect union, I contend that what we do in our schools has a powerful and preserving effect in the communities and nations where our graduates live, work, and worship. It is at the foot of the cross that we stand, that "we return daily as beggars seeking whatever crumbs the teacher is willing to give us…and regularly humbled by the lavish feast that he offers us, a feast that we did not earn and we do not deserve on our own, a feast bought with the very blood of our Savior Jesus."