We all know what it means. . .

Since some of the districts have met and others are planning meetings for later this year or in 2022, it would be good for us to reflect upon a few things that happen every Convention.  Every church meeting in which resolutions are offered almost requires the adoption of boilerplate motions in which we predictably approve of what we have always approved of.  These God, mother, apple pie resolutions do not spell out anything new but merely affirm that we stand where we have always stood on these issues.  Most of them do not bother to lay out in detail what we are affirming but will inevitably reference the last time we affirmed it -- presuming that this is enough.  These will reference God's Word, the blessing of a weekly Eucharist, the good value of the hymnal and its liturgies, close(d) communion, unity of doctrine, a closer unity of practice generally, etc...  Perhaps only a voice vote will be take to address what we have always addressed and thus save us a bit of time for the more controversial stuff.  But if we are going to reaffirm what we have always believed, taught, confessed, and, supposedly practiced, then perhaps we ought to take time to discuss it first.  Perhaps we are not doing us or anyone any favors by affirming in a general way our generic faith and practice.

Time will inevitably grow short.  The more urgent motions and more controversial ones (that still need addressing) will take priority.  Saying again what we have always said will be rushed in at the end when time is short and none of us has the inclination or the stamina to endure another debate.  Maybe these are the things that ought to take precedence.  If we have spoken once and still have a need to address the sufficiency and infallibility of Scripture, then by all means let us discuss it before making a perfunctory vote on something that we know will pass even though disputes, conflict, and challenge about this issue are not and will not be resolved.  We all know what it means to confess Scripture -- or do we?  Frankly, I would much rather spend time addressing this issue to resolve what is either unclear or confused than giving our precious time away to greetings.

If we continue to affirm the blessing of a weekly Eucharist and there are still many congregations that do not avail themselves of this blessing, then we do not all know what it means and we have resolved nothing by adopting a pro forma resolution without discussion or resolution of what it addresses.  The same is true on the blessing of using the hymnal and its liturgies and hymns or practicing close(d) communion, being united in doctrine, or striving toward a more uniform practice of that faith.  If we pass resolutions affirming these things without discussing them or the reasons why we need to keep affirming them, what progress have we made?  Oh, sure, there are those who insist that we all know what they mean but if we knew, you might think we would also take more seriously what they say and how that impacts us at St Jehoshaphat by the Cornfield or the Lutheran Church of the Comfortable Fellowship in Suburbiaville or OneeightyChurch of the Moment in the City Center.  

We keep on saying what we have always said while people keep saying and doing different things and we all wrap ourselves up in the Luther Seal and confess how truly Lutheran we are.  We don't need to waste our money heading to St. Louis or some other location in order to affirm that we all think we are the most Lutheran of anybody.  Especially when we pass boiler plate resolutions on stuff we say we all understand and believe every convention cycle while the theological distance between us continues to grow!  Either we don't all know what these words and positions mean or else we simply do not agree with them.  In either case, we have a bigger problem than finding time on the costly agenda of a convention for most of the stuff we end up doing.  Maybe instead of addressing many issues shallowly, we would be better served by addressing one main issue in depth every three years.  But what do I know?