I remember about 2 years ago, there were big talks of revival approaching Singapore, loosely based off a prophecy that Singapore would become the ‘Antioch of Asia’. Churches from different traditions should come together once again to pray together and a nationwide revival would occur in the next year – or so the narrative goes. The church I was in (under the Lutheran Church in Singapore) actively participated in this ecumenical movement. Their general apathy to upholding Lutheran doctrine led me to become disillusioned with the church body as a whole. When they invited a charismatic preacher to the congregation to preach and sell his book I knew that I could no longer remain there in good conscience. It was hard for me as a former charismatic to hear ideas that I had come to reject in my conversion to Lutheranism preached in the congregation of my newfound faith. Hence, I knew I had to leave the church.
Back then, I only left because I was convinced in my mind that charismatic teaching was dangerous and detrimental to the faith. Upon further reflection and study of Scripture and the Book of Concord afterwards, I came to realise that the notion of setting aside denominational differences to pursue a common evangelistic goal runs contrary to the Lutheran Confessions. Since I get asked a lot about this issue, I decided to write a blog post to elucidate my findings.
On The True Unity of the Church
Melanchthon outlines the basis for church unity in the Augsburg Confession:
And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike. As Paul says: One faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, etc. Eph. 4:5-6.
AC VII para. 2-4
This is in opposition to Rome’s idea that the observance of outward universal rites should serve as the basis of unity. Melanchthon goes on to argue in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession that true unity is a spiritual one, one Church that believe in “one Christ; who have one Gospel, one Spirit, one faith, the same Sacraments”, which without it justifying faith cannot exist (AP VII 30).
Those in favour of the ecumenical revival movement might argue that it is indeed the basis of their unity, that churches are one in order to advance the Gospel and harvest souls for Christ. This begs the question…
Do we share the same Gospel?
We should note that the term ‘Gospel’ is understood in two ways in the Lutheran Church. Article V of the Formula of Concord notes that it can be understood in the broad sense — the entire doctrine of Christ (i.e. everything that Christ taught), and in the narrow sense — our salvation in Christ (i.e. that the Son of God, our Lord Christ, has taken upon Himself and borne the curse of the Law, has expiated and paid for all our sins, through whom alone we again enter into favor with God, obtain forgiveness of sins by faith, are delivered from death and all the punishments of sins, and eternally saved, etc. etc.). Based on the context of how the term has been used, I would argue that it refers to the broad sense here. The Augsburg Confession is clear in its concern for doctrinal purity. In its preface to Emperor Charles V, Melanchthon hopes that with the document, matters of controversy can be resolved and the ‘one pure and true religion may be embraced and maintained’ that they may live in ‘unity and concord’ in one Church.
Even in the narrow sense, it is clear that the churches in the ecumenical movement have a gospel foreign to the Lutheran faith. For instance, the 2019 revivalist rally Celebration of Hope puts forth the Four Spiritual Laws as the “central message of the Bible” on their website. The problem with this is that they posit that Christ is received by a human act of the will, turning faith into a human work.
We Lutherans confess on the other hand, that we cannot come to saving faith in Christ apart from the Holy Spirit:
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.
Luther’s Small Catechism, Third Article of the Creed
Hence, the churches in the ecumenical movement have a different Gospel, both in the wide and narrow sense. This is not to say of course that that they are not to be considered Christian, or that we believe that they are damned. If they teach the doctrine of the Gospel at all, it is diluted with false teaching contrary to the doctrine of Christ. By participating in ecumenical events with these churches, we are pretending that we are confessing the same thing when we are not. Such a unity is false and misleading, especially when everyone is confessing a different Christ. Instead, we should mark and avoid those who teach contrary to the truth as St. Paul says in Romans 16:17.
The Administration of the Sacraments
It goes without saying that there is no agreement on the Sacraments. Virtually every denomination in the movement rejects Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, and Baptism is completely out of the picture in soteriology. In the Marburg Colloquy, attempts for unity with the Reformed broke down over the Eucharist as well. From this precedent, we see that disagreement over the sacrament is a non negotiable issue for Lutherans. Those who reject Christ in the Eucharist have no business communing at a Lutheran altar, lest they eat and drink condemnation to themselves, not discerning the Lord’s body (1 Corinthians 11:29).
We teach that Baptism is necessary to salvation, and that through it ‘is offered the grace of God’, and that children are also to be baptized (AC IX). A lot of these churches reject this, and turn baptism into a work of their own, refusing to administer the sacrament to infants who cannot ‘receive Christ through an act of their will’. These practices runs contrary to the Lutheran faith, and cannot be put aside for some ‘greater goal of winning souls’.
“But this is sectarian!”
I often get comments that by being all particular about agreement on doctrine, I am being unnecessarily divisive and hindering the spread of the Gospel. However, this assumes that the conversion of souls relies on us, and that we must do all that we can to make the Gospel as attractive to the masses as much as possible. God does not call us to water down His teaching for the sake of the appearance of a united front for soulwinning. Rather, He calls us to remain faithful to His doctrine. Our Lord Jesus Christ says thus in the Baptismal Mandate to the Apostles:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 28:19-20
This text is often cited as the command for every Christian to go and proselytize to the non-believers in any way they can, but that Christ commanded the Apostles to teach all of Christ’s doctrine in its entirety is ignored. Pastors should therefore be more concerned in ensuring that our Lord’s words are taught in its truth and entirety rather than on only the teachings which they deem essential for unity while pretending everything else is not important. God promises to work through the means of Word and Sacrament to draw people into His kingdom, the labourers sent into His harvest only need to be faithful to upholding His Word.
Conclusion
In short, the ecumenical movements diminish the pure Gospel with human opinions denying the role of the sacraments in our salvation and the life of the Church. Therefore, Lutherans cannot in good conscience be in participate in worship and missions with churches that teach these heterodox ideas. The truth cannot be comingled with error. Instead, we should warn them in Christian love and charity that they have deviated from the doctrine of Christ, and pray that they will return to the Apostolic Faith. In the end, true unity is achieved by agreeing on the entirety of the doctrine of Christ, which is in turn achieved by the Holy Spirit. We can then heed St. Paul’s admonition to ‘walk worthy of the calling’ with which we are called, endeavouring to keep ‘keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’. This is the true unity of the Church.
