Telling people what to do does not work. Okay, it works in the short term. It does not work well in the long term—not for the person being told what to do…nor for the person telling others what to do.
Power. Force. Sit down. Shut up.
“Do what I say!”
“Why?”
“Who are you to ask me why?”
“Because I said so, fool.”
That may be a bit strong, but maybe not in some settings. That is honestly what it has felt like to challenge the status quo at the last three synod conventions.
I’ve been blessed to talk to many leaders across the LCMS in the past eighty years as one of the hosts of the Lead Time podcast.
Two frustrating themes keep coming up over and over again.
Frustrations of Concordia Universities respective Board of Regents getting names of leaders through the Prior Approval Process.
Frustration in needing more vocational leaders for local LCMS congregations, and continuing to hear, “We just need to keep doing what we’re doing! Your creative ideas are not welcome. We know best.”
Changing two postures of “gatekeeping” synod leaders would go a long way in building bridges with those of us who are frustrated.
1) Humble Confession
As a local pastor when people are frustrated, I can choose to say, “Do it my way!” That never goes well. Frustration and division amplify. Trust diminishes.
Every single time the Holy Spirit leads me to humble confession, the frustration eases and deeper relationships of trust are the result.
I have yet to read an article in LCMS publications where a “gatekeeping” leader said, “You know what? We thought we were right about ‘x.’ It turns out we made a mistake. We’re going to work hard to regain trust and listen and love those whom we have hurt, either by our sin of commission or omission.”
If you’ve seen this article around one of the two topics above, I would love it if you sent it to me…so I could confess I missed it.
2) An Invitational Spirit
Jesus didn’t powerfully coerce his disciples to follow Him. Jesus knew the power of invitation. “Come, follow me.” It was voluntary. It was a call to adventure. Even post resurrection, Jesus gives the invitation again to Peter, the denier. “Do you love me?” Peter could have said “no” and walked away from the greatest adventure of all time. Rather, Peter received Jesus’ invitation to adventure.
The older my kids get the more I realize that invitation is much more compelling than coercion or force. Threats and ultimatums do not work…not if I want a long-term relationship with my kids (which I deeply do). Invitation is best as believers mature.
St. Paul also used the power of invitation. “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (I Corinthians 11:1). They didn’t have to. They could have walked away. Yet, they had been deeply compelled by the work, words, and way of Jesus, and they saw the same humble spirit in Paul. Why would they not receive the invitation?
In the 17 years I’ve been a pastor, the word synod has been used to mean walking together. I’m a strong fan of unity. I want to walk together. Yet, this is not what synod means. Fact check me on Google. Synod derives from the Ancient Greek word synodos, which means “assembly” or “gathering.”
It’s a voluntary group of people getting together, and, in the case of the LCMS, assembling to share our common confession of Christ as Lord as rightly articulated in the Lutheran Confessions.
At the last Synod Convention, both of our seminary leaders said that they would be honestly exploring the needs of local churches and existing models for formation. District Presidents responded by writing the “White Paper” that was initially to be presented to the joint seminary leadership gathering. That never happened. Rather, the paper was summarily dismissed at a Council of Presidents gathering a few months ago.
This entire experience does not demonstrate a Holy Spirit inspired “invitational spirit.”
To close, frustration will ease in the LCMS as humble confession is exemplified by those “in control”...and as they ask for help from the Holy Spirit to embrace a spirit of invitation and curiosity over power and coercion. This will lead to honestly answering these two questions:
Why does the prior approval panel dismiss many of the names requested by Boards of Regents? There is no formal agreed upon rubric for dismissing potential candidates.
Why are LCMS pastors who multiply lay leaders not consulted by institutional leaders when designing vocational church work programs?
Humble confession and a spirit of invitation could help us walk together as a synod. I pray this posture is chosen over prideful power.
Stay tuned to upcoming episodes of Lead Time where we lovingly try to address these frustrations from those trying to faithfully invest the Master’s talents. The days are too short to do otherwise.