Here's to a Happy Fourth and a Blessed Convention

As we prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July, and shortly thereafter, to convene as a Synod in Houston, perhaps it would be helpful to remember these words of Ronald Reagan:

“Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people. We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should. Happy Fourth of July.” —— Ronald Reagan

In the spirit of our national holiday and our Christian freedom, allow me to take the liberty to paraphrase these words and apply them to our Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod:

Let the Convention of Synod always be a reminder, and an occasion to reassert, that the LCMS views its democratic form of governance as an adiaphora, but one created and managed by its members for the sake of good order and the pure preaching and teaching of God’s Word among us and going forth with the same out into all the world. This Synod has no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people. We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should. Lord bless our Convention in Houston.