« Walther - officially speaks Nebraskan | Home | Original German source for Die heilige Absolution by Walther »

Robert Newton and “Accountability and Faithfulness in Reaching the Lost”

By Dr. Mark D. Nispel | April 26, 2008

Robert D. Newton, President of the California, Nevada, Hawaii district of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, presented a paper in Nashville, TN in January 2008 at a conference of the Transforming Congregations Network: Mission Revitalization Process.

This paper is part of the ongoing activity associated with the Ablaze! program within the Missouri Synod of which President Newton is an active part. In fact he seems to be somewhat of a theological apologist for the program as his papers and presentations are appearing in various places throughout the church body.

The original paper (about 11 pages) is available here: Accountability and Faithfulness in Reaching the Lost.

My interest in it came about because I was asked to review it and comment upon it.

My complete comments (about 12 pages) are here: Nispel Comments

The summary from the comments document are as follows:

First, it is appropriate to respond to this paper publicly because it has been presented in a public forum. Secondly President Newton appears to be one of the ongoing theological apologists for the Ablaze! initiative and thus has placed his work in general into the position of receiving critical evaluation. And finally, in his paper, President Newton explicitly invites a fraternal conversation on the topics he addresses.

Summary

First it should be granted that President Newton has raised a legitimate issue for discussion. And he points to real concerns in relation to the history, status, direction, culture, and theology of the Missouri Synod in relation to reaching the lost. And these can and should be discussed openly and seriously. However, the paper itself in dealing with the two questions related to proclaiming the gospel to the unchurched, presents exegesis, language, and arguments that are significant innovations and diversions from the historical examples and norms of the Lutheran tradition and, to some degree, from the wider historical Christian tradition. As such they should be evaluated carefully.

This innovation in language and argument is not simply a neutral clarification or alternate description. On the contrary, it creates a theological model of “mission” by changing the scope of the fundamental term “gospel” and using this term as a label for something that is clearly considered “office” by Luther and the Confessions. This approach can not help but affect many other related doctrines such as the public office of the ministry, the means of grace, etc. although these topics are not addressed directly by President Newton’s paper. Beyond this, the new terminology used in the presentation of this model leads to additional statements that appear to border on careless and should not be accepted without careful scrutiny.

Finally, important issues of church polity are touched upon by President Newton’s argument in that he claims Synod should provide centralized oversight and accountability for mission to the lost because we provide accountability for those things we value most. These issues should be evaluated carefully within a proper description of the relationship between the Synod and its member congregations as established by the doctrine of the church.

I was asked to review the document and make my comments. And I think
the comments raise important and non-trivial issues. Every man can use
them as they like.

I have no interest in simply being argumentative on this topic. And I have had no previous exposure to or conversations about the Ablaze! program other than a couple of incidental remarks I have heard a couple of times that were without any detail. The comments contained here are not general comments regarding Ablaze! Nevertheless, they could easily raise more general concerns as to what other similar arguments and assertions may be in use for the promotion of this program.

m.

Topics: Ablaze, Lutheran Church, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, language |

Comments

You must be logged in to post a comment.