To Speak Gospel Clearly in Cultural Context of Critical Race Theory

WHEREAS, God has created all people and they are blood-related going back to our mutual fathers, Adam and Noah, and therefore there is only one race, the human race, and all are subject to the stain of original sin, but even now also have been equally redeemed by the blood of Christ in order to be reconciled to God and each other; (Gen. 1:26–28, Gen. 10, Rom. 5:12–21, I Cor. 15: 20–23, Acts 17:26); and

WHEREAS, As Critical Race Theory (CRT) asserts that racism is present in all aspects of life, in every relationship and every interaction—and its advocates urge their followers to look for, and expect to find, racism everywhere—it is clear that the goal and effect of CRT is to cause deep and irreconcilable divisions within society; and

WHEREAS, Society has, in recent years, been deeply convulsed by the efforts of some to eliminate historic racism through the introduction of a new, more toxic form of racism which adds elements of Marxist and post-modern thought to the historic form; and

WHEREAS, The academic discipline of critical theory and its progeny, such as CRT, is inconsistent with the Christian worldview and also irreconcilable with Holy Scripture; and

WHEREAS, Critical theory, when applied to theology, frequently denies the sufficiency of Christ’s death to forgive all people by claiming that forgiveness is impossible for certain people based on their race; and by heretic ally confusing the righteousness we have before God for Jesus’sake with the civil righteousness of the“social gospel”; and

WHEREAS, The “solutions” proffered by CRT to racial inequities do not come from Christ but rather from a theory of grievance and retribution (and can produce only more of the same); and

WHEREAS, God’s Word says, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well. But, if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors” (James 2:8–9); and

WHEREAS, We still recognize that racism, misunderstanding, and strife are and will continue to be present in the world and in the Church; and

WHEREAS, The Synod in convention has passed resolutions repudiating all racism, for example, 1992 Res.3-03; and 2019 Res. 11-04A; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Minnesota South District in convention reaffirm the Synod’s repudiation of racism in all its forms; and be it further

Resolved, That the district call upon her members to love their neighbors as themselves, and seek to live in peace and harmony with all people by proclaiming that Jesus is Lord, and by bringing forth the fruits of the faith in serving the neighbor; and be it further

Resolved, That the district reject the worldview of CRT, because it is contrary to Scripture and counterproductive to true racial conversation and reconciliation, since it pursues equality of outcome (“equity”) between ethnic or cultural groups, while cynically insisting that we treat individuals unequally based on skin color, ethnicity, ancestry, or nationality; and be it further

Resolved, That the district reject any doctrine, such as that proposed by CRT, that teaches that an individual or organization is inherently racist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously, solely on account of skin color, ethnicity, ancestry, nationality, or history; and be it further

Resolved, That the district reject the teaching of all organizations, movements, and petitions which attempt to advance the language and/or concepts of Critical Theory including CRT; and be it finally

Resolved, That the district in convention memorialize The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod to also reject the worldview, language and concepts of CRT at its 2023 convention.