To Confront Increased Idolatry of Our Culture with Clear Confession of Love of Christ and Lutheran Resources in Christian Apologetics

WHEREAS, The Ten Commandments as revealed to us in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 begin with the commandment “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3 and Deut. 5:7); and

WHEREAS, The propensity of the sinful nature is to engage in both self-sufficiency and re lativi sm as described of Israel in Judges 21:25, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes”; and

WHEREAS, Sinful blindness and corruption is beyond the understanding of human reason as put forth in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”; and

WHEREAS, The heart without Christ accepts idols (false gods) by making the person who accepts them like them as taught in Psalm 115:8, “Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them”; and

WHEREAS, The Church is commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19) through holy Baptism and teaching; and

WHEREAS, The Word of God includes apologetics (true and rational defense) in the scope of biblical teaching as Saint Paul described in 2 Corinthians 10:4–6: “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete”; and

WHEREAS, Saint Paul, who was a prolific teacher of the faith and the saving Gospel acknowledged, “I am put here for the defense of the gospel” (Phil. 1:16); and

WHEREAS, God commands us in 1 Peter 3:15: “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect”; and

WHEREAS, God admonishes the Church “to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3); and

WHEREAS, The Small Catechism (SC) instructs us that it is only the Holy Spirit who calls us by the Gospel and “calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith” (SC II, Third Article); and we acknowledge the primacy of the Holy Spirit’swork and His use of the proclamation of the Gospel in conversion, and we also acknowledge the secondary, but helpful, application of clear biblical teaching in respect to apologetics in the face of cultural idolatry; and

WHEREAS, Christian apologetics properly employed by the Church serves the saving Gospel, especially when it is used to demonstrate the futility of worldviews contrary to the Gospel and the importance of rejecting false faiths on the one hand, and when it supports the historical and empirical (real time and space) status, objective truth, and urgency of the Gospel itself on the other; and

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Confessions demonstrate the powerful employment of the ministerial use of reason for refuting falsehood and presenting the Word of God; and

WHEREAS, The Constitution of the Synod Article III states, “The Synod, under Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, shall … provide a united defense against schism, sectarianism [Rom. 16:17] and heresy” (Const. Art. III 1); and “Aid congregations by providing a variety of resources and opportunities for… defending their confessional unity in the truth faith” (Const. Art. III 6); and

WHEREAS, It is evident that the current cultural tsunami of idols includes not only false religions (such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, animism, and paganism, to name a few) and atheistic philosophies, but also blatant expressions of satanism, demonic witchcraft, and hedonism; furthermore, there are a host of idols which have permeated the culture including the use of technology, the magnification of artificial intelligence, the worldly priority of career and success, the promotion of addictive states and sloth, the wholesale affirmation of separating what is created (e.g. the human body) from the Creator, and the idol of power, especially when it attempts to nationalize the faith while confusing and melding the two kingdoms; and

WHEREAS, Because of the permeation of these various forms of idolatry in the culture, it is important not only to zero in on single issues, but tohaveabroader understanding and systematic approach to cultural idolatry, especially as these have seeped into the fabric of the three estates: family, congregation, and society; and

WHEREAS, God has graciously provided us with protection from and empowerment “against the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11) and “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12); and

WHEREAS, The Synod has been greatly blessed with broad resources by the grace of God even in these latter days; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod in convention establish a task force to survey the details of the forms of idolatry currently extant/common in the American landscape, identify resources and expertise already available within our fellowship, and propose next steps to address this issue; and be it further

Resolved, That we urge all pastors, commissioned ministers, and congregations of the Synod to pray for the Church as she is confronted by the cultural idols of our day in such a way that we are able to specify what these idols are, and more importantly how the Word of Christ supplies all we need to be alerted to, protected from, and equipped for facing our cultural idols; and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod task the individual Synod arms, educational institutions, auxiliaries, and recognized service organizations to develop resources in Christian apologetics, as appropriate to their purviews, for alerting the Church to and protecting the Church from the cultural idols confronting Christians inthiscenturyinathoroughand systematic manner; and be it finally

Resolved, That the Synod embrace vigorous Gospel proclamation—timeless worship, evangelism, loving apologetics, and exhortation—to carry the Good News of Christ throughout our culture.