Lay people of the LCMS are being told by a growing cult of Hyper-Euro-Lutheran and
Church Growth pastors in the LCMS that Voters’ Assemblies are not found in the Bible.
These pastors are convincing the lay people to surrender control of their congregations,
the Office of the Keys and, in many cases, control of their church property.
"The Voters’ Assembly Is Invested With Authority From
God," recently published by this writer, received the following response from
Rev. Eric Stefanski:
Quotation removed per author's request.
Reverend Stefanski writes the above words on CAT41’s TableTalk mailing list. A
growing number of LCMS pastors agree with him. According to Stefanski’s understanding
of Voters’ Assemblies, Walther didn’t belong in the LCMS. Those LCMS pastors who
refuse to affirm the supremacy of the Voters’ Assembly as the final tribunal in the
congregation must necessarily reject the Voters’ Assembly as a divinely ordained
institution.
Herein lies the destruction of the LCMS by those who despise the writings of C.F.W.
Walther, who teaches that the Voters are the supreme authority in the congregation, second
only to the Word of God.
First, the Scriptures affirm that the early church did indeed "vote." Lenski
writes as follows concerning 2Cor.8:19:
"...,and not only (this), but who also was VOTED as our travel companion in this
grace which is being ministered by us to show (pros) the Lord’s glory and our own
readiness, (thereby) avoiding that anyone blame us in this bounty which is being
ministered by us."
Lenski’s Interpretation: "In addition to mentioning the personal excellence
of this gospel worker Paul in an emphatic way with 'moreover not only (this), but also,'
points to the fact that this evangelist was officially appointed by vote of the churches
to be ‘our traveling companion.’ This refers to the journey by which the great
collection is finally to be carried to Jerusalem. Acts 20:4 names seven men, and no doubt
all of them were appointed by VOTE. This evangelist was one of the seven. Being from
Macedonia, he was either Sopater of Berea, or Aristarchus, or Secundus of
Thessalonica."
"(The Greek word) ‘kyrotoneo’ means to vote by holding up the hand. The
supposition that a number of churches could not thus vote for a man is unwarranted. His
name was proposed in church after church, and because of his splendid reputation all voted
for him to be their representative."
Thus far Lenski.
All authoritative Greek Lexicons listed at the end of this article, writings from the
Ante-nicene fathers, and J.T.Mueller in Christian Dogmatics, support this position.
Responding to objections to local congregations "calling" ministers, Mueller
also quotes Luther as follows on page 572 of Christian Dogmatics.
"a. Not the local churches, but the apostles (Paul, Barnabas, Titus)
‘ordained elders in every church,’ Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5, To this objection
Luther replies (St. L., XIX, 347): ‘Although Paul commanded Titus to ‘ordain
elders in every city,’ Titus 1:5, it does not follow that Titus did this in an
arbitrary manner; but he, after the example of the apostles, appointed them after their
election by the people; otherwise the command of Paul would be in conflict with the
general custom of the apostles.’"
Pastors who despise Voter Supremacy ignore the above information and deceive people
into believing that it was Walther who first led church members to vote in a divinely
ordained assembly "about 1,850 years later." They keep giving lay people a
reason to fear that the term "Confessional Lutheran Pastor" really means slave
master.
The Bible teaches that the secular government (Rom. 13:14) is divinely instituted by
God, but these Hyper-Euro-Lutheran pastors will not agree that the congregational
Voters’ Assembly is divinely instituted by God. While it is true the term
"Voters’ Assembly" does not appear in the Bible that is what we have called
the congregational gathering that issues "divine calls," judges doctrine,
excommunicates, and absolves in Matt. 18:17, 1Cor 5:13, Acts 6:5. We also know the word
"Trinity" does not appear in the Bible but we know it is described in the Bible.
Should the LCMS now teach that "divine calls" into the office of pastor come
from groups that are not divinely instituted? In this case, the Plumbers' Union has just
as much right to issue "divine calls" to LCMS pastors. If the Voters’
Assemblies are not divinely instituted, they couldn’t possibly issue divine calls and
none of the LCMS clergy are really pastors, including Rev. Stefanski.
The Voters are the church. Christ said "Tell it to the church" (Matt.18:17)
but he did not mean that women (1Cor.14:34, 1Tim.2:12, Eph.5:22, 1Pet.3:1) and children
(Eph. 6:1, Col.3:20) had equal authority with their husbands and parents. We don't poll
the Sunday School, Quilters, or even the Men’s Club to issue a "divine
call," judge doctrine, or decide cases of excommunication.
According to Matt. 18:17, the local congregation is comprised of people who sit in
judgment by divine right and hear cases presented to them according to Christ’s
command when He says "tell it to the church". Melanchthon quotes Matt. 18:17 in
"The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope" in the Concordia Triglotta,
where he says "the church is above the ministers," (par. 11, page 507, par 24-25
page 511).
Therefore, the voice of the Voters’ Assembly must be synonymous with the
"church" in Matthew 18:17. However, I fear that the Hyper-Euro-Lutheran pastors
each believe they are "the church" in Matt.18:17. This is the real heresy.
Again, Walther clearly understood the Voters' Assembly to be the same group identified
in "tell it to the church" as found in Matt. 18:17, 1Cor.5:13, and 1Cor.14:34.
This is why women were not to vote, because it says in 1Cor. 14:34 "Let your women
keep silent in all the churches...." Walther understood the "churches" in
1Cor.14:34 to be a plural of the "church" in Matt. 18:17, and 1Cor.5:13. The
Voters are the "church," not the full number of baptized members but the full
number of those who have the authority to vote (if they all show up).
The true church is recognized by its confession and use of the Word and Sacraments. The
Voters’ Assembly confesses and authorizes the use of these things in the
congregation. When Christ says "tell it to the church" in Matt. 18:17, He is not
talking about excommunication during a worship service. Yet, this is a divine assembly
because Christ says He is present "where two or three are gathered together in my
name..." Matt 18:20.
In 1Cor.5:4 Paul says the excommunication should take place "In the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our
Lord Jesus Christ,...." This blessed assembly, divinely instituted by Christ, also
has the power to absolve in Christ’s name. Christ also says of this "divinely
instituted" assembly, "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven."( Mat. 18:18) Only divinely instituted assemblies can forgive sins in the
name of Christ. I pray that God rid the Synod of all pastors who would rob the
Synod’s Voters’ Assemblies of their God given authority and deny their divine
institution.
Just as some Christians as members of the royal priesthood have never exercised their
God given authority to absolve another Christian’s sins, there are also congregations
that have surrendered their authority to meet as a Voters’ Assembly. This, however,
in no way nullifies the authority God gives to all Christian congregations.
Why do so many pastors now reject Walther and call the "Voters' Assembly" an
optional human invention? The answer is obvious. They are transferring the authority God
has invested in the "church" to themselves. They think the "Sacrament of
Ordination" makes them God's chosen lords over the congregation.
No pastor that God called through a congregation ever saw the day that he was equal to
the congregation in authority or vote according to the Lutheran Confessions in the
Treatise (paragraphs 11, 24-25).
The Hyper-Euro-Lutherans have been inhaling too much incense. Here is the spirit of
anarchy. Stefanski marginalizes the Voters’ Assembly as an adiaphora (things neither
required nor forbidden by Scripture) when he writes, Quotation
removed per author's request.
From this statement Stefanski gives himself the option to take or not to take orders
from the congregation on issues that are within the boundaries of his Call Document and
the Church Constitution in defiance of the Scripture and the Confessions.
This is exactly what I expect from Hyper-Euro-Lutherans. The Bible says that the pastor
and the congregation are always under the authority of God's Word and that the pastor is
also under the authority of the Voters' Assembly according to Matt. 18:17. It says
"tell it to the church." As the final step in church discipline it doesn't say
"tell it to the pastor." The pastor is not the church!
The response by the Synodical President to the Hyper-Euro-Lutheran Pastors who seek to
disenfranchise Voters’ Assemblies is the same as in the Wayzata case. In that case
the President agreed that Pastor Nordlie taught false doctrine in justification but
Nordlie will not be removed because, "Unfortunately, the problems in Pastor
Nordlie’s preaching and teaching are not unique to Pastor Nordlie."
The President faces the same situation with pastors claiming that LCMS Voters’
Assemblies are not found in Scripture and are therefore adiaphora. According to Stefanski,
after 152 years, the lay people must discover what Walther taught in "The True
Visible Church" and "The Form of a Christian Congregation" was based on
human opinion.
The early church had the same opinion as published in "The Ante-Nicene
Fathers" Vol. VII. page 381, footnote 18(3) and (4) on IICor.8:19. "...(3) The
word ‘kyrotoneo’ is here used in the sense of ‘elect’ or
‘appoint’ (by show of hands), and not in that of ‘ordained’ (by laying
on of hands). The former is the New Testament sense (Acts xiv:23; 2Cor.viii.19), also in
Ignatius; the latter sense is found in ‘Apostolic Canons,’ i. (4) The choice by
the people also indicate an early period."
"A Greek -English Lexicon of the New Testament" by Bauer, Arndt and
Gingrich" states on page 889 as the first meaning for "kyrotoneo",
"choose, elect by raising hands..."
"A Theological Dictionary of the New Testament" by Kittel, in Vol.IX, page
437 has the first meaning for "kyrotoneo", "1. Raising the hand to express
agreement in a vote...." It also gives numerous citations from ancient Greek
literature.
"A Greek-English Lexicon Revised" by Liddell & Scott, published by Oxford
states, "kyrotoneo" means "Stretch out the hand, for the purpose of giving
one’s vote in the assembly...." There also are voluminous citations from ancient
Greek literature supporting this interpretation on page 1986.
"The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyeri and other
Non-Literary Sources" by Moullton & Milligan state "kyrotoneo" means
"Stretch out the hand," then "elect by show of hands...." It also
cites examples from the early church regarding election and ordination.
J. T. Mueller Christian Dogmatics, page 572 "There are indeed weighty reasons why
Luther’s explanation should be believed and accepted. In the first place, the text
(Acts 14:23) itself suggests the calling of elders by a popular vote
("kyrotoneo", not "constitutebant" (Vulgate), but rather
"stimmwaehlen" (Meyer), that is to say, having chosen them by the raising of
hands. In the second place, it was the general custom of the apostles, Acts 6:2-6, to have
the "whole multitude" (pan to playthos) elect by popular vote the ministers of
the churches (Stephen, Philip, etc., Acts 6:5). For this reason we rightly infer that the
verb "kyrotoneo" (to stretch forth the hand, to elect by the raising of hands,
("durch Aufheben der Hand abstimmen") has this special meaning both in Acts
14:23 and 2Cor. 8:19 ("the brother chosen of the churches.) The apostles, then,
ordained elders not arbitrarily, by their mere apostolic authority (Loehe), but with
direct consent and by active cooperation of the local churches."