A Clarion Call to Faithfulness”

1 | Page “A Clarion Call To Faithfulness” A Clarion Call For Faithfulness To The Word And For Faithfulness To The Tenor Of The Gospel A Presentation And Discussion Of Various Concerns That Have Been Raised Recently In Our Midst A “clarion call” is defined as “a strong and clear request for people to do something”. 1 This paper and attendant questions for discussion are intended to be a clarion call to all of the pastors in our Northern Wisconsin District to remain faithful to the Word and at the same time to remain faithful to the tenor2 of the gospel. As Professor Daniel Deutschlander and others have so often said, we must be careful that we do not fall into the ditch on either side of the road when it comes to our doctrine and practice. When it comes to doctrine and practice faithfulness to the Word of God is paramount. Paul‟s second letter to Timothy could be considered a “clarion call” to his ministerial student and co-worker, Timothy, to remain faithful to the Word above all else. Likewise in chapter 4 Paul encourages Timothy to “Preach the Word,”3 because the time would come when people would not put up with sound doctrine. The warnings of the Apostle John in the 22nd chapter of the book of Revelation to remain faithful to the Scriptures likewise emphasize the importance of making faithfulness to the Word “job number one” for all followers of Christ and most certainly for those who shepherd Christ‟s people. At the same time we want to be faithful to the tenor of the gospel. What do I mean by “the tenor of the gospel”? I mean the overall nature or pattern of the gospel. The very nature of the gospel is love. The gospel reflects the love of God for sinners through the redemptive work of Christ. And the gospel urges Christians to likewise reflect the love that God, in Christ, has shown them in everything they do and say. Christ urges his followers to “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”4 The Apostle Paul told the Ephesian Christians that even when we must speak the truth to an individual who may not necessarily want to hear what we have to tell him, we do so in love. “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”5 Luther emphasized the gospel motivation for all that we do and say when, in his explanation of the eighth commandment, he said that we are “to take his (our brother‟s) words and actions in the 1 http.www.The Freedictionary.com 2 Tenor - “the overall nature, pattern, or meaning of something, especially a written or spoken statement” 3 2 Timothy 4:2,3 NIV 1984 by Biblica 4 John 13:33-35 NIV 1984 by Biblica 5 Ephesians 4:14-16 NIV 1984 by Biblica 2 | Page “A Clarion Call To Faithfulness” kindest possible way.”6 Professor J. P. Koehler, one of the men identified with the Wauwatosa Theology, reminds us: “A Christian as such receives the motivation and forms of his actions from the gospel and not the law.” 7 Therefore, if a clarion call is to be made to the brothers in our district for faithfulness, it must be a two-fold call: faithfulness to the Word and at the same time faithfulness to the tenor of the gospel. What is it that has prompted this clarion call to faithfulness, over and above the encouragement that is continually given to all pastors in our synod to “watch your life and doctrine closely”8? Over the past couple of years a number of issues and concerns have been brought before the District Presidium by various individuals, involving doctrine, practice, and approaches to ministry. Some of them were cleared up immediately, some were the result of misunderstandings and miscommunication and were resolved through extensive discussion, some fall under the category of legitimate differences of opinion on approaches to ministry, and some called for continued evangelical warnings to the brethren to help them avoid straying from the Word, the Lutheran Confessions, and the tenor of the gospel It must be stated that at no point in time did the District Presidium find false doctrine being espoused or promoted by anyone. However, through extensive discussion of these matters it became clear that it would be to the benefit of all the brothers in the District to join the discussion, to be the beneficiaries of the fruit of the discussions the District Presidium has already had on these matters, and to receive guidance, direction, and evangelical warning in regard to them, so that we all may continue to be faithful to the Word and faithful to the tenor of the gospel. It is not my intent to get into specifics in regard to the matters that were brought before the District Presidium with names and places. However, a number of general issues warrant discussion among a broader spectrum of and for the benefit of the brethren. The first of these general issues concerns the subject of plagiarism. Plagiarism Plagiarism is defined as: “the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author”9 There are two basic criteria, therefore, for something to actually be considered plagiarism. One is that it is “unauthorized”. In other words, it is the use of someone else‟s material without being granted permission by that individual to do so. The second criterion is that it is the use of someone else‟s material with the purpose of passing it off as your own. “In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward.”10 By definition, then, using someone else‟s material with their permission would not be considered plagiarism per se. The original author could not sue for copyright infringement under those 6 Luther’s Catechism, (Milwaukee: NPH, 1982), 108 7 Koehler, Gesetzlich Wesen Unter Uns, p. 3. 8 1 Timothy 4:16 NIV 1984 by Biblica 9 dictionary.com 10 Wikipedia.com 3 | Page “A Clarion Call To Faithfulness” circumstances, because he has given permission for his material to be used, perhaps even without citation. Doing so could, however, be considered unethical, if the person using the material did not cite the source and then represented the material as his own original work with the intent of deceiving those to whom he is presenting the material. We should note that, “Plagiarism is not a crime per se but is disapproved more on the grounds of moral offense and cases of plagiarism can involve liability for copyright infringement.”11 Wikipedia adds this rather interesting comment about the development of the concept of plagiarism: “the notion (of plagiarism) remains problematic with nebulous boundaries. The modern concept of plagiarism as immoral and originality as an ideal emerged in Europe only in the 18th century, particularly with the Romantic movement, while in the previous centuries authors and artists were encouraged to "copy the masters as closely as possible" and avoid "unnecessary invention.” The 18th century new morals have been institutionalized and enforced prominently in the sectors of academia and journalism, where plagiarism is now considered academic dishonesty and a breach of journalistic ethics, subject to sanctions like expulsion and other severe career damage. Not so in the arts, which not only have resisted in their long-established tradition of copying as a fundamental practice of the creative process but with the boom of the modernist and postmodern movements in the 20th century, this practice has been heightened as the central and representative artistic device. Plagiarism remains tolerated by 21st century artists.”12 While plagiarism is mainly a source of concern in the areas of academics and journalism these days, it can also be a concern in the area of the church and with our ministers of the gospel. Ministers of the gospel should not knowingly and with intent to deceive their hearers or readers pass off someone else‟s material as their own, i.e. plagiarize. We use the word “knowingly” because it is certainly possible to say or write something that you think is original, only to find out that someone else has already said or written it, or something very similar to what you have written. When pastors are all basically preparing sermons from the same text it would not be unusual for one person‟s sermon to be very similar in nature to another‟s. We would also add the phrase “with intent,” because, first of all, that is part of the definition of plagiarism. By definition it involves a fraudulent intent. Someone may use another person‟s material and even have permission to do so without citation, and yet have intent on passing it off as his own to deceive his congregation into thinking that he is doing his own work when he is just reaping the benefit of someone else‟s labor. The bottom line is: plagiarism, as defined, is out of the question for a minister of the gospel, both from the standpoint of stealing someone else‟s material without permission and/or citation and from the standpoint of deliberately deceiving one‟s congregation into thinking that the work that is being presented is original (even though permission may have been given by the author) when that (originality) is what the congregation is expecting from its pastor.

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