The Leprosy
of Unionism
By Dr. Theodore Graebner
- 1918 -
(See “NOTE” at end of article)
In all the catalog of diseases there is no more awful scourge than
leprosy. True leprosy is incurable. In Bible times the lepers were considered,
in a special sense, unclean. They were shut out from the temple, the
synagogues, and to a large extent from the social life of their fellow-beings.
Their lot was truly pitiable. The tubercular blotches on the skin, soon
covering the cheeks, the nose, the lips and the forehead; then the ulcers in
the mouth, followed soon by the tubercles on the face, encrusted with
discharge; the falling out of the eyebrows, the ulceration of feet and hands,
the progressive loss of fingers and toes, then of arms and limbs made leprosy
the most dreaded of all diseases. It ended usually by the onset of
tuberculosis, or led to mental decay, idiocy, coma and death.
There is a spiritual leprosy. We commonly call it unionism. Unionism is a
diseased condition of the church. And it is a fatal disease. It ends in
spiritual tuberculosis or a state of coma, the precursor of spiritual death. Moreover
– and this makes the present subject so vital – we all have within us the germs
of unionism. (NOTE: Unionism is church
fellowship without unity in doctrine and practice.)
I.
THE GERMS
“. . . In my flesh dwelleth no good thing” (Romans
When we confess Christ, we must bear reproach. And we can confess Christ
in no other way than by confessing the truth as He taught it. But confession of
the truth by word of mouth is inseparable from confession by deed and practice.
Even if there were no single text in Scripture which commands us to separate
ourselves from those who deny any part of the truth, we should still, by inner
necessity, if we are faithful disciples, bear witness against error through the
testimony of withdrawal from false teachers and their followers. Jesus says
that He has come not to bring peace, but division (Luke
But here our spirit is put to a sore test. Separation from those who
teach falsely will inevitably expose us to slurs and bitter reproach: “Pharisees!”
“Holier-than-thou Christians!” is hurled at us. “A loveless Christianity!”
“Proud aloofness!” “Unchristian intolerance!” These are bitter words, and our
flesh is weak; we are tempted to look for some means of escape from such
reproach. And that is the entering wedge of unionism!
Satan sees his opportunity. “Yea, hath God said?” (Genesis 3:1). Doubts
arise: “Is it really necessary to stand so uncompromisingly on details of
doctrine? Are not some doctrines difficult to understand? Is it not reasonable to
suppose that Christians may “honestly differ,” because the Word of God “has
left some things obscure?” Why then be separate from those who at least hold
the “great essentials” of Christianity in common with us?
We recognize the serpent’s hiss and strike down the tempter with the
Sword of the Spirit: “It is written!” (Matthew 4). The teachings of the Word of
God are not a vague, luminous mist, but a clear, steady light. We re-examine
the Scriptures and confess that in all its teachings the Bible is indeed, as
Luther called it, “The clearest book ever written.”
No, we cannot yield. The simple words of Scripture are too powerful; the
Truth is ours, and those who deny it depart from the evident sense of the
inspired Word. There can be no compromise. “Get thee behind me, Satan!”
(Matthew 16:23). Thus we can escape the infection.
II.
THE EPIDEMIC
Without question, there is an epidemic of unionism raging in the body of
Protestantism. There is an impatient demand: “Away with creeds; away with
doctrine!” “The denominational wall must fall.” “Christianity has no room for
sects.” This is the cry of so-called Christianity of our day.
Our Synodical Conference, of which the Missouri Synod is part, has so far
stood four-square against unionism. Will it continue to stand? Will it resist
the tremendous pressure exerted by those who plead for unity, regardless of
doctrinal agreement? Will it continue to offset the inroads of unbelief and to
oppose aggression of Romanism? Will it remain 100 percent Lutheran?
(COMMENTARY: This article was
written in 1918. Unfortunately, the questions must be answered in the negative.
The Synodical Conference officially dissolved in 1967. It had succumbed to
unionism!)
III.
THE RAVAGES OF UNIONISM
Once we admit that the Word of God has not clearly spoken on points of
Christian doctrine, and “the lid is off,” faith disintegrates and rationalism
rules. Unionism works just like leprosy. First the disfigurement – the entrance
of unscriptural views and practices, then the decay of doctrinal preaching,
followed by the sloughing off of one teaching after another, until the
church-body is a walking death.
Behold the final state of such a church: Because they tolerated error in
their midst and permitted their faithful churches and pastors to remain in
fellowship with unfaithful churches and pastors, the representatives of the
so-called conservative element of the Reformed Churches round about are
helpless over against the inroads of unbelief. The official publishing house of
the Methodists is publishing Sunday School literature which is absolutely
unchristian. Everywhere sectarian preachers are openly denying the very
fundamentals of Christian doctrine. Churches are rapidly degenerating into
agencies of political reform, and in many cases have given up even the pretense
to a spiritual mission. Such churches are dying of spiritual tuberculosis, the
final stage of spiritual leprosy – unionism.
IV.
THE CURE
Unionism is a disease which is 100 percent fatal. The outward
organization sometimes continued to exist after the spiritual life had flown,
but Christ, the Life of the Church, was no longer there. His Spirit had fled
the polluted sanctuary. In the days of Isaiah, the Jews had arrived at this
stage.
True Christians there will always be where there are Bible-readers; but
the organism dies. A church may be re-born, reformed, built up anew out of the
debris of its former self, but that has ever been the case only after unionism
had worked its final result, spiritual death. The place for unionistic
Christianity is not the sanitarium, but the morgue.
V.
PREVENTION
The
No one believes that any Missouri Synod man would dare to propose at this
time (1918) official synodical collaboration with the Reformed sects in
church-work. That is a late development at which one does not arrive at a jump.
On the other hand, the danger is ever present that on the specious plea of
advancing the cause of “Lutheranism,” we be tempted to enter into fellowship
with members of synods Lutheran in name, but only partly Lutheran in doctrine
and practice. There is danger that we get a taste of applause and flattery;
that we become eager for “recognition” as a great church-body; that we
compromise our doctrinal stand for the purpose of meeting emergencies. And the
time to become aware of that danger is now.
It is a bad sign when hearers become angry at their pastor for “preaching
against other churches.” It is a worse sign when pastors, bowing to such
disapproval, begin to withhold instructions concerning the errors of the sects.
It is a most alarming symptom when pastors and parishoners fraternize with
those who represent a different conception of Lutheranism. It becomes denial of
the Truth when they associate with such for the purpose of “making church work
more effective” or “keeping the
As we love our church, let us so teach our people so that they will fear
the contagion of error as they would fear to breathe the air of a small-pox
hospital. Let us exhibit to them the damnableness of false doctrine. Let us
preach Luther on this point He saw only the work of Satan in every deviation
from the truth of Scripture. If our people learn to recognize every false
doctrine as a snare of the devil, spread to catch victims for hell, they will
not need to be held with a rein lest they stampede into unionism.
Let it be understood that any undertaking or activity which is, in
effect, the doing of religious work jointly with those from whom we ought,
according to Scripture, to separate, is unionism. Here, if ever, the old
sayings must apply: “Nip the evil in the bud.” Our first duty is that of
watchfulness. There is no higher duty now because there is no greater danger.
NOTE: Dr. Theo Graebner, the
author of this essay, was for many years a professor at Concordia Lutheran
Seminary,
We regret that Dr. Graebner did
not continue in this same firm position in the later years of his life. This,
however does not affect the soundness of his former testimony, including also
the fine witness he bears in the above article.
This article was originally
reproduced by the now-sainted Rev. Waldemar Schuetze, pastor at the time in
Daniel Fleischer - 1995
ADDENDUM:
“The more things change, the more
they stay the same.” Unionism has infected just about every church today,
including Lutheran Churches. It is a continual threat to our own! It is
essential for each of us to study and know the Bible and its teachings. For,
unless we know what we believe, we cannot speak. Unless we believe what we
teach, we will not have the will to stand up for it. We are called upon to
proclaim the Truth in love. Conversely, it is not love if we do not speak the
Truth.
The heart of all that the Lord
has commissioned us to preach is the Gospel. The principle of fellowship set
forth in Scripture serves the cause of the Gospel. Christians will practice the
principle out of love for God and His Word. It is practiced for the sake of our
children to whom we have a responsibility to pass on the Truth of God. It is
practiced out of love for the neighbor to whom we are to witness in word and
deed.
DF
The question of which articles of doctrine may be yielded and which may not,
or which sins may be tolerated and which may not, should never need to be
asked. If it is, unionism has taken hold; and a person has begun to pick and
choose which parts of God’s Word he accepts and which he rejects or, at least,
is willing to give up for the sake of outward unity and peace in this world.
Once a surrender of the truth begins, there is no end to it.
Yes, it is true that our focus should be on the preaching of the cross of
Christ, but that does not give excuse to set aside or disobey other points of
Christian doctrine. What God has said we are to continue to say!
Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore
shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the
glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).
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rlm