By Fred Sanders
The Scriptorium
May 30 is the best day to commemorate the Theological Declaration of
Barmen, the document in which the Confessing Church in Germany in 1934
drew the line against the steadily-advancing incursions of Nazi ideology
into the life of the church. Karl Barth was the primary author of most
of the text of the short confession of faith, which has been widely
recognized as a classic statement on the limits of government
interference in the church’s mission.
Each of the six theses of
Barmen follow the format: Scripture passage, theological affirmation,
theological denial. They move, therefore, toward more specific
application to the charged situation of 1934. Sometimes quoting the
Bible doesn’t get the point across; sometimes even saying what you take
the Bible to mean by the words you are quoting doesn’t get the point
across. Sometimes nobody can tell what point you’re trying to make until
you follow the line of thought all the way out to being explicit about
what you deny.
So in the sixth and final article, after quoting
the Biblical statements that the church is to teach the nations what
Christ has commanded, and that the word of God is not bound, Barmen
affirms: “The Church’s commission, upon which its freedom is founded,
consists in delivering the message of the free grace of God to all
people in Christ’s stead, and therefore in the ministry of his own Word
and work through sermon and sacrament.”
And then the declaration
follows that with the necessary denial: “We reject the false doctrine,
as though the Church in human arrogance could place the Word and work of
the Lord in the service of any arbitrarily chosen desires, purposes,
and plans.” In 1934, the Confessing Church was guarding itself against
“arbitrarily chosen desires” having to do with a neo-pagan religion of
German racial greatness. But what makes the statement classic is that it
is so sharply phrased that it cuts to the heart of a myriad of church
problems.
Once when my family had recently moved to a new town, we
were in our “find a good church” phase of church visiting. We tried a
nearby mainline church and could tell immediately that the people in
charge had no idea why Christians are supposed to gather together on
Sunday morning. They had a variety of good causes to support, and were
generally very positive, uplifting people with an encouraging message.
But it wasn’t the gospel, so we left after one visit and never looked
back. In retrospect, I suppose I knew in advance what goes on in most
mainline churches, but I get optimistic anytime I see the name of the
denomination where I got saved.
For a few Sundays we attended an
evangelical church that did a much better job at proclaiming the message
of Christ, but one Sunday we were surprised to find the entire service
structured around affirming the giftings of people in the congregation
who had physical disabilities. I was moved by the stories I heard, and I
could see the value of taking special time for this good cause. What I
couldn’t see, though, was sacrificing the main weekly meeting to do so.
When the people of God gather around the word of God, they are supposed
to know what to do. They are not supposed to have free days on their
calendar to devote to a variety of good causes that occur to them.
That’s
when Barmen echoed in my ears: “as though the Church in human arrogance
could place the Word and work of the Lord in the service of any
arbitrarily chosen desires, purposes, and plans.” Affirming people with
disabilities is a good thing to do. But compared to a clear, faithful,
and consistent proclamation of what the Bible is about, it seems like
such an arbitrarily chosen purpose. Aren’t there about 50 other good
causes that we could devote other Sundays to? And if so, will we ever
get around to the Word and work of the Lord for its own sake?
The
Barmen Declaration’s great value is its powerful reminder that the
Church already has a commission. It is not looking around the modern
world to find out what it should do. We have been told what to do: Teach
the nations what Christ has commanded us, because he is with us to the
end of the world, and the word of God is not bound.
