Official Workbook PDF page source text

LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 318

2026 Convention Workbook
283NATIONAL WITNESS
Resolved, That the district in convention direct its circuit visitors 
to include program time during a minimum of one circuit meeting 
each year to discuss outreach; and be it further 
Resolved, That the district direct the evangelism executive to 
resource a self-assessment tool that will be sent to the evangelism 
chair (or equivalent) in each congregation in order to facilitate 
congregations taking serious and realistic stock of how often and 
how well they employ recurring parish education opportunities 
(including, but not limited to, Bible and catechism classes, youth 
ministry, retreats, etc.) to teach church members key witnessing 
skills (e.g., listening discerningly to unchurched people, beginning 
a spiritual conversation, making a simple statement of the Gospel, 
defending the resurrection), including the provision of opportunity 
to practice such skills; and be it finally 
Resolved, That the district in convention memorialize the Synod 
to do the same as the above at the 2026 Synod convention. 
Oklahoma District 
Ov. 1-12 
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 
W
HEREAS, The propensity of the sinful nature is to engage in 
both self-sufficiency and relativism 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 
W
HEREAS, The Church is commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ 
to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19) through holy Baptism 
and teaching; and 
W
HEREAS, 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 
W
HEREAS, 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 
W
HEREAS, 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’s work 
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 
W
HEREAS, 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 
W
HEREAS, 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, t he 
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 to have a broader 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