At the Synod Convention in Phoenix a few weeks ago, and in various other places recently, I’ve heard people refer to the “broad freedom” that we have with respect to worship practices. At least in some of these cases, I have sensed a deliberate echoing of President Harrison’s recent Lutheran Witness article, in which he describes the “liturgical freedom” that the Church possesses in the faith of the Gospel. What has been missing in those instances has been the other key point in President Harrison’s article, namely, that our freedom is “tempered by love” in relation to our neighbors in the world (“The Lutheran Way: Liturgical Freedom Tempered by Love,” Lutheran Witness June/July 2026, 4-5). Others have simply pointed to Article VII of the Augsburg Confession and Article X of the Formula of Concord, in which we rightly acknowledge and affirm the “broad freedom” that we have in adiaphora, that is to say, in those practices which God has neither commanded nor forbidden. The true unity of the Church is found, not in those matters of freedom, but in the pure preaching and true teaching of the Gospel, and in the faithful administration of the Holy Sacraments as instituted by Christ Jesus in accordance with that Holy Gospel.
As I indicated in an earlier “Earthen Vessels” article, back in June, our Lutheran Confessions do have more to say on these matters than simply a recognition of those “broad freedoms” in adiaphora. And as I’ve continued to reflect upon the persistence with which our Confessions advocate for the keeping of traditional church customs and ceremonies, it has seemed to me that the key to understanding these seemingly divergent points of emphasis is found in Luther’s frequent distinction between “faith toward God” and “fervent love toward one another” (articulated in his familiar post-Communion Collect).
One of the things that President Harrison highlighted in his Lutheran Witness article was Dr. Luther’s popular aphorism from his treatise on “The Freedom of a Christian” (Luther’s Works AE 31, Fortress Press 1957, pages 327-377): “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all” (page 344). The apparent contradiction is understood in the difference between our relationship with God – by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone – and our relationships with other people, which are governed by the law of love (Romans 13:8-10). Our standing before God (coram Deo) rests upon Christ and does not depend at all upon our own works or sacrifices of any kind; whereas our vocations in this body and life are guided and governed by the Word of God and the needs of our neighbors. Significantly, Dr. Luther brings these same points to bear upon the question of worship practice in “A Christian Exhortation to the Livonians Concerning Public Worship and Concord (June 17, 1525)” (Luther’s Works AE 53, Fortress Press 1965, pages 41-50).
Dr. Luther develops the point throughout the exhortation – that Christians are perfectly free lords of all (before God), yet dutiful servants subject to all (in relation to their neighbors) – but a short excerpt gives the gist of his argument succinctly:
“Even though external rites and orders—such as masses, singing, reading, baptizing—add nothing to salvation, yet it is un-Christian to quarrel over such things and thereby to confuse the common people. We should consider the edification of the lay folk more important than our own ideas and opinions. Therefore, I pray all of you, my dear sirs, let each one surrender his own opinions and get together in a friendly way and come to a common decision about these external matters, so that there will be one uniform practice throughout your district instead of disorder—one thing being done here and another there—lest the common people get confused and discouraged. For even though from the viewpoint of faith, the external orders are free and can without scruples be changed by anyone at any time, yet from the viewpoint of love, you are not free to use this liberty, but bound to consider the edification of the common people. . . .” (Luther’s Works AE 53, Fortress Press 1965, page 47).
The point, of course, is relatively simple, even if working it out in our life together is sometimes difficult. Our Confessions stress the importance of separating the forgiveness of sins, justification, and salvation from any and all of our works, while also urging the appropriate benefits to be found in the consistency and unity of practice across the external fellowship of the Church on earth. The Book of Concord has a helpful way of distinguishing these concerns, if one compares the difference between the “true unity” of the Church – found solely in the preaching and administration of the Gospel (Augsburg Confession VII) – and the “public unity” of the Church in the keeping of traditional customs and ceremonies, as expressed in the conclusion of Article XV in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession:
“We teach that freedom should be so controlled that the inexperienced may not be offended and, because of freedoms’ abuse (Romans 14:13-23), may not become more opposed to the true doctrine of the Gospel. Nothing in customary rites should be changed without a reasonable cause. So to nurture unity, old customs that can be kept without sin or great inconvenience should be kept. In this very assembly we have shown well enough that for love’s sake we do not refuse to keep adiaphora with others, even though they may be burdensome. We have judged that such public unity, which could indeed be produced without offending consciences, should be preferred” (Apology XV.51-52).