A Letter to Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Laymen
                    Who Wrote Asking about Promise Keepers


                                March 29, 1996
                                              
 Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 I have been away from St. Louis on vacation for the past couple of weeks,
 following a meeting in Orlando, Florida. Since returning I have been working
 through the correspondence which has gathered on my desk, including your
 letter. I want to thank you for your wise and thoughtful questions about the
 Promise Keepers movement (PK). I appreciate this chance to offer some
 observations to you by way of response. Needless to say this letter can only
 touch on some of the key points you raise, but I hope it will provide some
 input for your ongoing study and thinking on these things.

 The PK movement has swept across a number of different Protestant
 denominations and has also included a number of LCMS men. There is little
 doubt in my mind that the themes PK is sounding about our men being faithful
 to their calling in Christ to be good and pious fathers and husbands is both
 necessary and important. As I think about the PK movement it makes me aware of
 the fact that perhaps in some of our congregations men have not been provided
 the sort of opportunities they may desire to grow in their understanding of
 God's Holy Word and in their love for and commitment to their Lord and Savior
 Jesus Christ. I think that for these two reasons the PK movement has been a
 helpful thing for our Synod, a sort of "wake up" call for us. I would also
 want very much to encourage and commend you and your fellow brothers in Christ
 to be men who are deeply in the Word and prayer. It was good to read that you
 are involved in regular Bible study, fellowship and prayer. That is fantastic.

 In your letter you do raise a number of important concerns about the PK
 movement. I have watched the PK movement develop. The background of the
 movement is important for us to understand. It traces its theological roots to
 the Pentecostal movement. For instance, the magazine of the PK movement
 features many advertisements from charismatic and pentecostal organizations.
 The magazine itself is published by individuals who have been associated with
 a popular charismatic magazine called Charisma. So, we need to be cautious as
 we hear the PK movement's doctrinal assertions.

 The PK movement very purposefully de-emphasizes the importance of complete
 faithfulness to the Word of God. They tend to overlook differences between
 denominations as not all that important. The Holy Scriptures time and again
 urge us to be completely faithful to all that Jesus has given to us, this
 would include not merely a simplistic acknowledgement of God or of Christ, but
 a full understanding of God's Word, in all its particularity, including the
 the proper distinction between Law and Gospel, the proper understanding of
 justification and sanctification, the doctrines of infant baptism, Holy
 Communion and so forth. The PK movement tends to view specific doctrinal
 points of disagreement as non essential, unimportant and thus able to be
 overlooked. It is especially important that both our pastors and laypeople
 recognize that PK obscures the Gospel through its confusion of Law and Gospel
 and its misunderstanding of the relationship of the doctrine of justication
 with the doctrine of sanctification. All this factors into the PK movement's
 emphasis on unity without the necessary agreement in doctrine. This would
 explain why the PK movement offered Holy Communion to a very diverse crowd of
 people at the PK clergy conference recently held in Atlanta. Differences must
 be ignored in order to facilitate this sort of ecumenical gathering, which we
 would describe as unionistic. Because God commands us to be faithful to the
 whole counsel of His word it is both dishonest and insincere for us to pretend
 that differences do not "matter" or are "insignificant" and thus join in
 fellowship with those who do not accept the teachings of the Word on whatever
 the subject might be, the sacraments or the doctrine of regeneration, or
 justification, faith, sanctification and all the rest. The PK movement
 downplays differences in these key areas and tries to reduce everything to a
 very simplistic formulaic approach to the Faith. The PK movement tends to
 accept the notion that there is a "generic" sort of Christianity to which the
 various denominations add their particular emphases, sort of like a "base" of
 paint to which various colors are added to give the paint the particular color
 desired. This is a common charismatic/evangelical/protestant sort of
 misunderstanding of the nature of God's Word as a body of teaching, whole and
 complete, which one either confesses completely or denies in particular
 places. You have identified some of the key problem points with the PK
 movement. And these are not minor little things, but very major and
 significant issues which have divided the Christian church, tragically, these
 many centuries. Overlooking differences is not an option for the faithful man
 of God. Recognizing them and realizing that in this life we may have to
 separate over them is a responsible choice, as opposed to simply "agreeing to
 disagree" and then neglecting these divisive issues. Until we are led by God's
 Spirit to agree on these various issues on the basis of agreement about the
 teaching of Scripture, we may not express a oneness which does not yet exist.

 It is for this reason that there have been wise cautions and warnings
 expressed about the PK movement. For a confessing Lutheran the PK movement has
 both advantages and disadvantages. If the PK movement rouses a Lutheran man to
 a desire to be more deeply involved in his congregation, in the life of his
 family, in his relationship to his wife, we can only but praise the Lord for
 this blessing. On the other hand, if the PK movement tends to move a Lutheran
 man away from his commitment to the specific teachings of the Scriptures and
 the Lutheran Confessions, as he has come to know them through his study of the
 Small Catechism, this would be a distinct disadvantage and a dangerous
 tendency. For we recognize that whenever we begin to overlook and/or consider
 differences of insignificance, we are tempted to move away from the very
 Gospel itself. This Gospel is brought to us by the Holy Spirit as he works in
 our lives through the very concrete realities of the preaching of God's Word,
 through the Holy Baptism given to us, through the absolution pronounced by our
 pastor and through the very body and blood of our Lord which we receive in the
 Lord's Supper. The "tragic irony" for me in the PK movement is that it is
 attempting to bring men into a very real and tangible relationship with their
 Lord, but by misunderstanding and purposefully overlooking the Sacraments, the
 PK movement is steering men from the means appointed by God to draw us closer
 to Himself. And this is just one important doctrinal concern with the PK
 movement.

 Well, rather than let this letter become any longer than it already is, I will
 conclude at this point. I would like to encourage you study your Small
 Catechism, to use the rich liturgical and devotional resources you find in the
 hymnal of our church, to dig deeply into theology, perhaps using a college
 textbook on doctrine, which I am sure your pastor could recommend. Continue
 steadfast in prayer with each other and for one another, as you meditate on
 God's Holy Word. The Psalms are a particularly rich source for prayer and
 meditation. I can't even begin to describe to you all the blessings I have
 received from the Lord as I have been in His Word daily, in prayer and private
 study.

 Finally, I would like to encourage you to receive counsel from your pastor, as
 your called servant in the Lord. Please visit with him about these things and
 continue to encourage him in his ministry for you and among you. God bless and
 keep you always.


 With kindest personal regards,



 Dr. A. L. Barry 
 Jude 24-25
 
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