A Statement from the President of Synod Regarding Events at Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon, Wis. (CUW) causing concern in the church.

The 8th commandment has become the bureaucrat’s favorite commandment—as a bully stick to bludgeon all discussion, while keeping public matters semi-private and out of the media. It is not gossip that a professor at CUW—an ordained LCMS pastor—was suspended and prevented from teaching. None of the three public statements (from the interim President, district president, and synod president) have given a single reason for this public action. They all state, or insinuate, that this is a private matter. And if a layperson raises his voice, it is gossiping—a sin against the holy God.
Is it merely coincidence that Dr. Schulz was suspended the very week the actions and words of this Concordia’s Presidential Search Committee were publicly exposed in the pages of Christian News? If Dr. Schulz committed sexual immorality or false teaching or any sin, then say it—or reinstate him immediately—then we can put aside the reasonable doubts smited by the seemingly almighty rod of the 8th Commandment. But bad publicity for a Concordia is not a sin, nor is it a private matter. If it is earned, it is good and wholesome and healing.
The 8th Commandment is not the only commandment, despite what some who wish to keep the LCMS out of the secular news may wish. The first three commandments demand that false teaching not be tolerated and God’s name and truth rule supreme. This is a pastor’s and professor’s calling and duty: to expose error and that which is against Christ publicly. Are we to only speak the truth privately, so that no offense is ever given! The Devil would love that.
To speak against false teaching is simply using the Word. The 8th Commandment is not meant to temper godly public discussion! It was not revealed on Mt. Sinai to be a suppression of speaking against the worldly gods of “equity” and “inclusion.” It is not an invisibility cloak for church leaders who act publicly for the visible church.
Are we supposed to blindly trust human leaders and school administrators and not say anything when they boast about these things publicly on their website! This is not a matter of the 8th Commandment—what Dr. Schulz said is in black and white. It is, in reality, a matter of godly outrage at the infiltration of Satan at a school founded to teach godly things.
Does not the school belong to the LCMS? It is not a public thing to teach at and run a school for our children, on behalf of the church. It is not our business? Of course it is, but some would have you think that you are not qualified—that even printed, published proof of worldliness and unbiblical reasoning should be dealt with behind closed doors. If the 8th Commandment is the most important one, that simply means: “the boat shall not be rocked.” That can only be the case for someone who substitutes the 8th Commandment for the first one. —ed.