LWF President Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan addresses the Council 2013. © LWF/M. Haas
LWF President Younan’s Opening Address to 2013 Council Meeting
(LWI) – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) President Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan has reminded member churches of the global Lutheran communion that God calls them into a discipleship of equals as they accompany one another in their respective contexts and serve the world.
In his opening address to the 2013 meeting of the LWF Council, Younan told representatives of LWF member churches, “I am convinced that discipleship is a concept that we need to reclaim as we seek to accompany one another as we participate in God’s redeeming and reconciling mission.” The LWF governing body is meeting 13-18 June, at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva, under the theme “Called to Be Disciples in Today’s World.” The 167 participants include Council members, advisers and invited guests, and LWF staff.
In his presentation, the LWF president reflected on the biblical and Lutheran understanding on discipleship and how the call to follow Christ (Matthew 28:19) is lived out today amidst contexts of economic inequalities, different interpretations of Scripture and witnessing as churches in situations where religious freedom is oppressed.
On who can be a disciple, Younan, who is bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) emphasized that faithfulness is not determined by individual actions or decisions, but by belonging to the community of believers. He challenged churches in the Lutheran communion to “reject any attempt to claim that one person or group is a better follower of Jesus than another. […] We are in mission and diakonia together.” The Lutheran understanding of simul iustus et peccator (justified and sinner at the same time) emphasizes each in equal measure before God, he stressed.
The depth of discipleship cannot be measured only in terms of the ability to respond materially to people’s needs around the globe, Younan argued. As churches accompany one another, they must ensure that the resources within the Lutheran communion are used to effectively promote the flourishing of human communities. Wealth, he added, must never be sanctified as a sign of discipleship.
Younan said preparations to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, presented an opportunity to revisit Lutherans’ foundational commitments—to be in the spirit of the reformation as disciples, including the ecumenical commitment to all Christian families. “The Lutheran recognition that we are ecclesia semper reformanda, a church to be always reformed, is a sign of our humility calling us to discipleship,” he noted.
Religious Freedom, Extremism and Persecution
On discipleship and religious freedom, the ELCJHL bishop noted that the question of relationships between religious and civil authority are existential for many LWF member churches, whether living in societies of Christian numerical majorities or minorities. Christian discipleship is a public act and churches are called to contribute to society and to be recognized as citizens with equal rights and equal responsibilities, he said.
Still the commitment to discipleship calls the Lutheran communion to reflect on its response to religious freedom, the realities of persecution, the question of mission, and engaging the world’s governments, Younan noted.
Reflecting on the situation of Christian minorities in the Arab and Muslim world, the Palestinian bishop noted that the question of protected autonomous minorities is not only restricted to Christians but also to Muslims living in Europe and other parts of the world. Lutherans’ commitment to support not only the freedom of worship but also the freedom of conviction includes working against extreme secularism alongside religious extremism. “We must explore what it means to have freedom of religion for ourselves and for others,” he added.
Younan urged LWF’s commitment and solidarity towards churches that are suffering as a result of new movements within Muslim communities in countries such as Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria and Pakistan. He underlined the Middle East as one region where Christianity is under existential threat, especially in Syria, and called for LWF’s accompaniment to churches in that region.
The question of discipleship is connected directly with the nature of mission, the LWF president said. Contextual discipleship calls churches back to contextual mission as they respond to the evangelical call to transform “our world from extremism to moderation.”
Strengthening Protection
Referring to LWF’s cooperation with civil government to protect and uphold the rights of the needy, Younan commended to the Council the document “Welcoming the Stranger: Affirmations for Faith Leaders,” which was adopted on 12 June by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and faith-based non-governmental organizations including the LWF. A first in global humanitarian response work, the declaration sets out principles to guide faith leaders in strengthening protection for the more than 40 million refugees, internally displaced, and stateless people across the globe.
Concluding his address, Younan reminded the global communion of Lutheran churches that the call to follow Jesus Christ is not an easy path, but one that intimately leads to the cross. “Disciples of Christ do not make their own separate club, but are sent into the world by the one who chose to come into the world,” he added.
