That's a strange crisis of conscience. It seems at least one step removed, possibly more, from any possibility of being involved in anything immoral or sinful. What would be the scenario by which the question of whether the voter assembly unit was the family or the individual would make the difference between the decision being God-pleasing or disobedient? Doesn't the vote itself, i.e. the motion voted on, have to be for something unscriptural or sinful for this to come into play at all? Or is the mere fact of a vote occurring without a clear sense of who is voting on behalf of whom itself sinful?
That is no excuse for refusing to accept the Bible's teaching about what the unit of electoral representation in the Voter Assembly of a local congregation is; and it makes no difference whether the particular AFFAIR or QUESTION that the voter assembly is voting on is intrinsically sinful or not. Even if the particular DECISION that the congregation made by majority vote on a particular affair on which they had been voting had been lawful or right, it still wouldn't make it right for any member of the Voter Assembly to deny the Bible's clear teaching about what the unit of electoral representation in the Voter Assembly of a local congregation is.
If the Bible clearly and plainly teaches that the unit of electoral representation in the Voter Assembly of a local congregation is the individual, well then we must accept that teaching and reject all other opinions to the contrary. Even if the particular DECISION that the congregation made by majority vote on a particular affair on which they had been voting had been lawful or right, it still wouldn't make it right for any member of the Voter Assembly to deny the Bible's clear teaching about whether the unit of electoral representation in the Voter Assembly of a local congregation is the individual or the family.
If the Bible clearly and plainly teaches that the unit of electoral representation in the Voter Assembly of a local congregation is the family, well then we must accept that teaching and reject all other opinions to the contrary. Even if the particular DECISION that the congregation made by majority vote on a particular affair on which they had been voting had been lawful or right, it still wouldn't make it right for any member of the Voter Assembly to deny the Bible's clear teaching about whether the unit of electoral representation in the Voter Assembly of a local congregation is the individual or the family.
My first case of conscience which I proposed, actually turns out to be CRUCIAL for deciding the OTHER two cases of conscience to wit:
2: According to the teachings of the Bible and Lutheran Confessions, are adult sons (i.e. at least 21 years old) living with their father eligible to vote in the same Voter Assembly of the SAME local congregation as their father, or is that contrary to their duty of obedience to their father?
3: In light of the teachings of the Bible and Lutheran Confessions, especially including that part of the Table of Duties which prescribes it to be the duty of servants to be obedient to their masters, are male servants living in the household of their male master of the house to vote in the same Voter Assembly of the SAME local congregation as their master, or is that a violation of the plain Scriptural precepts which teach that servants MUST obey their masters?
But here is a more precise and fully detailed statement of Cases 2 and 3 of Conscience:
Case II - Voter Assemblies and the Case of Adult Children living with their Fathers: A male member of some Confessional Lutheran congregation is a Voting Member of that congregation, and he has a wife, but no daughters, but only two sons, both of which are of the minimum age necessary to be eligible to vote in the congregation. But both of them are still living with their father and neither of these two sons has yet found a woman he would like to marry, and they are still searching. The Bible prescribes that sons (and daughters) should obey their fathers as head of the home. Thus, according to the teachings of the Bible, Lutheran Confessions, and the doctrinal teachings of C. F. W. Walther on Church Polity, will these two sons be eligible to be members of the Voter Assembly and vote in the congregation alongside with their father? Or will that be contrary to their duty of obedience to their father? Explain why or why not, using sound proofs of the Bible, Lutheran Confessions, and the writings of C. F. W. Walther & the writings of the old German LC-MS synod before the year 1969.
Case III - Voter Assemblies and the Relationship between Masters and Domestic Servants living in the same Household: In some confessional Lutheran congregation, there is a married male head of the home with a wife, children (all of them minor children and too young to vote in the Voter Assembly), hired and paid manservants and maidservants (and all the manservants are old enough to vote in the voter assembly), and he himself is a voting member of the congregation in good ecclesiastical standing. Now, the Bible teaches in so many plain and explicit precepts that it is the duty of the manservants and maidservants to obey their master. One day, there is an important voter assembly in his congregation, and all the adult manservants, having finished all their household duties for the day, decide to attend the voter assembly with their master of the house. Now, according to the teachings of the Bible, Lutheran Confessions, and the doctrinal teachings of C. F. W. Walther on Church Polity, will these adult manservants be eligible to be members of the Voter Assembly and vote in the congregation alongside with their master? Or will that be contrary to their duty of subjection and obedience to the master of the house? Also, is not the master of the house the fittest member of the house to represent the whole household by his votes in the voter assembly? And if so, does that not
prove that the extra votes of the manservants are needless and superfluous; and also that if these manservants decide to vote
against their master, does that not prove that they are divided against their master? Have you never read in that Bible:
a house (including a family)
divided against itself cannot stand (Mark 3.24/26, Luke 11.17/18)? Thus in light of these considerations, it is lawful according to the teachings of the Bible and Lutheran Confessions for the local congregation to give these manservants the right to vote in the local congregation's voter assembly along with their master? Or is that a violation of the plain precepts which teach that servants must
obey their masters? Explain why or why not, using sound proofs of the Bible, Lutheran Confessions, and the writings of C. F. W. Walther & the writings of the old German LC-MS synod before the year 1969.
Now, if the Bible (and Lutheran Confessions!) clearly teaches that the unit of electoral representation in the Voter Assembly of a local congregation is the family, well then it follows that since every family needs one head (indeed a two-headed creature is a monster!), that head and that head alone is idoneous and suitable to electorally represent not only himself but his whole household / family at the Voter Assembly. Any other member of the family who dares presume to vote at the
same Voter Assembly of the
same local congregation is usurping the representative role of their only lawful head of that family, and that is contrary to the Table of Duties.
And again, either these two members vote the same at the
same Voter Assembly of the
same local congregation, or they vote contrary to each other. If they vote the same, then that only proves the extra vote of the other member is needless and superfluous to represent the electoral opinions of the family, and if they vote contrary to each other, well then that proves that this extra member is divided against the head of the same family. The Sacred Scripture plainly states word-for-word that
a house (including a family)
divided against itself cannot stand (Mark 3.24/26, Luke 11.17/18)?
Therefore if the Bible (and Lutheran Confessions!) clearly teaches that the unit of electoral representation in the Voter Assembly of a local congregation is the family, well then it follows firstly that adult sons (i.e. at least 21 years old) living with their father are NOT eligible to vote in the same Voter Assembly of the SAME local congregation as their father, or else they are guilty of usurping the prerogatives of their father as head of their home; and secondly, that male servants living in the household of their male master of the house are INELIGIBLE to vote in the same Voter Assembly of the SAME local congregation as their master, or else they are guilty of violating the plain Scriptural precepts which teach that servants must
obey their masters.
The answer to the Case of Conscience #1 is more decisive for the other two cases of conscience than you might think.