Christianese-Lutheranese- Being fully human

I was raised in a Christian subculture. There was Christian music, books, stores, directories, etc and we had our own lingo. We were in our own little group like the punks, the jocks, the hippies, the geeks-nerds, and the list goes on. Only we knew what the words mean. Those on the outside just looked confused and said, "Well, they are just Jesus freaks' or "religious'. They did not have a clue what words like "Born Again", "Salvation", "Baptism', or even what Jesus was really about. They just knew that they were not like us and could never be because we were too perfect, judgmental, and had our lives so perfect and clean or they knew what big fakes and hypocrites we really were. What if we admit that we were human like them and life was messy and uncertain?

I love talking about grace! It's a favorite Christian and Lutheran term but does my neighbor really knows what that means? Grace means God's unconditional love. Have you shown it to somebody today?

Contemporary Worship service?

Lutherans believe as long as the Word is preached(the gospel of Christ is proclaimed) and the sacraments are administered then it doesn't really matter if your service is Traditional or Contemporary. In other words, Organ and choir or a full Rockin band. However, make sure the music does not center on bad theology of Bless me music vs focus on the gospel(God's love in Christ for us-cross and redemption stuff. This is kind of hard with a lot of Contemporary worship or CCM stuff. I'm not the kind to throw the baby out with the bathwater though. It's called Adiaphora(things indifferent). Luther and the early Evangelicals(they were coined that first) saw nothing wrong with Altar crosses, vestments, crucifixes, (The Mass-the Eucharist-Holy Communion-Lord's Supper) and reciting the creeds, etc. He just wanted to reform the church so its focus would be on Christ and the gospel of good news(Unconditional grace for all). If something did not distract or take away from the gospel then it was okay. So this Pastor will be rockin' Saturday night at 5:30 pm at our "Come as you are ' Worship service. Our Sunday Traditional service at 10 am is come as you are as well. Some of the old timers just don't know it yet. Just don't expect a bad variety show with big hair, bad makeup and asking for donations.

Dechurched

A lot of people in their 20's, 3o's and yes even my age in their 40's do not go to church. I don't blame them. Churches have been tied to bureaucracy, hypocrisy, legalism, and pettiness on non-essential matters. My non-church going believers think God has left the building and they have a point and my Atheists friends doubt God's existence over an institution run by God's followers which is in such disarray.

You might be thinking, "Hey! You are a pastor." "You are not supposed to say things like that."

Luthers theses on the difference of being a theologian of glory and a theologian of the cross is that a theologian of glory calls evil good and good evil but a theolgian of the cross calls what a thing is.

I'm calling what it is. The institution of the church, the community of believers have problems. However, if you are looking for the perfect church or group then you are not going to find one and if you think you and Jesus is enough then you are just fooling yourself. You need community. you need people who will pray and worship with you. Yes we are all sinners, we don't always get things right but neither do you. God is calling us together in Christ.

White Priviledged America wear their feelings on their sleeves while Black America has been struggling through blood, sweat, and tears for equality

...and they are still fighting to prove themselves even after the election of the first Black President

Racism is sin. I believe it is "America's original sin." Reverse Racism? You got to be kidding me? Poor disfranchised white people. We really have it soooo bad. I wish someone would walk in our priviledged shoes-we have never been slaves, beaten, lynched, denied the right to vote(I'm talking males here), considered an animal and the list goes on.(I'm talking about as a race of people not individually)
Yes our current President is an over-achiever and trying to do too much. Some might make the racist comment that hes's being uppity. Hmmm. Maybe he's trying to prove himself to a priviledged race that doubts that anyone who is of another race can lead us.

The election of the first Black President has exposed us for who we really are. We don't like the racism of our past exposed and this event has not only exposed the racism of our past but the anger, hate and racism of the present.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not idolizing Obama. He is far from perfect and I do not agree with him on every issue. However, he shows us the strength and power of a race of people who have been hated and despised similar to the Jews. He has the chutzpah to stand up to the priviledged!

I know racism. I was born in Louisiana. I've seen it and how it separates, categories, labels and divides a group of people who were loved before the foundation of the world by a Savior who came to save us from our sins and bring us all together as one.

Why did I become a Lutheran?

First, a little background. I was raised Southern Baptist. Believe it or not I have some great memories and then not too many good memories(church splits, fundamentalism, End times obsession, God and Country morphed into one, legalism, Judgmentalism, etc etc.
There are some good Christians who are Baptist. My Dad who was a saint. He loved God, knew his Bible and cared for people and some of my good friends are still Baptists. My Mom is a great example who raised me in a good Christian home. She was actually raised in the Church of God(Anderson, Indiana) and now attends the United Methodist Church.
I was Charismatic for a while. The Charismatic movement was big in the 80's and it hit all churches. The worship was lively and similar to the soul of going to an African American church except the theology in some circles got as kooky as Scientology. You follow a Messiah who gives you health, wealth, and emotional goosebumps instead of following a suffering Savior who died for your sins and rose to give you a new life. There was too much emphasis on the gift of tongues instead of the gospel and every pastor was a celebrity and healer instead of the Great Physician who came to give us life and more abundantly. However, There was great music, passion and I'm sure that God's presence was felt but many in the movement follow a theology of glory chasing after holy laughter, Tv evangelist clowns, and manipultive pastors who build their churches on control and fear.
I was a five-point calvinist once. I had all my theological ducks in a row. I had God in a box and I tried to fit everyone else in it. This box is for the elect who believe God chooses them and this other box is for those who don't believe like us so they are the non-elect. God is in control for sure but according to my theology. I still believe in predestination because its biblical but I also believe that Christ died for everyone in the world and is willing that no one perishes because it is biblical. My TULIP died and I was no longer Calvinist. Predestination is a mystery. All I know is that God loves me, sent his Son to die for the whole world which includes me and rose again to give our lives more meaning.
Why Lutheran? I was told. Why Christian? Some ask me. Yeah I'm tired of labels and all the divisions in Christianity but if I would just join a non-denominational group then it would be just another denomination for me(a further split) and I like the concept of house church and just being called follower of Jesus but wouldn't that be just another split from a split? Do we need more groups and movements?
Because I'm a history lover and love Church history in particular I thought what about the Roman Catholics? If you really are a history major then its there but theres the bit about indulgences for sale, infallible pope, inquisitions, celibate priests and even though I highly respect Mary I just can't pray to her. I know Catholics don't really worship Mary. They ask her and the saints to intercede for them. Protestants de-value the saints too much but there is only one mediator between us and God and its Jesus.
The Eastern Greek Orthodox Church broke away then what about them? They do have history on their side but I see a little more law than grace. Yes it's the grace thing. The gospel of Christ that really saves you. God's unconditional love regardless shown in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
Luther never claimed to be infallible. He was a mess. He was mad at God as a priest. He feared God because all he saw was a God pointing at him in judgment. He receieved the gospel of good news when he read in the Book of Romans that righteouness was a gift from God and not something he had to work for. God's gift freely given and Luther did not have do a thing.
Luther was still a mess. He knew that he was accepted by God but Luther did not always practice what he preached. Man, he was angry at the othe Reformers who did not believe exactly the way he believed on Communion and baptism and then he got angry with the Jews because they did not convert. What happened to Grace? God still loved him so and he had it right about many things when he stayed focused on the gospel.

We are all a mess but God still loves us wherever we are or who we call ourselves. I became a Lutheran because of the emphasis on grace and for historical reasons that as far as I can go but that does not mean that I don't worship with other Christians and I will not turn anyone away whatever you call yourself because what would Jesus do?

Why Lutheran in the middle?

This is my third or fourth attempt at a blog.
Why call this blog-Lutheran in the middle? Well, Lutherans are somewhat of an oddity in the United States especially in the South where I was born. Are you Catholic? One of those high church Episcopalians? Are you a cross between a Methodist and Presbyterian? Then there's the reaction from my Baptist or Evangelical brothers and sisters-Are you saved? Born Again? and the Pentecostals and Charismatics asking me if I speak in tongues or believe in the Holy Spirit. Finally, there's the non-believers and atheists that wonder if I'm part of the Religious Right or one of those people that knock on doors with religious material either the Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses. What are we? Well we are Christians and we have a lot in common with Catholics, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, congregationals, and yes even the Baptists, non-denominationals,Pentecostals and Charismatics. More so with the former than the latter but it is Jesus who is the one who unites us as one.
A Lutheran in the middle. In the middle of the Evangelical sub-culture and the politics of Right and Left. In the middle of the theologies of glory which tries to keep our eyes off of the gospel of Christ(theology of the Cross) and on self.
I'm just a follower of Christ who thinks Luther got it right when he pointed to the scripture and says that it points to Christ. Lutherans don't always get it right but when we stay focus on the gospel then God makes it right.