“When Did I Become a Lutheran?” A Layman’s Answer
A Lutheran layman, a convert, prepared this little essay that I found to be extremely thought-provoking. Perhaps you will as well. Here is what layman Mr. Michael Baker had to say, when asked, “When did you become a Lutheran?”
When Did I Become a Lutheran?
While some bean-counter will tell me that I became a Lutheran when I
joined the Lutheran church body to which I belong, I tend to disagree.
You see, I am a rarity among converts. I did not even really know
anything about Lutheranism until long after I left charismatic
Anabaptism. Why did I leave charismatic Anabaptism? I started to read
the Bible. When I read the Bible with discernment, I found Scripture
that explicitly contradicted many of their teachings. I left because
they were teaching false doctrine and I could no longer stomach it.
A few years later, I worked past my disillusion and decided to find a
church that did not teach false doctrine. A few years of sulking was
not a transition from one church to another. It was a conscious
decision born out of years of objective research that measured many
Christian and several pseudo-Christian faiths against Holy Scripture
and church tradition on a level playing field. I resolved to find the
truth and join the faith that best agreed with truth.
At the conclusion of this journey, I selected Lutheranism. I then
searched for Lutheran churches and Lutheran church bodies, to find the
one that was the most faithful to what I had been reading and what I
had come to believe.
My confession: When I set foot in my current congregation, I had to
take several trips back to my car to bring in my stacks of theological
books and research notes. I held up my copy of the Book of Concord and
told the pastor, “This is what I believe. Do you teach and follow this
book?”
So I ask, “When did I become Lutheran?”
If I became Lutheran when I confessed Lutheran doctrine, then
Lutheranism is objective truth that can be believed and understood –
not just corporately, but individually as well. If Lutheranism is true
and objective, then it needs no followers to be the correct confession.
That is why I selected it. I knew nothing of controversies, synods, and
church politics the day that I joyously declared, “I am Lutheran!,” for
the first time. I did not know how many problems there may be in
actually practicing Lutheranism. But I knew truth when I saw it. At
that point, I could not be anything that disagreed with the truth. I
should have realized that the ideal of Lutheranism is always practiced
by people who are very much sinful human beings. There is no perfection
on this planet, no perfection in any Lutheran church either. I get that
now.
For me, the truths that are expressed in Lutheranism are objective and
imperative. As much as my heart grieves for those who attend a
whacked-out congregation that is only pretending to be Lutheran, this
has no bearing on the validity of my confession. I confessed
Lutheranism long before I joined a corporate body. I confessed it the
day that I discovered that I could no longer commune with my family. I
confess each day that I learn about a new horrible problem (both real
and perceived) within the church body that I am in.
I confess the Book of Concord. My copy of the Book of Concord has my
signature inked just below the list of original signatories. That is a
very personal and intimate thing for me. I do not confess Lutheranism
because I am Lutheran. I am Lutheran because I confess Lutheran
teaching. I am Lutheran because I agree with the teachings contained in
this book, and that is what people who agree with this book are called.
If extremists on either side of my Lutheran denomination tear it apart,
and cause it to schism, I will still confess the teachings of the Book
of Concord. If a day comes when my Lutheran church requires me to go
against the confessions, I will rebuke her and confess Lutheranism. If
I should be stranded on a desolate island for the rest of my life, I
will still confess Lutheran doctrine and practice. Real Presence is
objectively true. Justification by faith alone is objectively true. As
far as the validity of truth is concerned, what others do or think is
irrelevant.
If a group calling itself the “Purple Zamboni Church of Lower New
Brunswick” takes up the Book of Concord and begins to follow it
confessionally as the founders did, then I will encourage my church
body to follow their example. If my Lutheran church does not listen, I
will leave and join the PZCLNB… and start to lobby for the
Zamboni-ists to pick a better name.
Do I confess Lutheranism because I was born Lutheran? No.
…because I like everything I see happening in Lutheran church bodies? No. I don’t.
…because Lutheranism is the rebound faith that I fled to? No rebound here.
…because my pastor is a good guy? No. (He is, but that is beside the point.)
…because I like Lutheran music and liturgy? I hated it at first.
…because I like Germany and Scandinavia? Never been to either locale.
…because I was witnessed to by Lutherans? No, modern Lutherans are horrible at this.
…because I think that Lutherans are better Christians than other Christians? They’re not.
…because Lutherans have all the answers? No. Lutheranism thrives on
paradox. Lutheranism can only tell you what it has been told by
Scripture. Lutherans have the fewest answers of any Christian
confession. They don’t know squat because they don’t make stuff up when
things do not make sense.
I confess this confession because no one has been able to show me where
it is objectively false. I confess it because I firmly believe that it
is the true explanation of God’s Word and stands apart as superior
against all other human opinions. I confess it because of the human
speculation and opinion that it lacks. I confess it because it is the
clearest path to my Crucified and now Risen Savior, Jesus Christ.
Nothing will come between me and this true expression of Christianity… including Lutherans.
Very interesting post. I agreed with him 99.9%
Beth,
Please, tell me what I must do to fix the flawed 0.1%! =P
I was reading this post in a coffee shop. I had to restrain myself from shouting, “Yes!”, particularly on the point about paradox.
I have seldom heard that essential point put so succinctly. Lutherans live with paradox and have fewer answers than any other Christian body because they don’t make stuff up. I know of at least one convert (former atheist, that is) who upon studying the various Christian denominations, became a Lutheran when he discovered that Lutherans were willing to say, “I don’t know. I can’t explain this. But that is OK, because I am not God, and I trust that His Word is truth even when I cannot understand it.”
The classic case in point is election: Lutherans are neither Calvinists nor Arminians. Nevertheless I have often heard it said by Reformed theologians that you must be one or the other, as there are no other options.
In response to “When I Became a Lutheran”
Wow, this comes about as close to my conversion to Lutheranism as anything I have ever seen. Some differences, I must have been more thick headed, because after I began to read my Bible I did travel from one “denomination” to another for some time, and each time found more false doctrine than I could tolerate. I guess I was just too quick to join and had to learn their false teachings from the inside.
Another difference, I had never read or barely heard of the Book of Concord until after I began to be confirmed in a Lutheran church. However, I had come to believe many of the tenants of the faith so well presented there. It took me a while to embrace the “real presence” doctrine and to completely let go of my TULIPs. However, I had come to realize that the “Reformed” did not understand sanctification correctly, which was the false doctrine that drove me from them, and one Dr. Scaer showed me that you could not have a biblical understanding of sanctification without a Lutheran understanding of the Sacraments (May God continue to bless and use that little book on Baptism).
A final difference, I had been to Germany, but that had nothing to do with my conversion.
Part of my trouble was that I only knew of two Lutheran churches, the ELCA and the ELKiD, both liberal loving, Bible dispising religious social groups who only claimed to be Christian in the lowest possible denominator sort of way. So, no matter how many good Lutheran books I read, I could only say to myself, “I wish there were a church that still believed and taught this kind of doctrine.” It was not until I met my wonderful Lutheran wife that I learned of the LCMS, and met the pastor whose excellent distinction between Law and Gospel in each of his sermons was the first version of the BOC I ever “read.”
My response to this revival in my life was to want to be a part of that group of men who proclaim this beautiful truth to the world. I too can no longer comune with my parents or my brother. I remember each time I had to admit that nearly everything I ever thought I knew about God and His Messiah was confused at best, and often nothing more than idolatry. Each painful break with the past was a new beginning.
Sometimes I still wonder if I am really a Lutheran. Oh, I know that I can take my Book of Concord and faithfully say that I believe that every explanation of God’s Word given there is true, but no matter how many times I read it and my Bible, I always find something I didn’t know or realize before. The doctrine of Justification by Grace alone through faith alone touches on more and more areas of my understanding and makes sense out of things that baffeled me, or just passed under my radar before. I especially enjoy disputing with those of other beliefs, because the arguments they make and the questions they ask force me to rethink how each thing they challenge is really shaped and formed by a proper understanding of justification. And each time that happens, I wonder how much more I still don’t understand, how much more Lutheran I can be in the future.
Before I graduated I was asked by a professor who knew my story well what I would do if I ever became convinced that the Lutheran faith was not as true as I once thought. He had in mind not only my story of becoming a Lutheran, but also a fairly recent situation in which a well known pastor left the LCMS and tried to take his entire congregation with him. I had a hard time answering that question. Mostly because, before I was willing to swear that I believed the BOC was a true exposition of the Bible, I had to convince myself this was true. I had spent much of those years at Seminary asking myself if I could really do that, since I had never been in a denomination where I could have done that. I continued to read the Bible as well as to study the BOC, not just for class, but on my own. I had to be sure I could say that. When he asked me that question, I just could not ever imagine coming to believe that this was not the best summary of Christian Doctrine outside of the Bible that existed anywhere on earth.
However, on the day of my ordination, when the DP asked me that question, I trembled. I do not believe I hesitated, but for me, that brief moment lasted almost a lifetime. How could I ever swear before God that a book compiled by a bunch of men in Germany over 400 years ago was the only true exposition of Holy Scripture and that I would never teach or preach contrary to it? Was I not conscience bound, like Luther himself, to hold only to Scritpure? However, I recalled all of my studies, and my absolute certainty that there was not a single article of the faith explained in any portion of the BOC that was not in complete agreement with all the Bible had to say. Then I boldly confessed, “Yes, that is what I believe!”
I also can not really say “when” I became a Lutheran. I guess I am still becoming a Lutheran, and expect to continue becoming one for the rest of my life. If Luther said that he remained always a student of the Catechism, I can do no less.
Thanks for this. It was a delight to read.
Lutheranism thrives on paradox… They don’t know squat because they don’t make stuff up when things do not make sense.
I’ve earned her respect, although not her agreement.
I love this. I rather like being something of a theological weirdo, although it can sure lead to some interesting discussions with my Independent Fundamental Baptist friend.