RealRealityZone

The Whole Gospel is Outside of Us - My Journey to Lutheranism

A few weeks ago the folks over at New Reformation Press were kind enough to ask me if I would write a series of guest blog posts for their site, telling the story of my journey to Lutheranism from evangelicalism.  The entire series is now posted:

Part I
Part II
Part III

Many thanks to Pat and Ted at NRP for giving me this wonderful opportunity to share my story with a wider audience!

Teaching and Miracles - Word and Sacraments

The ministry of Jesus was quite simple: He traveled from town to town in Galilee for two and half years teaching the people and performing miracles as signs that the new creation had dawned.  Then He turned His face to go to Jerusalem for the final miracle, where through death He took on Himself all sickness and sin, and through His resurrection He demonstrated in His resurrected body what we shall one day become.

Teaching and miracles - that's what Jesus' ministry is all about.  And those same two activities of Jesus continue in the Church today as the Lord continues to teach His people through the Word that is read and preached in our Divine Services.  Through the miracle of Baptism we enter into the Body of Christ, His Church, so that we might partake of the Body of Christ in the miracle of the Lord's Supper.  Sacraments are the new miracles of Jesus in the world today because they testify to the bodily presence of Christ in His creation bringing in the new creation.  In Baptism, Christ is present in water through Word and Spirit where He turns sinners into saints, taking us across the boundary of death into a life that never ends, delivering us from darkness into His light.  In the Lord's Supper, Christ is present in, with, and under bread and wine to give us the very same body and blood that was crucified on Calvary and raised again on the third day.

The teaching and miracles of Jesus, therefore, continue in the Church today through the liturgy of Word and Sacrament.  We hear the voice of Jesus in His Word and we take Him into our bodies in body and blood for our health and salvation.  How remarkable that these are the very same structures of table fellowship - Word and Meal - in which we experience now a foretaste of the heavenly feast with angels, archangels, and with the whole company of heaven.  Our liturgy is nothing more and nothing less than table fellowship with Jesus.

From Heaven on Earth: The Gifts of Christ in the Divine Service by Arthur A. Just Jr.  Concordia Publishing House: 2008, pp. 93-94.

Gospel Reductionism Lite

"All that matters is that we believe in Jesus."

Ever heard someone say this?  I have, in many different ways.  To be honest with you I'm getting rather weary of hearing people say stuff like this.

I think the name for it should be "Gospel Reductionism Lite."

It's not full-blown Gospel Reductionism like you find among the liberals - where everything in Scripture is reduced to bare Gospel at the expense of the Law, leading to antinomianism, and where the Gospel even trumps the need for faith.

Instead, the Lite version says something very much like, "All that matters is that we believe in Jesus." The idea is that doctrine beyond faith in Christ for salvation is unimportant and maybe even divisive.

Is this where the LCMS is going?

I was reading a post by Pastor Jonathan Fisk the other day regarding the changes certain people in the synod want to make - namely, altering what was up till now considered "unalterable" by changing the LCMS's confession of faith into a "confessional basis" and making the actual "confession" a rather generic statement.  It strikes me very much as an example of Gospel Reductionism Lite.

Do I believe that faith in Christ is all that is necessary for salvation?  Absolutely.  As the Reformers would say, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone.  My question is, where does that faith come from, and how is it best sustained?

To hear some speak, you'd think that doctrine beyond faith in Christ for salvation was thought up by people who wanted to do nothing but cause division in the body of Christ.  They don't seem to realize that the doctrines many people regard as peripheral are actually quite crucial. Heterodox ideas that seem innocuous on the surface can, when taken to their logical conclusions, prove quite devastating to faith.

It makes me wonder whether Gospel Reductionism Lite is behind Lutherans dabbling with the Church Growth Movement.  Dan at Necessary Roughness had a post about this the other day.  For the CGM folks it's as though the most important thing is getting people in the door, spiritually speaking.  "All that matters is that they believe in Jesus."

Where does Gospel Reductionism Lite come from? 

I think it's a combination of pietism and a faulty view of how faith is created and sustained.  Pietism's emphasis on one's inner experience with Jesus over the objective, external Word and Sacraments might lead one to think that doctrine beyond faith in Christ is unimportant or divisive.  And if one lacks confidence in the power of the Word and Sacraments to work faith in a person, one might just be tempted to waffle on those "peripheral issues." 

If I believe that faith is something I work up - or even something that's created by a "zap from above", so to speak - then what one believes about Baptism or the Lord's Supper or the place of the Word of God in a worship service would matter very little to me. 

But if, on the other hand, I believe that faith in Jesus Christ is created and sustained by these means, then what one believes about them might matter to me a great deal.

This Sounds Eerily Familiar

I've been reading passages in Jeremiah for the past few days and Jeremiah 23:16-32 sounded eerily familiar:

Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes.  They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.  They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, 'It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, 'No disaster shall come upon you.' "

For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord to see and to hear His word,
Or who has paid attention to His word and listened?
Behold, the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest;
It will burst upon the head of the wicked.
The anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has executed and accomplished the intents of His heart.
In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

"I did not send the prophets, yet they ran;
I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.
But if they had stood in my council,
Then they would have proclaimed My word to My people,
And they would have turned from their evil way,
And from the evil of their deeds.

"Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away?  Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord.  Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.  I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!'  How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, who think to make my people forget My name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot My name for Baal?  Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has My word speak My word faithfully.  What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord.  Is not My word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?  Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal My words from one another.  Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, 'declares the Lord.'  Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead My people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them.  So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord."

This sounds like it could have been written yesterday to the church in America.

Praise the Almighty, My Soul, Adore Him!

There never seems to be an end to my discovering new and wonderful hymns (well, at least new for me).  Here's another one I had to share!

Praise the Almighty
By: Johann D. Herrnschmidt

Praise the Almighty, my soul, adore him!
Yes, I will laud him until death;
With songs and anthems I come before him
As long as he allows me breath.
From him my life and all things came;
Bless, O my soul, his holy name.
Alleluia, alleluia!

Trust not in rulers; they are but mortal;
Earth-born they are and soon decay.
Vain are their counsels at life’s last portal,
When the dark grave engulfs its prey.
Since mortals can no help afford,
Place all your trust in Christ, our Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed, oh, blessed are they forever
Whose help is from the Lord most high,
Whom from salvation nothing can sever,
And who in hope to Christ draw nigh.
To all who trust in him, our Lord
Will aid and counsel now afford.
Alleluia, alleluia!

Penitent sinners for mercy crying,
Pardon and peace from him obtain;
Ever the wants of the poor supplying,
Their faithful God he will remain.
He helps his children in distress,
The widows and the fatherless.
Alleluia, alleluia!

Praise, all you people, the name so holy
Of him who does such wondrous things!
All that has being, to praise him solely,
With happy heart its amen sings.
Children of God, with angel host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
Alleluia, alleluia!

Hymn # 445
Lutheran Worship
Author: Seelenharpf
Tune: Lobe Den Herren, O Meine Seele 1^st Published in: 1664

"Luther's problem has stopped being our problem."

Pastor Christopher Esget has posted a sermon at his blog that really got me thinking.  Here is an excerpt:

The problem with the church today is that Luther’s problem has stopped being our problem. Luther’s problem was the original problem of all true theology: How can mankind be redeemed – rescued from his sins, and the death and hell they have merited? For Luther, the question became a very personal one: “How can I be redeemed?”

This question is really a question about God: “How can I find a God of mercy?” Today’s questions about God – if they are about God at all – are thoroughly self-absorbed: How can I find a God who can give me my best life now? How can I have a life of purpose? How can I be happy? In these questions, God is a means to an end. But God is not a means to an end. God is the end, even as He is the beginning.

I heard a church historian speaking recently about how modern American religious thought is different from previous ages. One of the things that makes our age unique is that nobody thinks he is going to hell. Luther wrestled with a different kind of problem. He couldn’t see how he wouldn’t be condemned to hell.

It occurred to me while singing the wonderful hymns "A Mighty Fortress is our God" and "Salvation Unto Us Has Come" this past Sunday that these are songs that were written by people with a deep conviction that hell, God's wrath, and the devil were real dangers.  Hell and the wrath of God were terrifying prospects and the devil was a real and powerful enemy.  Our condition under the Law is desperate, bleak and hopeless.  It is only through Christ and his perfect life, death and resurrection that we have any hope of escaping God's wrath.

To run the risk of severe understatement, one does not get this sense so much today.  Mention hell and the wrath of God and you might get dirty looks from Christians as well as non-Christians.  It's not seeker-friendly to talk about such things, and we ourselves are not so sure we're comfortable with a God into whose hands it is a fearful thing to fall.

And so in most of American Christianity, God has been reduced to a relatively benign, therapeutic figure that, I am convinced, Martin Luther and the other Reformers would not even have recognized.  Except as an idol.

How did we get to this point?

It seems to me as though the self-centered questions we ask today are only symptoms of a larger problem.  Luther and the Reformers answered the question "How can I find a God of mercy?" with the Biblical answer of the Gospel - that Jesus Christ lived a perfect life for us, died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead three days later.  The terrifying fury of the Law was answered by the sweet, wonderful news that God is for me in Christ even though I deserve nothing but wrath.

Somewhere down the line, the question "How can I find a God of mercy?" seemed to be answered by either downplaying God's wrath or eliminating it altogether as an outdated, antiquated notion.  Thus the Gospel is reduced to "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.  Sin prevents you from participating in this wonderful plan.  Accept Jesus as your personal Savior and find your purpose."

But I don't need Christ dead on a cross to live an abundant life by the standards of this world.  I don't need Christ dead on a cross to find my purpose in life.  I don't need Christ dead on a cross to be happy.  Believe it or not, there are a lot of happy, fulfilled non-Christians out there.

I do need Christ dead on a cross if my problem is sin that condemns me to hell.  I do need Christ dead on a cross if my sin has earned God's wrath and judgment.

One does not find a God of mercy by creating an idol.

Salvation Unto Us Has Come

One of the songs we sung at our Reformation Day service today was "Salvation Unto Us Has Come."  What a wonderful hymn!  I only wish that Lutheran Worship (which is the hymnal my church uses) hadn't cut out four of the ten verses (vv. 4-5, 7-8).  Why on earth did they do this?  The more you cut out the more impact is lost, I think ... after reading the full version, it seems to me as though one verse flows to the next way more smoothly.  Abridging it interrupts the author's train of thought.

But in any case ... here are the words of the hymn in its entirety.  Enjoy!

"Salvation unto Us has Come"
by Paul Speratus, 1484-1551

1. Salvation unto us has come
By God's free grace and favor;
Good works cannot avert our doom,
They help and save us never.
Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone,
Who did for all the world atone;
He is our one Redeemer.

2. What God did in His Law demand
And none to Him could render
Caused wrath and woe on every hand
For man, the vile offender.
Our flesh has not those pure desires
The spirit of the Law requires,
And lost is our condition.

3. It was a false, misleading dream
That God His Law had given
That sinners should themselves redeem
And by their works gain heaven.
The Law is but a mirror bright
To bring the inbred sin to light
That lurks within our nature.

4. From sin our flesh could not abstain,
Sin held its sway unceasing;
The task was useless and in vain,
Our gilt was e'er increasing.
None can remove sin's poisoned dart
Or purify our guileful heart,-
So deep is our corruption.

5. Yet as the Law must be fulfilled
Or we must die despairing,
Christ came and hath God's anger stilled,
Our human nature sharing.
He hath for us the Law obeyed
And thus the Father's vengeance stayed
Which over us impended.

6. Since Christ hath full atonement made
And brought to us salvation,
Each Christian therefore may be glad
And build on this foundation.
Thy grace alone, dear Lord, I plead,
Thy death is now my life indeed,
For Thou hast paid my ransom.

7. Let me not doubt, but trust in Thee,
Thy Word cannot be broken;
Thy call rings out, "Come unto Me!"
No falsehood hast Thou spoken.
Baptized into Thy precious name,
My faith cannot be put to shame,
And I shall never perish.

8. The Law reveals the guilt of sin
And makes men conscience-stricken;
The Gospel then doth enter in
The sinful soul to quicken.
Come to the cross, trust Christ, and live;
The Law no peace can ever give,
No comfort and no blessing.

9. Faith clings to Jesus' cross alone
And rests in Him unceasing;
And by its fruits true faith is known,
With love and hope increasing.
Yet faith alone doth justify,
Works serve thy neighbor and supply
The proof that faith is living.

10. All blessing, honor, thanks, and praise
To Father, Son, and Spirit,
The God that saved us by His grace,-
All glory to His merit!
O Triune God in heaven above,
Who hast revealed Thy saving love,
Thy blessed name be hallowed.

Issues, Etc. Blog of the Week!

What a great honor to be chosen as Issues, Etc. Blog of the Week!  (Thanks to Jeff Schwarz in particular for his pick!)

Issues, Etc. is one of my favorite radio programs.  It is a big reason why I am a Lutheran today.

I first started listening to the show back at the end of June 2008 when it came back on the air after its cancellation.  I had found out about it through Kim Riddlebarger (one of the hosts of the White Horse Inn) talking about its cancellation on his blog.

At the time I was a quite unhappy evangelical with Reformed leanings, having had my pietistic Arminianism shattered by the folks at the White Horse Inn.  I remember being somewhat skeptical of Lutheranism (though very intrigued by it) when I first started listening to Issues, Etc.  On one of the first few programs I listened to, Pr. Wilken and his guest were talking about the Sacraments and Baptismal regeneration and I remember thinking, "I don't think I could ever believe THAT."

Heh, heh, heh.  So I thought at the time.

I kept listening.  And listening.  And listening.  And couldn't stop listening.  It was ALL. ABOUT. CHRIST.  For me. 

The more I listened, the more it all started to make Scriptural sense.  And the show, through its guests, led me to other shows such as Fighting for the Faith and The God Whisperers which further helped me to understand the Biblical basis for Lutheran theology.

So I have a lot for which to thank the folks at Issues, Etc.  And I thank God for their truly Christ-centered and cross-focused ministry. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Church Growth

It is not we who build.  [Christ] builds the church.  No man builds the church but Christ alone.  Whoever is minded to build the church is surely well on the way to destroying it, for he will build a temple to idols without wishing or knowing it.  We must confess - he builds.  We must proclaim - he builds.  We must pray to him - that he may build.

We do not know his plan.  We cannot see whether he is building or pulling down.  It may be that the times which by human standards are times of collapse are for him the great times of construction.  It may be that the times which from a human point of view are great times for the church are times when it is pulled down.

It is a great comfort which Christ gives to his church: you confess, preach, bear witness to me and I alone will build where it pleases me.  Do not meddle in what is my province.  Do what is given to you to do well and you have done enough.  But do it well.  Pay no heed to views and opinions.  Don't ask for judgments.  Don't always be calculating what will happen.  Don't always be on the lookout for another refuge!  Church, stay a church!  But church, confess, confess, confess!  Christ alone is your Lord; from his grace alone can you live as you are.  Christ builds.

From Treasury of Daily Prayer, Concordia Publishing House, 2008, pp. 840-841.

Seven Reasons Why Lutherans Should Not Jump on the "Contemporary Worship" Bandwagon

It seems as though a lot of Lutheran churches these days are ditching the historic liturgy and jumping on the "contemporary worship" bandwagon.  This post details a number of reasons why I think that this is a bandwagon that Lutherans should avoid.  My experience as an evangelical has mainly been with non-liturgical worship of a "blended" type - i.e. praise songs with a few hymns interspersed here and there.  However, the following criticisms still apply.  They are not in any particular order.

1. Theological Shallowness.  Modern "praise songs" are, by and large, very theologically shallow compared to hymns.  They tend toward the vague and many of them speak generically of God rather than Christ - and even when they do speak of Christ they can be remarkably vague about what He did.  "There's Just Something About That Name" and "Bless That Wonderful Name of Jesus" come quickly to mind.  This sort of thing encourages, in my mind, the assumption of the Gospel that is all too prevalent in evangelicalism.

2. Definition of Contemporary - How does one define "contemporary"?  The truth is, most folks who want to introduce "contemporary" music into their churches will never be up on what is contemporary enough to really be cutting-edge and relevant to today's youth.  I hear Lutherans discussing the merits of praise songs from the eighties!  How is this relevant, exactly? It might be relevant to those who are in their forties and fifties, but certainly not to teens!  In twenty years we might be debating the merits of a song that came out in 2009.

The problem with selecting songs on the basis of "relevance" and how "contemporary" they are is that today's "relevant" and "contemporary" songs are tomorrow's moldy oldies.  It is much better to select songs on the basis of Christian content than on the basis of something as fickle as "relevance."

3. Inward focus vs outward focus.  In my experience and observation, praise songs tend to be very focused on what is happening inside the person singing rather than focused on what is outside of us - the objective reality of what God has done, and continues to do, through Christ.  For example, here's a song we used to sing at my old evangelical church:

Surely the Presence of the Lord is in this place;
I can feel His mighty power and His grace.
I can hear the brush of angel's wings,
I see glory on each face;
Surely the Presence of the Lord is in this place.

In this song, how do you know the Lord is present?  Because you feel it, you have an experience, etc.  As Lutherans, our feelings are not the gauge of whether God is present among us. God is present among us in His Word and Sacraments.  This is an objective reality whether I feel it or not.  Christ died for my sins and rose from the dead for my justification, regardless of whether or not I feel it to be true.

4. False assumption that new is good, old is bad.  This is an artifact of our constantly changing society.  The assumption is that people will think the liturgy and historic Christian worship is old, crusty and boring, so we should change it to accommodate what modern people like.  However, the false assumption here is that people want the same thing they get day in and day out in their everyday lives.  Lots of people are looking for something deep, meaningful and stable.  In my view giving up the liturgy for contemporary worship is like trading a priceless treasure for a cheap trinket someone bought last week at the dollar store.  The world's thinking is already only two inches deep.  Why should we want the church to be that way too? 

5. Focus on human activity rather than on God's activity.  The fact is many praise songs seem to have a sort of "me" focus - on me and my acts of worship and service rather than on what God has actually done.  "Everything within me worships you" is a line I particularly remember having trouble with as an evangelical when what I was really feeling was "everything within me is tainted with sin."  Many praise songs boil down to: I will do this, I will do that.  I will serve You in any number of ways.  I am worshiping, praising and adoring.  Often missing or simply assumed is why we should be doing these things, and when it is present it is often vague.  The emphasis is on what we are doing for God rather than on what God has done for us.

I recall a praise song that was popular years ago called "The Heart of Worship" whose chorus included the line, "It's all about You, Jesus."  But ironically, the rest of the song was basically about us, what was going on in our hearts, and what we were doing to worship God.  It was supposed to be all about Jesus but there was nothing in the song that said anything about what Jesus had done for us. 

6. False assumption that people are coming to church to be entertained.  If I want to be entertained, I will go to a concert, not a church.  If entertainment is what I am looking for, I will watch my favorite TV program.  Church is not the place I think of when I think "entertainment." And this is not a bad thing, because church is not about entertainment.

This point is somewhat related to point 4.  Are people really looking for "church as entertainment" these days?  When I can get megabytes and megabytes of shallow entertainment on my iPhone, why would I go to church to get more?  And even if there are those out there who do expect the church to entertain them, here's the thing - people are not saved because we entertain them to make the message more palatable to their fallen human will.  No, they are saved because the Holy Spirit, working through the Word, convicts people of their sin and creates faith in their hearts.

7.  What you confess determines how you worship (and vice versa).  I am convinced that behind "contemporary worship" is a different confession from that which Lutherans confess. This sums up all of the other points.

When I first started attending a Lutheran church I was struck by how participating in the liturgy was like being saturated in God's Word.  Everything that is done gives the worshiper more of the Word - the hymns, the prayers, the chanting, the readings, the sermon, the Eucharist - it's like swimming in a sea of wonderful, life-giving Scripture.  Why is this the case?  Because Lutherans believe that the Word of God is what creates faith, that it's living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword, that the Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.  In Lutheranism, the Holy Spirit comes through the Word of God (and the Sacraments - the Word attached to visible elements).

There is a reason why evangelicals worship the way they do - because 1) they largely believe that the Holy Spirit comes apart from the Word of God and 2) they largely believe that faith is an act of the will rather than God's gift through the Word.  Thus the songs that are more about God "touching your heart" and "drawing us close" during worship - the Holy Spirit coming in a mystical way through our emotions - than about what God has objectively done and is still doing in Christ.  Thus all the frantic efforts to be culturally relevant in order to appeal to human will. 

What does it say when Lutherans worship like evangelicals?  It says, "we believe no different than what evangelicals believe."  When Lutherans worship like evangelicals, they are confessing that they don't really believe that the Word of God is THAT powerful.  They are confessing that what happens inside of us is more important than what was done outside of us.  They are confessing that what we do for God is more important than what God did (and still does) for us.

What would I have done if, on that fateful morning when I first decided that I needed to see Lutheranism in practice, I had walked into a church full of Lutherans who were worshiping like Baptists or Pentecostals? 

I would have walked away and never come back.  At least not to that particular church.

Why? 

Because there's no hope for me when all I am pointed to is myself - to my feelings, to my obedience, to my devotion, to my worship.  Hope only comes from outside of me - through the external Word and Sacraments delivering Christ crucified for my sins. 

"Contemporary worship" seems to be less about God's Word and more about entertaining us, making us feel good and pointing us to ourselves while at the same time claiming to be Christ-centered.  But in my experience there is nothing more Christ-centered and cross-focused than the liturgy done by Lutherans who are not ashamed to be Lutherans.