Living Lutheran?
Wouldn’t it be enough to be “living Christian?”
“Living Lutheran” is a website the ELCA has established to spread news about what happens in this world under the very broad umbrella of the Lutheran church. The website contains inspiring stories that make us proud to be part of this church. And for the next three years, our gatherings—conferences and synod assemblies—will go more deeply into that phrase.
We live in a time when pollsters and analysts tell us that people who think about church at all are less and less inclined to think only of one denomination. If you’re reading this, you are one for whom being Lutheran has some meaning and for whom being part of this denomination is significant. But we for whom that’s true are in the minority. A wonderful gift of the ecumenical efforts of recent years is the increased recognition of the strengths and insights of other churches as well.
So back to the question: Why “Living Lutheran” as a theme?
The answer: Because there’s much to be gained by becoming more clear on the strength of our faith and the insights that come to us out of this tradition called Lutheran and the theological foundations that have formed Lutheran churches for nearly 500 years.
Many young people are walking away from the faith because they aren’t satisfied with either of the popular choices they see in the world of religion. On the one hand are the fundamentalist churches with strong claims to exclusive knowledge of the truth and strong judgments upon those who believe and act differently. On the other hand is the bland take-it-or-leave-it attitude of our individual culture that says any religion is as good as any other, and it’s all individual choice and really doesn’t matter. I think most young people think faith and values do matter. They have strong urges to make the world better and seek to understand the world as a place where it matters how we live with and for each other. So a faith that grounds them in a Creator God that draws us into each other’s lives and gives us a God who can sustain us through all life brings—this kind of God will have meaning in the world of today.
And the God we proclaim in our Lutheran theology is just such a God, seen in Jesus Christ, who claims us in love, knows us deeply, sends us into the suffering of the world, and promises the Spirit’s presence with us in all life may bring. This grace-filled God is at the heart of what Lutherans believe and how Lutherans live in the world. To live Lutheran is an enormous gift and witness to the world.
So we’ll examine these themes this year and in 2013 and 2014. Dr. Deanna Thompson was raised in a Lutheran pastor’s home and now teaches religion at Hamline University. At our conference assemblies in February, she’ll share with us her journey and insights as a Lutheran Christian teaching among searching college kids and journeying through cancer herself. At the synod assembly in May, two of our church’s finest seminary teachers, Rolf Jacobson from Luther Seminary and Winston Persaud from Wartburg Seminary, will take us into further exploration of our foundations as Lutherans, and we’ll examine how to apply our faith to the way we live.
Living Lutheran is not an effort to be cheerleaders for a sect; it’s an exploration of the riches and insights of this faith perspective that is ours. A gift to us and to the world.
Peter Rogness
Originally published in FaithLink, January 2012
More
- Bishop's reflections on the Churchwide Assembly, The Way It Looks from Here, Aug. 24
- About Bishop Peter Rogness
- Photos for public use
