What Does It Mean To Be A Lutheran?
In the name of Jesus. Amen. Drive through almost any town in America, and you may see a church with the name Lutheran on the sign. But what will you find if you walk through the doors? It depends. In one church, you may find a service that looks and sounds almost the same as a Baptist or generic evangelical church: praise bands, decision language, little mention of Baptism, little sense of the Sacrament, no reverence, and a sermon that could have been preached in almost any generic Methodist or Baptist church in town. In another church, you may find a congregation that still bears the name Lutheran, but the central message has shifted. The cross of Christ may be spoken of, but it is surrounded by the language of activism, political causes, identity movements, rainbow banners, and the latest social concerns. In another church, you may find the same confusion dressed in Republican colors. The church begins to sound like an extension of Fox News. The pulpit echoes the out...
