The Lutheran Downgrade
So what is the Lutheran downgrade? The Lutheran downgrade is the subtle and incremental reduction, de-emphasis, negligence, erosion, and possible eventual loss of Lutheranism - Christianity.
But how does the Lutheran downgrade happen? It begins with how pastors and churches misunderstand the Small Catechism.
For those not familiar with the Small Catechism, it is a book of instruction that sums up Christian doctrine by dividing it into six main parts. They are:
- The Ten Commandments
- The Apostles' Creed
- The Lord's Prayer
- Baptism
- Absolution
- Communion
Now, regarding these two
categories, what we must understand is that Pastor Stevens and Pastor Anderson
treat this division quite differently.
Pastor Anderson believes
that the first half of the Catechism are the essential parts. That is to
say, he believes that the Commandments, Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer are more important than Baptism, Absolution,
and Communion. So, what this means is
that Pastor Anderson considers the second part of the Catechism as an addendum
or footnote. He sees Baptism,
Absolution, and Communion as a nonessential appendix of Lutheran Distinctives. The chart below illustrates Pastor Anderson’s
perspective:
Essential
Christian Teaching
1) The Ten Commandments
2) The Apostles’ Creed
3) The Lord’s Prayer.
Nonessential Lutheran Distinctives
4) Baptism
5) Absolution
6) Communion
On the other hand, Pastor
Stevens sees all six chief parts as
essential but understands that the Commandments, Creed, and Lord’s Prayer must
be learned before studying Baptism,
Absolution, and Communion. Pastor Stevens
believes that parts 1-3 are a foundation
to be laid before moving on to the Sacraments in parts 4-6.[1] The chart below illustrates Pastor Stevens’
perspective:
Foundation
of Essential Christian Teaching
1) The Ten Commandments
2) The Apostles’ Creed
3)The
Lord’s Prayer
Sacraments of Essential Christian Teaching
4) Baptism
5) Absolution
6) Communion
To summarize, we must keep
in mind that the division between the first three parts and the second three
parts of the Catechism is not a
division of importance (as understood by
Pastor Anderson). But instead, it is
a division of what needs to be taught first as a foundation (as understood by
Pastor Stevens). Indeed, we must not
fail to realize that Baptism, Absolution, and Communion are just as essential as
the Commandments, Creed, and Lord’s Prayer.
Baptism, Absolution, and Communion are so important that “without them
no one can be a Christian.”[2]
Now, back to the
downgrade. Pastor Anderson opens the
door to the Lutheran downgrade when he incorrectly considers Baptism, Absolution,
and Communion as nonessential Lutheran Distinctives.
Once the door is open to
the Lutheran downgrade, Pastor Anderson begins his downgrade journey by buying
into the conviction that things such as baptizing babies, a pastor forgiving
sins, and closed communion are difficult pills for the dechurched and
unchurched to swallow.[3] It is very important to keep in mind that Pastor
Anderson believes in Baptism, Absolution, and Communion; however, his
missionary zeal tells him that the second half of the Catechism could be a potential
turnoff to new members. Besides, since
the second half of the Catechism consists of so-called nonessential Lutheran distinctives,
he believes that they can be examined at some other point in the future.
And there is another
component. Pastor Anderson continues the
downgrade when he deemphasizes the second half of the Catechism in both his
teaching and church services for the sake of keeping peaceful relationships
with other churches in the city. He
knows that the other churches in town will agree – for the most part – with the
Ten Commandments, Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. However, with respect to the Sacraments in
the second half, Pastor Anderson knows that these doctrines will create
ecumenical tension. He knows that the Baptism,
Absolution, and Communion create a theological rub with Baptists,
Non-Denominationalists, and Nazarenes who sometimes visit his church on
Sundays.
But how does Pastor Anderson’s
Lutheran downgrade specifically show up in his weekly church services? To name a few, Pastor Anderson does not make
the sign of the cross in remembrance of Baptism, for he believes non-denominational
guests may see it as too Catholic and be turned off. He also paraphrases the language of Confession
and Absolution in the services, because he considers the words, “I a poor
miserable sinner,” and, “I forgive you of your sins,” as too offensive to the ears
of dechurched attendees. And finally,
Pastor Anderson minimizes Communion to once a month because he believes that
the unchurched would be uncomfortable hearing about the eating and drinking of
the body and blood of Christ in their first church service.
Now, if a person were to
visit Pastor Stevens’ church, they would notice something completely
different. All six essential parts of
the Small Catechism are present. For
example, at the beginning of the Divine Service, Pastor Stevens makes the sign
of the cross to remind everyone of their Baptisms (4). During the quiet portion of confession, the
church is encouraged to consider their sin according to the Ten Commandments
(1). The forgiveness of sin is
pronounced as Pastor Stevens raises his hand and proclaims the Absolution
(5). The Apostles’ Creed (2)
is confessed by the whole congregation before the sermon. And the Lord’s Prayer (3) is prayed
before weekly Communion (6).
Indeed, all six essential chief parts of the Small Catechism are in the
church service every week.
To the point: even though
there are six chief parts of the Catechism, some pastors (like Pastor Anderson) focus only on the first three parts and
minimize the last three, resulting in the Lutheran downgrade. When the division of categories is made in the
Catechism, the second half can be neglected or dismissed, even though pastors
do not reject Baptism, Absolution, and Communion.
There is another component
at work in the Lutheran downgrade as well.
It is similar to what has already been mentioned. Concerning youth, both pastors realize that
their youth need to learn the Small Catechism.
However, there are two philosophies in how to teach the catechism. Either
the content of the Catechism should be lowered to the youth, or the youth
should rise to the Catechism. That is to
say, should the Small Catechism be adjusted downward to youth, or does the responsibility
lie with the youth and Pastor to rise to the Small Catechism?
Contrary to what we might
expect, both Pastor Stevens and Pastor Anderson expect the youth to learn the first
three parts of the Catechism. They
expect the youth to rise to the Commandments, Creed, and Lord’s Prayer. However, with Baptism, Absolution, and the
Lord’s Supper, Pastor Anderson does not apply the same amount of catechetical
rigor and time commitment. Why should he
on a so-called nonessential appendix of doctrine that is a stumbling block for
evangelism and a wedge in ecumenical relationships?
And so, we now see how the
Lutheran downgrade occurs through the subtle and incremental reduction, de-emphasis,
and negligence of Baptism, Absolution, and Communion – elimination of the
Sacraments. [4] The downgrade happens by reducing the six essential
parts of the Small Catechism to three essential parts, for the sake of
evangelism, ecumenicalism, and youth.
May pastors and parents be
faithful in avoiding a Lutheran downgrade (which
is really a Christian downgrade) by upholding all six chief parts of our
Christian doctrine. And may we also have
a zeal for evangelism by boldly teaching, preaching, and sharing all six chief
parts, for all parts are essential, good, and salutary! And regarding youth? May it be a primary goal to deliver and teach
the whole Catechism – without a Lutheran downgrade – for the Commandments,
Creed, Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, Absolution, and Communion are all wonderful gifts that the young and
old can always be instructed in.
+ VDMA
[1]
How many Sacraments are there? See Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation
(St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2017), Question 294.
[2]
Martin Luther, The Large Catechism, IV:1.
[3]
The dechurched are those who used to be active in a local church but no longer
are. Unchurched are those who have no
background in a local church and are not currently attending a church.
[4] According to Gene Edward Veith, “To
understand Lutheranism, it is necessary to recognize that the Lutheran
understanding of salvation by grace and justification by faith cannot be
separated from the Lutheran teachings of baptismal regeneration and the real
presence of Christ in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. These teachings are
all intimately connected with each other in Lutheran theology and spirituality.
If you play them off against each other, thinking you can have Lutheran
soteriology without Lutheran sacramental theology, you might have Calvinists or
Baptists or Calvinist Baptists or something else, but you cannot have
Lutherans. Nor can you have Lutheran Calvinists or Calvinist Lutherans or
Lutheran Baptists or Baptist Lutherans.”
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