When Lutherans Begin To Reject Lutheranism
Now, considering this research, I have recently begun to question what happens
on the opposite side of the coin. That is to say; what happens when Lutherans start
to reject Lutheranism and journey to American Evangelicalism?
Through simple observation and my personal experiences, I believe there
is a very distinct pattern to churches and parishioners who begin to reject
Lutheranism. Even though these stages
are not comprehensive and have not been officially researched, I believe they
show obvious features of a church/person who begins to migrate away from
Lutheran doctrine and practice.
Stage 1: Boredom Sets In
After Sunday Service while putting his coat on, Larry turned to his
friend Tom and said,
“The liturgy is just so dry and mechanical. Don’t you ever get bored from going through these dead rites?”
Tom responded,
“I was thinking the same thing the other day. If only we could be on fire like the Baptist Church down the street. If only we could make some changes, things would be better and we could be alive!”
Now, what Larry and Tom may not quite understand, is that their
conversation displays a great deal of liturgical boredom.
Boredom is an emotional state of being, where a person is not
interested in their surroundings, or they feel that what they are participating
in is dull, unpleasant, or unimportant.
Boredom creates a situation where people want some stimulation to give
them relief from a tedious grind.
In the Lutheran Church, boredom amongst parishioners typically looks
like discontentment, or perhaps apathy, towards historical practices. Aside from being demoralizing, the real
danger of boredom comes about when individuals attempt to relieve it. You see, liturgical boredom is a real thing;
however, there are only two options to alleviate this kind of boredom. They are rediscovery or discovery.
Rediscovery happens when a person acknowledges that they have abandoned
their first love, but then return to their Lutheran roots to relearn and remember
the gifts that have been set before them in the Divine Church Services. But rediscovery is difficult. It is difficult
because individuals have to acknowledge that the problem is not with Lutheran practices
but with themselves. For example, with Larry and Tom, they would have to admit
that the burden of boredom is on them and not with the practices of their
Lutheran Church.
Unfortunately, though, individuals like Larry and Tom will often not
put the onus on themselves, but will often demand changes in practice (the journey of trying to discover non-Lutheran practices) to offset
their boredom and enhance stimulation, thus opening the door to the journey to
rejecting Lutheranism.
Stage 2: Practices Change
Leaning forward, Larry said,
“You know, the Baptist Church down the street is doing something that seems to connect with young folks.”
Tom responded,
“Yeah, I know what you are going to say, they have these really neat bands singing catchy tunes with big screens. And I hear that the services are just so incredibly relaxing and easy-going.”
Nodding his head, Larry said,
“I think we can learn a lot from them and maybe make some simple changes here in our church. Besides, everyone knows that church practices are adiaphora.[1] It isn’t like we would be changing our Lutheran doctrine.”
It is important to keep in mind that long-standing Lutherans, like
Larry and Tom, never intend on forsaking Lutheran doctrine. But the desire to relieve
boredom and the enticement of something “New” that supposedly attracts young
people has a powerful seductive pull on changing church practices.
Two concerns need to be addressed at this point. First, practice is
never neutral. Church practices are ‘always’
derived and flow out doctrine. Doctrine drives, shapes, and forms church
practices. And practice – over time –
can also reciprocally change a church’s doctrine. Therefore, what Larry and Tom do not
understand is that the introduction of Baptist practices in a Lutheran Church
is an introduction of Baptist theology shrouded in supposedly neutral Baptist
practices.
Second, Larry and Tom fail to understand what is meant by
adiaphora. Adiaphora pertains to things
neither commanded nor forbidden in God’s Word, but it is not a license to do
whatever one may want with a church service.
Just because something is neither commanded nor forbidden in God’s Word,
does not mean that it is beneficial to a church service. Furthermore, just because something is
adiaphora does not mean it can be excluded from being judged by God’s Word.
Here’s the point; after boredom sets in, individuals like Larry and Tom
will set out to change the practices of the church, while naively believing
that Lutheran doctrine will remain unaffected.
Stage 3: They Become Faux Evangelicals
When the smallest changes of practice begin to take place in the
church, Larry and Tom will feel a sense of jubilance. Not only will they supposedly be reaching
young people, but their burden of boredom will begin to be lifted.
There is a catch-22, though.
What typically happens is that the small changes in a Lutheran Church
are behind the trends of Evangelical Churches.
That is to say; by the time the Baptist Church down the street
implements a new trend, and by the time Larry and Tom pick up on the so-called
new trend, the trend has already been outdated.
There is an unspoken stigma upon Lutheran Churches who try to act like
Evangelicals. That stigma is that they are 15 years behind the trends. Furthermore, the stigma is that these
Lutheran Churches are faux Evangelicals.
The word ‘faux’ means imitation, or fake, or not genuine. When someone has the label ‘faux,’ they are
easy to spot because they look awkward and uncomfortable in the clothing,
language, mannerisms, and tastes of another culture or group that they have hopelessly tried to emulate. The same is true for a church. A Lutheran Church that borrows Baptist
practices does not look Lutheran or Baptist but looks like an out-of-date-faux-Evangelical
Church.
Indeed, boredom leads to a desire to change practices, and a change of
practices leads to faux Evangelicalism.
Stage 4: Core Lutheran Doctrines
Go Missing
One morning before service, Larry turned to Tom in the pew and said,
“I really like the changes; however, with the new changes, things just don’t seem to be jiving in our services.”
With a small smile, Tom responded,
“Yup, I know what you mean. The Kyrie and the Confession of Sins seem to dampen the mood. I like the Kyrie and the Confession, but they seem to clash with the rest of the service. Perhaps we could leave them in our 8:00 AM Service and remove them from our 10:30 AM Service.”
Again, there is more going on here than meets the eye. What Larry and Tom have correctly identified
is what is called ‘cognitive dissonance.’
Cognitive dissonance is what happens when you mix two things that can’t
be mixed (think of oil and water). The dissonance
that Tom and Larry are picking up on is between Lutheran doctrine (as expressed
in the Kyrie and Confession) and the newly introduced Baptist practices. Keep in mind that doctrine and practice work
hand in hand. Doctrine shapes and forms practice, and practice informs and
teaches doctrine to the church. Therefore, a church cannot exist long-term with
Lutheran doctrine and Baptist practices. Either the Baptist practices will have
to be rejected, or various Lutheran doctrines will have to be omitted to reduce
dissonance in the church services.
And so, when churches and parishioners continue on the path to
rejecting Lutheranism, Evangelical practices increase and distinctive Lutheran doctrines
decrease or is omitted.
Stage 5: A Defensive Spirit Arises
Early one
morning, Larry and Tom were out for coffee with several other men from the
community. In the group of eight men,
about half were Lutherans and the other half were Baptists from several
different churches.
John, one of
the men stated,
“Larry, I have heard some weird things about your church. Have you guys been getting rid of portions of your service and introducing things from Frank’s Baptist Church?”
Frank, a
Baptist from down the street leaned forward and said,
“Yeah, Larry, I didn’t know that Lutherans and Baptist were so alike.”
Shuffling in
his chair, Larry composed himself and said,
“We are very much Lutheran, we are just not like the other Lutherans in town. We are doing something special, for we are reaching out to the youth and igniting a fire in our members.”
Almost
cutting Larry off, Frank responded,
“But Larry, there is nothing in your church service that looks anything like Lutheranism. A newcomer to your church will have no idea that you are Lutheran for everything you are doing looks and feels like my Baptist Church. If you are Lutheran – like you say – why are you rejecting Lutheranism?”
It is easy
to see at this point that Larry and Tom will get extremely defensive, and quite
angry with John and Frank. A defensive
spirit is one of the final characteristics of individuals and churches that are
journeying out of Lutheranism into Evangelicalism. We must keep in mind that John and Frank are
not being problem makers or being divisive.
They are merely applying the ‘Duck Test’ to Larry and Tom’s church. If the church looks like a Baptist, swims like
a Baptist, and quacks like a Baptist, then it probably is a Baptist Church. As mentioned, Larry and Tom will be led to a
defensive spirit, wanting to preserve the idea that they are Lutheran – at
least in their doctrine. The
defensiveness is a result of Larry and Tom wanting to justify their actions in
the face of confusion over their conflicting Lutheran doctrine and Baptist
practices.
Conclusion
It is hard to know for sure what will become of Larry and
Tom’s church, as well as Larry and Tom. Will they continue down this path of being
Lutheran in name only? Will Larry and Tom get tired of the cognitive dissonance
and eventually leave for the Baptist Church down the street? Or, will they
realize the tragic journey they have been on in rejecting Lutheranism,
resulting in a return to Lutheran doctrine ‘and’ practice?
The one thing that is for sure is that boredom opens the
door to a desire to change practices.
Once Evangelical practices are introduced, awkward faux-Evangelicalism
sets in, which eventually leads to dissonance that will result in core Lutheran
doctrines being omitted. And the icing
on the cake? A defensive spirit intended
to self-justify! Alas, this is what happens when Lutherans go
down the road of rejecting Lutheranism.
May the Lord protect us from boredom, the seduction of
change, cognitive dissonance, and a defensive spirit. May the Lord grant us the assurance and joy
knowing that Lutheranism is not the only way, but it is the best way. May the Lord always grant us fresh eyes,
ears, and minds to hear and receive the Gospel anew from our Lutheran
Churches. In the words of a close
friend, “May we practice what we preach or we will end up preaching what we practice.”
+ VDMA
[1] Adiaphora
in Christianity refers to matters neither commanded nor forbidden in
Scripture.
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