Sunday, October 31, 2010

No Angst

I have never had any angst about the possibility of leaving Lutheranism. I've never seriously thought about going East, or heading to Rome, or jumping ship in any other direction. There's never been a gut-wrenching, soul-searching time for me.

Why?

Reformation.

One of the things that I have observed in my brief time on this planet and also in my study of history is that things are always, always messed up. Especially in the Church. ESPECIALLY in the Church. So I see things messy - I see the Church sore oppressed, by schism rent asunder and heresies distressed (I like that hymn) - but I never tend to think that the grass, the doctrine, the life will be greener elsewhere.

Because above all things, I have been trained to know that I am a sinner, that all that I do is tainted and tinged by sin, by this body of death - and that will pop up all over the place. And the only cure and hope I have is Christ.

With all the flaws and mess that I see in this world, that I see in Lutheranism, that I see in the LCMS, that I see in congregations and my fellow clergy -- I expect nothing less. I expect no safe, perfect harbor - for we are in the Church militant. In fact, the safer the harbor, the less I trust it, for where the Gospel is preached, there the Devil will be breathing threats, lies, murder, and death.

Maybe it is just my Jewish Chutzpah, but this gives me boldness.

Sin Boldly, but Believe More Boldly Still.

No Angst - Believe Boldly.

1 comment:

Mike Baker said...

Amen!

Soldiers of the Cross are issued the Armor of God for a reason. We don't labor against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities, people! This is messy, close combat, trench warfare to the death. This isn't a time to be sissy-fied, angsty, unrealistic, or nieve. You need to be alert and follow orders.

Warfare is an excercise in trying to control unbridled chaos and being ready to complete the objective even when everything goes wrong... cause it will all wrong... at least twice. You gotta know what to do when your buddy takes a hit and you need to focus on having an attention to detail so that you don't get hit yourself.

No use sitting on your fanny dreaming of easy living. You'll have plenty of time to do that when this conflict is over and you get to take leave.