Lutheranism is not…
1. About what we do, but what God does.
2. Morality or ethics, but grace and response, grace and response
3. Bound, but is freed in Christ
4. About being upright, but being made right by Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection
5. About self-reliance, but relying on God as a mighty fortress
Lutheranism is not…
1. The Way, the Truth, and the Life, but witnessing to the one who is all those things
2. Private, but Evangelical—the impulse to share the good news of Jesus!
3. Ashamed of the Gospel, but embrace a living daring confidence in God’s grace
4. Spiritual, but instead embodied in the profoundly common
5. Triumphant, but students of the God found on a cross
6. Fundamentalist, but the experience of God’s Word as a two-edge sword
7. An ‘ism, but a relationship with Jesus
Lutheranism is not…
1. All Casseroles and Coffee, but receiving the Bread of Life, for you!
2. Monolithic, but a great variety of people found by God’s grace
3. An ethnicity, culture, or nation, but a people gathered by God.
4. Theology, but continual failures to fully name the Divine
5. A Style of Worship, but whatever actions will make Christ known
Lutheranism is not…
1. The Only Church, but a spoke of the ecumenical wheel affirming the historical creeds, the Word expressed as Law and Gospel, and sacraments administered rightly
2. A denomination, but a mustard seed planted for all to find rest within
3. The point, but compost & leaven to enliven the whole church
4. Parochial, but Catholic, Global, Universal
5. Perfect, but always reforming
6. Limited to Luther, but encompasses all who take his writings and insights to heart
7. A form of Church Government, but whatever form that allows us to be faithful
8. Independent, but interdependent with the whole body of Christ
Lutheranism is not…
1. Having our own way, but respecting one another as God’s Children
2. A museum of saints, but a hospital for sinners
3. Putting our heads in the sand, but engaging with the world around us, thinking through faithful engagement with our world with social messages and statements on everything from peace and policing, to education and the economy
4. Words without actions, but 2% of people in North America are assisted by some sort of Lutheran Social Ministry each year
5. Exclusionary, but inviting and listening and trying to understand each other
6. Afraid of questions, but begin our faith life asking, “What does this mean?”
7. Self-righteous, but trust that God is for us
8. Anti-Semitic, but repenting and repairing the breach between us and our Jewish friends
9. Politics, but vocation, roles and relationships lived faithfully
10. Afraid of change, but it is one of our core values
Lutheranism is not…
1. The purview of our great great great grandparents, but springs from their faith and faithfulness
2. Old, but always being made new
3. Frozen, but passionate about matters of life and death, and life again
4. Dying, but more alive than ever, thriving around the world!
5. The Past, but for you, right now in this moment, and for everyone who chases after the Holy Spirit into God’s future
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