The Lutheran Difference: An Introduction

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but in my “day job,” I’m a Lutheran pastor. This makes me kind of unique in the world of Christian publishing. It’s been my experience that there aren’t a lot of Lutherans in that particular industry (although there are apparently more than I knew about, and there are even a few missing from that list too!). This can make things a little difficult at times. We Lutherans don’t tend to fit into neat and tidy categories. For example, a lot of people try to divide up non-Catholic Christians into Arminianists and Calvinists. The thing is, Lutherans don’t comfortably fit into either group. There are times when I’m reading books by friends and colleagues and I wind up wincing because they make some sort of statement about what Christians believe, and I’m thinking But that’s not what I believe, and here’s the reason why…

Recently I asked all of you what you wanted me to write about on this blog. One of the suggestions I made was doing a series of posts that explain what it means to be a Lutheran Christian. What do Lutherans believe, teach, and confess? How do we understand things like baptism, holy communion, worship, and so on? There was some positive response to that, and so I decided to give it a try.

Before we get started next week, though, I wanted to explain why I’m doing this. I’m not doing it to try to convince anyone that I’m right and they’re wrong. I understand that a person’s belief and theology can be a very personal thing. I’m not trying to engage anyone in a debate. I understand that what I’ll be talking about in this series won’t line up with what other people believe. But I’m putting this information out there because examining someone else’s beliefs can help us refine and better understand our own.

So starting next week, we’ll be taking a more detailed look at us crazy Lutherans. See you soon!

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