Old in the shadow of new.
So we’ve established (and I believe we can all agree) that the Lutheran church is old. So, what makes me so new?
For one, my age. I’m a 20-something, soon to be 30-something, meaning I fit into a demographic that is largely missing (forgotten? ignored?) in the Lutheran church. I can’t blame this entirely on the Lutheran church of course. 20-30 something males is a demographic largely missing in ALL churches, not just Lutheran ones. However, from personal experience (your mileage may vary), I’ve found that some other denominations (and yes I count “non-denominational” here) seem to do a better job of reaching out to my particular demographic. I’m sure at some point I’ll get into the “why?” of all this, but that’s beyond the scope of this particular post.
Another thing that makes me “new” is the time I’ve spent in Lutheran churches. I was raised in Southern Baptist churches and have only recently migrated to the Lutheran church for my wife. I say recently, but it’s been about 8 years now. So, I feel it’s long enough to have learned a few things about the church, and short enough to still consider myself “new”. One of the things I’ve found is that most Lutherans I encounter, especially in the south, were either born into it quite literally, or came over from a Catholic upbringing. In either case, most Lutherans seem very comfortable in the traditional Lutheran church environment because they’ve spent most of their lives either in the same environment or in one that feels very similar even if the theology differs.
Since I essentially defected from the Baptist church, I don’t feel “at home” in a traditional liturgical setting. I could barely spell liturgy until I joined the Lutheran church. The robes looked funny. The constant sitting down and standing up was tiring. Even the language seemed different. My Baptist church sang old hymns. My Lutheran church sang OLDER hymns. My Baptist church dunked. My Lutheran church sprinkled. My Baptist church had parent/baby dedications. My Lutheran church had confirmations. My Baptist church had a Bible. My Lutheran church had a BIGGER Bible… and a Lutheran Book of Worship… and a Catechism or two…
It all seemed pretty foreign to me. But hey… I’m new. I figured I’d get used to it, but I don’t know that I ever will.
The bottom line for me is that while I recognize that the message of Christ is timeless, the church should recognize that the delivery of this message may not be.
Let’s take hymns as an example. Hymns have been, and will continue to be, an important tool for churches to ensure that the church body is communally exalting Christ and proclaiming the word of God publicly. I get it. I understand the purpose of them. However, have you read a hymn lately? Especially an old hymn traditionally espoused by an old Lutheran church? The English language has changed so much over the years that quite frankly, the words of these hymns make very little sense to me now. Granted, I may just be too dumb to understand them, but even when I can understand them, they don’t feel like my words. They don’t feel like they come from me. Is this really what I want to say to God in song? The text in the Bible that I read is newer than most of the hymns that are sung in a traditional service in a Lutheran church. I remember hating hymns when I was a kid growing up Baptist and those hymns seem like rock songs compared to the ancient songs being sung in some Lutheran services I’ve attended. Beyond the lyrics not making much sense in the context of today’s society, the music makes very little sense. As a musician, I find the tone and the pacing of the music of most old hymns to be completely inappropriate for a worshipful mindset. Why would I sing a song of praise in a slow, march-like, minor key? This is the same sort of musical approach that the writers of a funeral dirge would take. Most of these songs are not timeless classics, they’re just plain old.
Even the buildings themselves and the trimming of the interiors seem to be begging people to be uncomfortable. You walk through a big red door and all of a sudden you enter another world filled with wood and stone and robes and strange colored stoles… oh yeah, and organs. I find myself distracted by all of this. I’m supposed to be focusing on God, or on my own need for grace, or on the sacrifice Christ made, and instead I can’t stop thinking about how weird it is that the pastor is wearing a funny little rope around his waist. I don’t think I’m alone here. I don’t think I’m just being insensitive. I’m sure that all of this tradition has a purpose. It’s just that instead of being symbolic for me, it’s a distraction from what I believe should be the central focus of worship on a Sunday morning (or any other time for that matter). Some may argue that it’s because I don’t understand the symbolism. Believe me, I do. I’m inquisitive by nature so when I don’t understand something I ask or read up on it. I understand the intended symbolism for much of what I’ve mentioned here. But understanding the intent of it doesn’t mean that it works for me.
Why does so much tradition get handed down through the life of the church? Why is it so slow to adopt new traditions, as long as they don’t compromise the message? It seems like the churches that are reaching my demographic are the ones that are sort of continually reforming themselves, stripping away the trapping and trimmings of tradition while trying to stay true to the message of Christ. What would Luther say to this? Would he have 95 theses for today’s church? Would he be out of line if he nailed them to the door of my own church?
