From the Pastor

April 2008

Walk into a coffee shop, and you are likely to hear people asking for such things as a "Double shot, half caf, skinny, grande mocha latte with whipped cream—and a dash of cinnamon."

Take a look at someone’s mp3 player, and you will see customized music playlists (mine included).

Look at someone’s computer screen and you may see a picture of their family, their pet, or their latest vacation displayed as a screen saver.

Listen as you walk through just about any public place, and sooner or later, you will hear a cell phone ring—and you just may be treated to someone’s "extra special" ring tone, everything from the Iowa fight song to the Hallelujah Chorus (Really—I heard this not long ago).

I recently read about two men who are creating a website business which they hope will enable people to "design and purchase any product they could possibly want." I am not exactly sure what that means, but wow!

I bought a new car a few weeks ago. There was one on the lot with everything I "need," except it was the wrong color. So, off to St. Louis the dealership went, to bring back my new car. By now you may be wondering: Where is this all coming from and where is it going? Well, all of the latest news about recent studies concerning people’s thoughts on being "spiritual versus religious" and the reports on the decline of mainline denominations have caused me to think about our world and the Church’s place in it and in peoples’ lives.

As I thought about these things, it occurred to me that everything is so customizable these days. Is it any wonder that people want and perhaps even expect faith to be the same? Why should I not expect to build my own faith/religion/spirituality to suit my individual tastes? Why should I have to listen to the tenets of any particular organized religion or the particular theology of a given denomination, which just wants to tell me what I should do without taking into account every unique facet of who I am? Why shouldn’t I take what I like from Christianity, from Hinduism, from Buddhism, from Judaism, and from the New Age movement and make something for myself that feels good to me? And why can’t I practice this spirituality I have made all by myself?

A person could try this, I guess, but to do so would be to lose something valuable that the Church has to offer, beyond doctrine and theology. It would be to lose community and commonality, which can help us to understand the things of faith (of religion) and can support us through all of life. Being part of a community of faith can help us try to make sense out of our lives in the context of God’s Good News. A religious community can inspire, nurture, and sustain a person’s spirituality.

Spirituality and religion are not mutually exclusive. Spirituality should not merely be equated with the individual and religion with the corporate. We can and should have a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, which will in part be shaped by the traits, likes, and dislikes that make each of unique. However, in order to know what this relationship means for our relationship with the rest of the world, we must be a part of community of believers—people like us who struggle with the same things we do, who seek to understand God’s Word and promises as we do, and who can support, correct, and encourage us along the way. Martin Luther called this "mutual conversation and consolation," and believed that it is a vital expression of grace within the Church.

What can the Church do? We cannot wring our hands and cry "All is lost!" We can remind people that we value their individuality, as the diversity of God’s people gives a wonderful texture to the world and to the Church. We can help people see that there is a rich tradition of spirituality within Christianity. This is something that the Church has not been particularly good at or intentional about, and that is a shame. There are many wonderful spiritual practices which can enhance both our personal and corporate relationship with God, and we must do more to bring them to the foreground.

We must also, however, be careful to claim the ideas and beliefs which make us unique as Christians (and as Lutherans), staying true to the foundational principles which make us who we are. We must find ways to do both: To access the spiritual practices which will help people draw closer to God in personal ways, while at the same time seeking ways to help show what a treasure the things we as Christians confess to be true are. We must find ways to stress that while we are not the "one size fits all" group we are often accused of being, we are a group of people who cling to some very specific and very wonderful promises, which are ultimately more freeing than they are constricting.

No religion, no denomination, and no congregation should be expected to cater to all of the particular tastes of all people, nor should they try to do so. The Church and congregations face a great challenge, to be sure, but there is really nothing new about that. The Church has always faced a struggle when it tries to find its voice in the midst of all the other voices of the culture that clamor for peoples’ attention. But with God’s grace and guidance, we will find the way to be the beacon of light we are called to be, while remaining faithful to the teachings of the Light of the World.

In Christ,
Pastor Brenda