Lutheran 102: Becoming Confessional

The World Mission Prayer League is a Lutheran, confessional faith community: we are introducing the concept over the next few months. The World Mission Prayer League does not gather around hierarchy (as do some of our Catholic friends.) We are not distinguished by a favorite set of spiritual gifts (as are many of our Pentecostal friends.) We do not base our identity on a particular slant on a particular rite or tradition (as some of our Baptist colleagues do.) We are not distinguished by our methods (as some Methodists), or our congregational polity (as some Congregationalists), or having a bishop to bishops in Canterbury. (But please forgive my generalizations.)

We do not even gather around Luther (as Lutherans are sometimes tempted to do.) We gather around shared and articulated statements of Christian faith. Lutherans print them in their hymnbooks. We teach them to our children. We project them on screens at worship services or distribute them in worship bulletins – on every Sunday, in many Lutheran churches.

(This is because Lutherans are notoriously forgetful. Let me speak for myself: I need constant reminders regarding who Jesus is, what he has accomplished on my behalf, what I may expect of him, and what difference this should make in my life.)

We begin with the most fundamental confession of all: “Jesus is Lord” (Romans 10:9). Christians of all stripes have been making this confession since New Testament days. The notoriously forgetful should constantly call it to mind.

Then we have the “ecumenical creeds” – the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene, and the Athanasian. We confess them, again, with Christians everywhere. You are likely to find one or another of these confessions projected on screens at Lutheran worship services.

We confess more recent statements, too: the Augsburg Confession and Luther’s Small Catechism, in particular. Some Lutherans add the Formula of Concord. Some add a letter Luther wrote about the Pope. During the horrific years of World War II, some Lutherans added the “Barmen Declaration” – taking a stand for the gospel of Jesus Christ in a world gone completely awry.

We cannot here summarize these wonderful documents: many, many volumes have been written about them.1 Yet let me make a few very general observations. What does it mean to confess statements such as these?

The confessions are biblical: above all, they root us in the Word of God. We do not confess the Nicene Creed because it comes from Nicaea, or the Augsburg Confession because it was written by Germans. We confess our confessions because they are based in the Bible, as authentic summaries of its Good News. The confessions keep us grounded in the Scriptures.

The confessions are contextual: they drive us outward, into the contexts and challenges that surround us. They cannot be “confessed” in an armchair: they drive us into the rough and tumble street. Luther himself illustrated their characteristic flavor when he confessed before his accusers, with boldness and much daring: “Here I stand. God help me!”

The confessions are Christ-centered: they center our attention (and our message) in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Confessions are never ends in themselves. They are signs and pointers: it is their function to direct us beyond themselves – to the One who stands behind them – to our Lord and Savior Jesus.

The confessions are shared: they position us in solidarity with the people of God. The confessions are not so interested in the unique positions that you have heroically carved out for yourself. Their characteristic pronoun is the first person plural. They are interested in the broad faith consensus of the church of Jesus Christ, around the world and throughout the ages.

The confessions are evangelical: it is their nature always to proclaim Good News. The confessions are communication events. They do not build walls, but bridges. We confess their truths to open windows into the gospel of Jesus, not shields or barriers to protect it (as if that were our prerogative). The confessions communicate, positively, the life-giving truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the practical, sometimes conflictive contexts in which we live today. They are not bludgeons or barricades. They are good news.

A “confessional” identity can mean a lot of things, in differing contexts to different people – just like “Lutheran” itself. Some Lutherans use their confessions to clobber one another. Some use their confessions as vapid cultural markers – along the line of “Lutheran” lutefisk dinners. Some use their confessions instead of their Bibles – like CliffsNotes instead of Shakespeare. Others retreat from the adventure of personal faith by appeal to their confessions.

This is a kind of “confessional” that we can do without.

Confessional communities like ours are driven to faith by their confessions, held accountable to Scripture by their confessions, and mobilized for mission into the world. This is a kind of “confessional” that we can confess with conviction. It is the kind of confessional to which we aspire.

Other posts in this Lutheran series:
Lutheran 101: The First Thing to Say… • Lutheran 102: Becoming Confessional • Lutheran 103: Sola Scriptura • Lutheran 104: Sola Gratia • Lutheran 105: Sola Fide • Lutheran 106: A Faith That Is Never Alone • Lutheran 107: Solus Christus!