Doing Mission As Lutherans Do

I have been reading once again (believe it or not) the Schmalkald Articles. They are part of our Lutheran confessions. The articles were written by Luther himself as a brief exposition of the heart of the Gospel. They represent, in a sense, his “last will and testament.” “I wanted to make these articles available…” he tells us, “so that those who live and remain after me will have my testament and confession” (SA Preface, 4). In a few short pages, the articles describe the very heart of the Reformation message – and what Luther wanted us to remember about it, if we remembered anything at all.

The articles are short, concise, and a fun read. I have also found that they are filled with suggestive missiological applications. Let me share a few reflections.

Confessional

The Schmalkald Articles remind us that we belong to a “confessional” church. “[The articles] were accepted and unanimously confessed by us, and it was resolved that we should publicly present the articles as our confession of faith” (SA Preface, 2).

I am happy to belong to a confessional church. Some churches are top-down hierarchical structures: one person, or one group of persons, has the authoritative word in everything. Other churches are purely congregational organizations: the freedom of individual congregations is paramount. But for the most part, Lutherans are confessional. We are anchored in the confessions of our shared tradition; the Apostle’s Creed, the Augsburg Confession, and the Schmalkald Articles are examples.

There is much practical benefit. For one thing, Lutherans should feel no need to “reinvent the wheel” with every passing challenge. We may build on the long believing tradition of the people of God. We may rest on the shoulders of the mothers and fathers of the church throughout the centuries – as Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone” (2:20).

But confession is more than our anchor; it is also our task. “Confessional” means speaking together with the age-old message of the church, it is true. It also means speak­ing today in a relevant, intelligible manner. “Confessors” of the church are engaged in the history that surrounds them, as Luther was en­gaged in the complicated history that surrounded him. And they contribute to that history – specifically, by confessing the truths of the gospel.

We Lutherans appreciate our shared confessions in a variety of ways, of course. Some make a “wall” of their confession: they use the Augsburg Confession, for example, to draw a line designed to keep “real believers” in and unbelievers out. Others think of their confession as a kind of “tether”: it permits them a certain amount of theological latitude – they can roam so far, but no farther. Their confession restrains them.

I like the image of grammar (to borrow from George Lindbeck). Grammar describes the process of making intelligible communication – “making sense.” It is all about words and the transmission of meaning. It does not specify, however, what words must be used. It describes how words may be strung together to communicate sensibly. Grammar is a lively thing. It stands behind poetry, narrative, exposition, creative drama, etc. – the entire creative range of human communication.

I like to think of our Lutheran confessions as a kind of missionary grammar. They re­mind us what the task of missionary communication is all about. It is about Jesus, first, last and always. It is about law and gospel. It is about Scrip­ture, grace and faith. And it is not about “swallowing camels and straining out gnats, letting logs stand and disputing about specks,” as Luther warned in the Schmalkald Articles (Preface, 13). It is not about the color of our hymnals, or the language of our worship, or the structure of our congregational life. Effective missionary communicators will internalize these things like a grammar. They might sing; they might preach; they might serve the poor or heal the sick – a whole range of creative communication. Whatever they do, the confessions will help them “make sense” in a Gospel sort of way.

The Lutheran confessions are often summarized under the three great “solas” – sola Scriptura, sola gratia, sola fide. These are the basic rules of our Lutheran missionary grammar. Let’s have a closer look.

Scripture. Period.

A Lutheran grammar begins with the Word of God. Lutherans build their spiritual lives upon the “Word alone.” We understand that nothing else will suffice. Feelings are fluky. Circumstances are undependable. The Word of God – alone – is steady enough to sustain us.

This is an emphasis with deep missiological implications. Lutherans will want to introduce new believers, above all else, to the Word of God. More than liturgies, or theologies, or histories, or philosophies, we will want to introduce our hearers to the Bible.

And not only that: we will want to entrust our hearers to the Bible. We will want to encourage them to read it for themselves: in their own language, with their own questions, with their own cultural and historical “eyes.” We must resist the temptation to “interpret” the Scriptures for new believers. They do not need encounter with our interpretations, anyway. For spiritual growth and maturity, they need encounter with the Word of God.

If you stop to think about it, this kind of grammar is pretty revolutionary.

It means, on the one hand (to borrow here from Lamin Sanneh), the relativization of western culture. In the Schmalkald Articles, Luther explained: “It is not valid…to formulate articles of faith on the basis of the holy fathers’ [may we add western missionaries?] works or words. Otherwise, their food, clothes, houses, etc., would have to be articles of faith….The fact is that God’s word should establish articles of faith and no one else, not even an angel” (SA II, 2, 15).

On the other hand, this means (again from Sanneh) the legitimization of receptor cultures. They will retain their own “food, clothes, houses, etc.” God’s word will meet them where they are at. Luther warned: “We do not want to hear what they [i.e., traditional ‘papists’] command or forbid in the name of the church, because, God be praised, a seven-year-old child knows what the church is: holy believers and ‘little sheep who hear the voice of the shepherd'” (SA III, 12, 1). We will find the “little sheep” everywhere in the world. And they don’t need missionaries to command or forbid anything in the name of the church. They are the church.

Grace, grace

More than anything else, I suppose, we Lutherans are famous for our appreciation of grace – and the Schmalkald Articles are full of it.

“Here is the first and chief article: ….’All have sinned,’ and ‘they are now justified without merit by his grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus…by his blood’ (Romans 3)” (SA II, 1, 1). “On this article stands all that we teach and practice” (SA II, 1, 5).

C.S. Lewis famously advocated “mere Christianity.” He meant “mere” in the sense of pure, plain, or unmixed. Lewis argued that mixing Christianity with anything – Christianity and democracy, for example, or Christianity and America, etc. – ends up in something not quite Christian at all.

Lutheran Christians might advocate “mere grace.” Mixed grace is no grace at all. We cannot add to the simple gospel message; adding anything turns the message into something other than gospel.

Paul felt this way. “Even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed!…I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing” (Galatians 1:8; 2:21).

Luther felt this way, too. Through the years, good church people have mixed grace with ritual. They have mixed it with relics. They have mixed in indulgences. Some have stirred in politics, or nationalism, or cultural prejudice, or class consciousness, etc. “All of this is not to be tolerated,” Luther warns, “not only because it is without God’s word, not necessary, and not commanded; but because it is contrary to the first article [i.e., grace!]. Christ’s merit is not acquired through our work or our pennies, but through faith by grace…” (SA II, 2, 24).

Do you see how this grammar might work? The moment we permit the impression that “true” Christians will belong to our political party, or sing our preferred hymns, or organize churches as we do “back home” – at that moment we are no longer speaking the language of grace. Pretty soon we have no grace at all.

Lutherans, of all people, ought to be ruthlessly clear on this score. Mere grace is sufficient – or grace, in fact, no longer exists. Lutherans, of all people, should develop a “nose” for every foul-smelling perversion of the wonderful grace of Jesus. Hang up the “relics.” Forget the “indulgences.” We prefer to depend upon Jesus.

Only by faith

A Lutheran grammar understands that faith alone grasps the grace of God. Doctors of philosophy have no advantage. And the poorly trained suffer no disadvantage. The entire human family is equidistant from God. People become Christians – every single one of them – in exactly the same way. By faith.

Westerners must not presume that they have any “low down” on the presence or the power of the Holy Spirit in the world. (This has never been an appropriate attitude; it is less appropriate today than ever before.) Of all missionaries, Lutherans should be the first to acknowledge that African and Asian believers are quite as close to God as Minnesotans or Finns or Germans. We know this to be true because of what we believe about faith; the road to salvation is the same, for every people and culture in the world. Minnesotans have no advantage.

Because of this doctrinal grammar, Lutheran missionaries should feel suspicious of theological conferences dominated by Europeans and Americans. We should feel saddened by African churches that aspire to appear European. We should feel deeply challenged by ministries that are unidirectional and dependent.

“I have no idea how to change what I have consistently taught about this until now,” Luther said, “namely, that we receive a different, new, clean heart through faith (as St. Peter says). God…does regard us as completely righteous and holy, for the sake of Christ our mediator” (SA III, 13, 1). God regards everyone who believes in Jesus as “completely righteous and holy.” They don’t need to become Americans first.

A big basket of adiaphora

It is quite as important to notice the very many things not included in the Lutheran confessions as it is to notice the items that are. The confessions are radically narrow in their focus. They identify the most basic teachings of the church – and there are but a few. Virtually everything else is assigned to the great confessional category of “adiaphora.”

The word means “stuff that doesn’t matter” – and for confessional Lutherans this is a very big basket indeed. The kind of music used in church? Doesn’t matter. The day of the week the church may meet or the kind of building the church may occupy? Doesn’t matter. The organizational structure of the church – how pastors, for example, should be called, trained and consecrated? A bit of order is advisable; but in the end, really, it doesn’t matter.

Lutheran missionaries should be very clear about “stuff that doesn’t matter.” Hymnals don’t; music doesn’t; architecture doesn’t; dress (or the lack of it) doesn’t matter a bit. I have often thought that missionaries should learn to “confess” the adiaphora just as they do the confessions themselves. That is, they should diligently and regularly remind themselves that almost all of the cultural and linguistic shape of their ministry doesn’t matter in the end. It is adiaphora. Jesus himself, of course, had extremely hard words for missionaries who didn’t keep these things straight (Matthew 23:15ff.).

The Schmalkald Articles comment concerning “the consecration of candles, palms, spices, oats, cakes, etc.” – not evil things in themselves, but adiaphora with respect to the faith. Luther offers this brilliant and practical advice: “We intend to be unmolested with these things” (SA III, 15, 5).

Conclusion

This is our Lutheran missionary grammar. Some of us will tell our message through drama. Others will sing. Some will teach in schools or heal in hospitals. Still others will share friendships in our local communities. If we have internalized well our confessional grammar, we can hope that it all makes sense. We can hope to communicate Gospel sense.