Lets suppose

Let’s Suppose…

Let’s suppose that a new family moves into town from wherever. This family, Mr. and Mrs. Joe and Judy New-bees and their two little children start looking for a church based on their religious preference and previous experience.

Let’s suppose that in this case, the New-bees, are Lutheran.

So they look up the local church directory and identify a nearby Lutheran church and start attending the local, St. Martin Lutheran Church located over on Main Street.
All the familiar Lutheran characteristics are visible there and they begin to feel at home.

But let’s suppose that they attend Sunday school and other activities where they get to know individual members who have been regular members for a long time at St. Martins. These long time members begin to tell the New-bees how upset they are that St. Martins is a Lutheran church.

These comments confuse the New-bees. They know that no church is perfect but they thought it would be nice to be members of a Lutheran church. They are Lutheran.
They wonder why Lutheran church members would go to a Lutheran church if they did not like Lutheran-ism? The New-bees sought out a LUTHERAN church so that they could continue to be Lutheran. They thought that a Lutheran church would be, well, Lutheran. Like, hymnals, Lutheran, Sunday school curriculum, Lutheran, liturgy, Lutheran. What’s wrong with a Lutheran church being Lutheran?

The New-bees were aware that there are many denominational and non-denominational
churches around town. If a family wants to be a Baptist they should go to the Baptist church. Episcopal, Hey there’s St. Hi-Lo’s on the next corner. I bet their members don’t condemn Episcopalian-ism over there. And there is no way that the Pentecostals at Holy Roller church on Back Street are whining over how their church is Pentecostal. Imagine how unlikely it would be for members of St. Loyal’s Roman Catholic church on the town square to complain about how their church is Roman Catholic. Why wouldn’t a Roman Catholic church BE, Roman Catholic?

The New-bees are completely confused. They would like to continue to be Lutheran, be members of a LUTHERAN church. After all it does say Lutheran on the corner stone at St. Martins. One night after the kids are tucked into bed and the evening (Lutheran) prayers are said, Joe New-bees asks his wife, “Judy, if people belong to a Lutheran church why should they bash Lutheran-ism?”

“I don’t know, honey.” Replied Mrs. New-bees, “It sure seems strange to me.” “It sort of like someone putting down their own family, like wishing they could be Chinese instead of American. I just want to be a Lutheran. Is there anything wrong with that?”

The next day the New-bees start looking over the local church directory continuing their search looking for a LUTHERAN Lutheran church.