Doctrine

My pastor is very passionate for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Through his teaching of the Gospel I have come to a deeper understanding of my own beliefs, and I lean away from traditional statements which lack imagery or description. Allow me to exemplify, I do not say Jesus Christ is my personal Lord and Savior; I do say that Jesus is the Way and I imperfectly follow Him.

I tend to express what faith is using the words of Martin Luther, "Faith is like fire giving off both light and heat." Faith is inexact and requires language that stirs the imagination. Bold blanketing doctrinal statements leave me cold and make me cringe. Although every Sunday we use the words of the Nicene Creed to confess our faith, corporately, personally I strive to state my faith using adverbs. Faith is moving and active.

The Creeds are there to get us all on the same page, and in Lutheran worship this is quite literal as was as figurative. We need something that we can confess together to edify one another and Creeds do that. I do not rely on the Creeds to express my beliefs in conversation or in my blogs.

Faith should grow beyond the Catechism answers. Yes, the Catechisms helped me by asking the right questions, but I want to give answers that express what I trust as well as what I have experienced.

I cringe when I hear people speak the words, "I am saved," or ask, "are you saved?" I cringe because it seems so shallow and two dimensional to me. The Word became flesh, God entered into the human condition, there is no need to fear anything even death. The Holy Spirit gives me visions, and I the more I see and learn, I come to understand how little I do know. And then I am asked, "are you saved?" I trust a promise.

And what is faith than trusting a promise and living in that trust.