History is a great teacher. What better authority do we
have for understanding history—than the one true God who begins the Book
of Genesis in the Bible,
with a recorded history that starts from the very beginning of created time? Confessional Lutherans,
likewise, approach history by tracing their beginnings back to the foundations
of the Christian church—when it all began. There in the founding documents, the
Lutheran Confessions,
our Lutheran forefathers began their testimony with the Ecumenical creeds of
the Christian church. One therefore would and should expect true Lutheran
churches to follow in the footsteps of the biblically based Lutheran saints that
have gone before them—resting on the foundation of God’s inspired Word.
The church that I serve (Agnus Dei Lutheran Church) is a new
church, yet it grows out of this well trod history. They have used history
rightly—having learned from the mistakes and successes of Lutherans past. The
innovation that one sees in the more popular Christian churches is refreshingly
and thankfully absent there. There are no fads of worship and
practice that come and go. What one sees and experiences instead—is the slow,
meticulous, and steady spiritual growth that comes out of the rich soil of
God's Living Word. The children especially benefit from a
Lutheran philosophy of education that builds upon repetition and Word-based
tradition.
As a pastor, I would not expect a church like this to grow
very big. And that is okay. Just as God can work through one large church or
many little churches, that is His choice. Now, for many people, even those very
knowledgeable about churches that may be counterintuitive. That is, however,
one way in which God grows His church. He uses the foolish things of this world
to confound the wise (1
Cor. 1:27) and this little church may just be one more example that. He
chose for example, the smallest tribe of Benjamin,
from which to call His Son Jesus Christ (Micah
5:2). He chose the great enemy of the Christian church Saul of Tarsus to be one
of the great missionaries of his church.
I do not know why God chooses big things at some times and
small things at others. But I do know based upon a clear reading of the Holy
Scriptures and my personal experience of seeing God's will come to pass in this
world (Matthew
6:10), that He is the one calling the shots and therefore He will use
whatever is at His disposal—and all in His good timing. And if all of a sudden
people start discovering this hidden gem of Christendom, that will be good—and God
will get credit for that increase too.
We live in great times here in America
-Rev. James R Shaw
I remember speaking to the Dean of the Chapel when I was at Valparaiso University after a particularly poorly attended event a fellowship group I was with had sponsored. He smiled and asked me if I had read John 21 lately. "Not that I remember," I said. He said, "It is at the Last Supper when Jesus is talking. He tells Peter, 'Feed my sheep.' He didn't say anything about counting them."
ReplyDeleteSome people base their ministry success on volume or some other outward measurement. I think those metric are useful, but I have never forgotten his words. Our task is to feed whatever sheep we come across. Not paint crosses on our doors to keep track of them all. The numbers can be useful, but I think we misjudge a lot of ministries by counting their sheep.