Pietism

During my last day in the Lutheran Outdoors of Ohio Outreach office, I stumbled across “Renewing the Passion: a guide to spiritual revival” sent to the camp by the Division for Congregational Ministries. For an ELCA publication this looked pretty racy. The background section included a quote from an article by Professor Walter (Skip) Sundberg as well as the link to the article.

After my History of the Reformation, course I have dismissed pietism as fundagelical (fundamental + evangelical) Christianity and non-confessional Lutheranism. Skip, as usual, has challenged my ideas while remaining true to Lutheran doctrine.

How can awakening and God coming down be preached at the same time? Aren’t these two mutually exclusive? According to Skip, “to be awakened is to know that Jesus Christ alone is Savior and that the purpose of life is to love God and love the neighbor before satisfying the desires of the self.” In class lecture, he manages to talk about God coming down in a way that is personal.

I have found this to be true. “Unfortunately, many major Lutheran theologians writing today are unsympathetic to the heritage of Pietism. This is especially true of European Lutherans who, despite the fact that the church is in severe decline in lands such as Germany, Norway, and Sweden, continue to draw on old, narrow arguments to dismiss the Pietist critique of the church… He [Oswald Bayer] considers that movement as one of the most dangerous and destructive illusions of modern secular life, culminating in “Marxism.” This analysis, certainly typical of intellectuals in the church, is patently ridiculous.”

“Mission is what the church is called into being to do. Unless a church is in mission, it is no church.” Powerful! More over, “the mission of the church requires awakened souls. Awakened individuals and Lutheran congregations built the church in America from colonial times to the great flowering of membership after the Second World War. Since the 1960s, however, Lutherans seem to have entered 40 years (a long time in the Bible) of membership decline and doctrinal drift. Perhaps, once again it is time for our synod committees, who are charged with the responsibility for examining ministerial candidates, to ask them about their “awakening” in the faith! If our ministers and members could give personal testimony to the work of Christ, we would be in a much different place as a church.”

What are we afraid of? Why doesn’t this take place in our pews today? Is it the laity who frequently preach themselves going to God? Could it be that we are not secure in our Lutheran identity and therefore we must protect it? Is this reaction what is killing our Lutheran identity? Is this what keeps Lutherans from evangelizing? When will it be safe to open our mouths and risk saying something not “theologically sound” for the sake of Christ? When was the last time I talked about what God was doing? When will I get out of my head and into my heart? I am proposing using both mind and soul to proclaim Christ. This is radical! We have what the world needs, why can’t we share?