Yes, Being a Lutheran Still Matters!

From Pastor Paul McCain's blog:

To be Lutheran is to be a person
who says, “This is what God’s Word, the Bible, teaches. This and
nothing else is true and correct. The Lutheran understanding teaching
and confession of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most accurate and
most faithful to God’s Word. Nothing more, and nothing less, will do,
for this is the truth.” In our day and age these sorts of bold
assertions are often met with angry responses, such as, “How dare you
insist that Lutheranism is actually the true teaching of God’s Word.
How can you think you have the truth? All that matters is if a person
is sincere about their faith in God.” We live in a time when truth is
viewed as something relative, impossible to know for sure. The attitude
common today is reflected when we hear things like this, “I have my
truth. You have your truth. As long as we respect our differences, that
is all that matters.” It seems today that the most important “truth”
for many people is their profound doubt that truth can be known, and
the  conviction that those who claim to know the truth are wrong.

Before we go further we need to
clear up a common misconception. While insisting on the truth of
Lutheranism, we can never allow ourselves to do so in an arrogant,
haughty or self-righteous manner. People who are passionate about the
truth of Biblical Lutheranism know that the Bible teaches often and
clearly that we are all sinful human beings in need of God’s constant
mercy, which He so lavishly gives in Christ. To be truly Lutheran is to
receive the gifts of God with humility, repentantly recognizing our
great need. It is tempting for Lutherans to be proud and arrogant of
their great heritage, but this is a terrible evil! To be Lutheran is to
be always mindful of our great sin and our great need for a Savior. To
be a Lutheran is to be a sinner calling out to fellow sinners, “Come
and see!” Furthermore, we would never want anyone to think that we
Lutherans are saying, “We, and we alone, are the only ones who will be
in heaven. In fact, you can’t be a Christian unless you are a
Lutheran.” Not so! Not at all. We realize that the Word of God is
powerful and active, wherever and whenever it is heard, read or
meditated on. There are many Christians in other denominations and
churches. They are not Christians because of the errors in their
churches, but in spite of those errors. Let’s then have none say, “You
Lutherans think you alone are Christians.” We have never said that, we
have never believed it, and we never will. The reason we insist on
Lutheranism for everyone who will listen is because we believe so
passionately that it truly is the most correct and most accurate
understanding of the Word of God.

You can read the rest here.  Yes, being a Lutheran still matters!  I think many Christians have the idea that because it's not necessary for one to be a Lutheran to be a Christian, it therefore does not matter.  But it is a matter of what tradition teaches the truth most accurately.  I have studied the writings of many theologians from many different traditions and am convinced that the Gospel is found in its purest, least obscured form in Lutheranism.  I won't make any apologies for it.  Every other tradition obscures the Gospel to some extent or another, be it through things like purgatory, praying to the saints and infused righteousness on one side or through things like anti-sacramentalism, decision theology and pietism on the other.