A Fantastic Set of Lectures by Rosenbladt and Parton

I just finished listening to the lecture series with Dr. Rod Rosenbladt and Craig Parton, Esq. recently made available by New Reformation Press entitled "Where in the Church is the Gospel?"  What an excellent presentation! 

As a former American evangelical myself, I was particularly interested in Mr. Parton's discussion of the thoughts and feelings of former evangelicals (him also being a former evangelical) coming into Lutheran churches, how many lifelong Lutherans fail to appreciate and often take for granted the rich liturgy, depth of worship and wonderful theology that they have, and the misconceptions that they often have about how evangelicals think and what they are looking for.  Here are some excerpts that I particularly identified with:

"…when evangelicals end up in Lutheranism, they end up looking for the most orthodox expressions of it that they can find.  They’re not looking for nicer people.  They’re not looking for better potlucks.  They’re not looking for a better community.  They’re looking for what they didn’t have in American evangelicalism.  I had all that there.  I had great friends.  We had a social life there.  We had all of that.  They’re looking for a clear expression of what they’ve been seeking in the areas of both reverence and mystery.  They’re not looking to be entertained." 

"… there is a mindset in Lutheran churches … that, “You know, American evangelicals have got all the answers on how to grow a church.  We just need to do what they’re doing.  And if we could just do it – maybe with a little bit of pizazz – we could get people to show up.”  But notice the assumptions that are behind this kind of approach – that the historic worship of the church is not something to be honored, that people come to church to be entertained.  These are uniquely Baby Boomer kind of concepts that have been picked up by, unfortunately, churches of the Reformation and pastors in churches of the Reformation …. when people come to these churches they often times hear nothing different than what they’ve heard in their evangelical experience.  And when they find that – let me tell you, if you’re a Lutheran pastor here – you want somebody mad, you do a bait and switch on an American evangelical who went through hell to end up in your church and you do this kind of crap.  When that is done, you better hope they’re not armed – ‘cause they’ll come looking for you…. And they’ll want to know why you jettisoned what they think are the true treasures of the tradition of the Lutheran Reformation – which is the Gospel being central, Law and Gospel preached from the pulpit, a consistent service [from] a hymnal, solid catechesis – that’s what they have come to find.”

"Why are Lutherans messing with [the historic liturgy]?  Because they think it’s boring to people.  They don’t understand, because they have a lot of people that have listened to this and say, “Ho, hum.  What is the big deal?  We’d like to do something racy and fun for the Sunday service.”  I’ve likened this to people that have grown up living in a great three-flower Michelin guide French restaurant …. Lutherans … have grown up in this great restaurant and they’ve never known anything else but three-flower guide meals – Law and Gospel, beautiful liturgy, magnificent hymnody, all of this – the catechism, all this wonderful theology with Christ in the center.  Then they discover Carl’s Jr.  And that is the funnest thing – “it’s new, it’s hip, it’s right down the block – and you know, we could get stuff like milkshakes from Carl’s Jr. and we could put it at the table with the foie gras.  And it’ll go together – it really will.  Or – you know, have you discovered styrofoam cups – maybe the Chateauneuf de Pape can be poured into a styrofoam cup and then it can be used again, too.  And maybe that would be fun to try.”  Unfortunately, there’s a lot of folks that have never been off the reservation in some of these Lutheran churches, and you’ll find a lot of frustration with them if you go to visit these churches – that they’re going in the direction that you’re leaving.”

“… people need to hear that we [Lutherans] are not weird and we’re not liberal.  We’re not Catholic and we’re not liberal, and that’s what they assume.  You’ve got to fight against that.  You’ve got to think, “How can I get out there and show that I am evangelical in the best sense, and I’m not Roman Catholic?” and explain that.  There’s a complete disconnect there.  Lutherans do not get that.  They think that they’re considered like everyone else.  As an evangelical I considered Lutherans unsaved.  You [Lutherans] consider the evangelicals saved.  They consider you lost.”

“I can just tell you my personal experience with Law and Gospel is in
the liturgy every Sunday, and particularly in Confession and
Absolution.  That is unheard of – I mean, the first time I went into a
Lutheran service … if you’re in an old place and an old service,
you’re going to confess your sins first.   And I’ll tell you, my wife
and I looked at each other when we did that and we thought, “We have
found something.  We haven’t done this.”  I mean, really confess what
you have done – what you deserve.  And then the Absolution coming from
the pastor in the stead of Christ, that our sins are forgiven.  Unheard
of.”

I hope to share my thoughts on these in more depth in upcoming posts.  But in the meantime, go to New Reformation Press and buy this lecture series!  It is well worth the money.