Appreciating Your Pastor

Last updated on: October 6, 2017 at 10:24 pm By Gene Veith

October is Pastor Appreciation Month, and this Sunday, October 8, is Pastor Appreciation Day. I have no idea who came up with those observances and they have not made it onto the liturgical calendar. Still, appreciating your pastor is important, and we need the reminder. And go beyond appreciating him in the privacy of your mind by letting him know how much you appreciate him.

The Barna Research Group, in conjunction with Pepperdine University, has been studying pastors as they work to fulfill their vocation. The research shows just how difficult the job can be. Barna has already issued reports on pastors’ cultural credibility, their experiences and timing of the call to ministry, the aging of pastors and the health of pastors’ relationships.

But Barna’s latest report, on pastors’ general sense of well-being, is more encouraging.

A whopping 91% of pastors say that, overall, they are satisfied with the quality of their lives. This compares to 62% of American adults who feel such satisfaction.

Breaking it down, 88% of pastors say that their spiritual health is “excellent” or “good,” compared to 60% of all Americans; 85% say that of their emotional health, compared to 63% of the rest of us; and 67% say the same of their physical health, compared to 55% of the laity.

In other findings, 73% of pastors are motivated to becoming a better leader, compared to only 22% of all Americans. Among pastors, 60% are energized by their work, while only 24% of the laity feel that way. And, significantly, 68% of pastors feel well-supported by people close to them, compared to 43% of the rest of us.

But being a pastor also has its crosses to bear.

Pastors are more likely than the rest of us to feel “inadequacy about their work or calling” (12% of pastors frequently feel that way, with 45% sometimes feeling that way; among the laity 8% feel inadequate to their callings frequently, with 22% feeling inadequate sometimes.)

And pastors are more likely than the rest of us to be plagued with mental or emotional exhaustion (12% “frequently” and 45% “sometimes”; compared with 23% and 32% for all U.S. adults).

So it’s good to be pastor, but it can take its toll.

What might we laypeople do to build up our pastors in their sense of vocation and in making their ministry to us less exhausting?

Are our congregations too busy? Are we devaluing Word and Sacrament ministry in favor of secondary activities that take up way too much time and energy? Are we so demanding of our pastors that they have too little time for their other vocations–as husband, father, and citizen–thus causing them problems at home?

What do you appreciate about your pastor?

In Australia, I was asked to speak to a seminary class on the topic of “what a writer and academic needs from a pastor.” The assumption seems to have been that we intellectual types need something special from our pastors. But I told the future pastors that all I need is what everyone else in their congregations will need. I need my pastor to bring me to repentance and to give me the Gospel; I need him to forgive my sins; and I need him to put Christ’s body and blood into my mouth. Anything else is just extra.

UPDATE: Here are some suggestions for how you can show your appreciation.

Photo of Pastor by weldert, Pixabay, CC0, Creative Commons

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A Biblical text for our time

Last updated on: September 19, 2017 at 9:13 am By Gene Veith

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Here is a text from Scripture for those afflicted by or afraid of storms (as yet another hurricane, Maria, heads towards Puerto Rico), terrorism, tyranny, disgrace, loneliness, abandonment, apostasy, personal attacks, and other troubles of our time. And it also speaks of vocation.

From Isaiah 54:

4“Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.

Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.

You will forget the shame of your youth

and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

5For your Maker is your husband—

the Lord Almighty is his name—

the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;

he is called the God of all the earth.

6The Lord will call you back

as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—

a wife who married young,

only to be rejected,” says your God.

7“For a brief moment I abandoned you,

but with deep compassion I will bring you back.

8In a surge of anger

I hid my face from you for a moment,

but with everlasting kindness

I will have compassion on you,”

says the Lord your Redeemer.

9“To me this is like the days of Noah,

when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.

So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,

never to rebuke you again.

10Though the mountains be shaken

and the hills be removed,

yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken

nor my covenant of peace be removed,”

says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

11“Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted,

I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise,^a

your foundations with lapis lazuli.

12I will make your battlements of rubies,

your gates of sparkling jewels,

and all your walls of precious stones.

13All your children will be taught by the Lord,

and great will be their peace.

14In righteousness you will be established:

Tyranny will be far from you;

you will have nothing to fear.

Terror will be far removed;

it will not come near you.

15If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing;

whoever attacks you will surrender to you.

16“See, it is I who created the blacksmith

who fans the coals into flame

and forges a weapon fit for its work.

And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc;

17no weapon forged against you will prevail,

and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,

and this is their vindication from me.”

Photo by StockSnap, Pixabay, CC0, Creative Commons

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A Reformation best-seller to read and give away

Last updated on: September 15, 2017 at 7:43 pm By Gene Veith

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Luther’s Small Catechism is a marvel of clarity, depth, and spiritual insight. Used for centuries to catechize children, it has also proven to be an inexhaustible devotional resource for adults. Now Concordia Publishing House is making an inexpensive edition designed to be handed out as tracts or given to friends.

The edition costs only about 50 cents each. And yet, it is very attractively printed, with full-color artwork. See what it looks like.

The booklet is only 32 pages long, so it is easy to read and to take in. It fits in your pocket. Entitled A Simple Explanation of Christianity, it comes in a pack of 20 for $9.99. (That’s less than $10!)

Churches are buying them in mass quantities, giving them to members but also distributing them in evangelism projects, handing them out to visitors, using them in study groups, and encouraging members to pass them on to non-Christian or unchurched friends.

Our church is buying them!

My sources at CPH tell me that although the product has only been available for two months, they have already sold some 125,000 copies!

Buy them here.

What a good way to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, to pass out a booklet that sets forth the content of what the Reformation was all about.

The Small Catechism–which shows Luther’s writing at its best–is built around six “chief parts”: The Ten Commandments, the Apostle’s Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, Confession, and Holy Communion. The Catechism also includes “The Table of Duties,” which teaches the doctrine of vocation.

The Catechism follows a question and answer format (which reflects the dialectical classical education of Reformation schools).

The explanations of each of the Commandments says what we should not do and also what we should do, with a vocational emphasis detailing how we should treat our neighbor.

The Commandments summarize the Law. The Creed summarizes the Gospel. The Lord’s Prayer summarizes our relationship with God. The other sections summarize the Christian life.

You can read an online text of the Catechism here. For the Catechism’s devotional use, read John Pless, Praying Luther’s Small Catechism.

For those of you who didn’t have to memorize it, as young Lutherans do in confirmation class, I will give you a sample to show you how good it is:

The Second Article of the Apostle’s Creed: Redemption

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

What does this mean?

I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.

This is most certainly true.

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The Natural Virtues, the Theological Virtues, & the Commandments

Last updated on: September 12, 2017 at 8:41 pm By Gene Veith

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In thinking about “virtue ethics” and the Christian life, it is important not to confuse “virtues” with “moral truths.” A “virtue,” which literally means “strength,” is a character trait. A “moral truth” is an absolute tied to God’s Law. These two can be related, but they aren’t always. And when we consider the cultivation of virtue, we need to keep in mind the distinction between “natural virtues,” which can be taught, and the “theological virtues,” which are a gift of God.

Classical thought–as found in the Greeks and Romans and adapted by the early Christians–identified four virtues. These became known as the “cardinal virtues” (from the word for “hinge,” since other virtues hinge on these), or the “natural virtues,” since they can be mastered by nature, even by non-believers. They are, to use Wikipedia’s useful list and explanation, as follows:

Prudence (φρόνησις, phronēsis; Latin: prudentia): also described as wisdom, the ability to judge between actions with regard to appropriate actions at a given time
Courage (ἀνδρεία, andreia; Latin: fortitudo): also termed fortitude, forbearance, strength, endurance, and the ability to confront fear, uncertainty, and intimidation
Temperance (σωφροσύνη, sōphrosynē; Latin: temperantia): also known as restraint, the practice of self-control, abstention, discretion, and moderation tempering the appetition; especially sexually, hence the meaning chastity
Justice (δικαιοσύνη, dikaiosynē; Latin: iustitia): also considered as fairness, the most extensive and most important virtue;^[1] the Greek word also having the meaning righteousness

Each of these qualities is commended in Scripture–especially Justice–but none of them rise to the level of being included in the 10 Commandments. They say nothing about not killing, not committing adultery, and honoring parents. This is because they are not commandments or even laws. Rather, they are character traits.

Now a person who has learned temperance–that is, self-control–is in a better position to keep in check emotions that might lead to committing adultery or killing someone. But not necessarily.

Alexander the Great, who was tutored by the great father of virtue ethics Aristotle, arguably was an exemplar of the four Natural Virtues. He was a wise ruler, a courageous military commander, in control of his emotions, and fair to his troops. And yet, in the course of his brutal project to conquer the world, he arguably violated all of the Ten Commandments.

The four natural virtues have to do with becoming the kind of person who is admired and successful in the world. At best, in their moral dimension, they have to do with external, civic righteousness, the First Use of the Law (restraining evil externally so as to make human society possible).

That someone could be “virtuous” in this sense, while still being a lost sinner, by no means makes cultivation of these virtues unimportant. The Christian schools of the Reformation, as designed by Melanchthon, sought to teach these virtues. They were no substitute for Law and Gospel in the spiritual lives of their students. But a Christian equipped also with these virtues would be an effective influence in the world.

Christian educators knew that to these “natural virtues,” which even pagans could attain, the “theological virtues” must be added (1 Corinthians 13):

Faith
Hope
Love

These are supernatural virtues. You don’t find faith, hope, and love in Alexander the Great. Or in Aristotle, who considered “pity” to be a weakness. You don’t find them in the heroes of classical literature. You can call these “character traits,” in the sense that they are orientations of the inner person. But they cannot be acquired by the will or by habit or by training, in the classical sense. They are gifts of God. The “character” is changed from its fleshly nature to a new spiritual nature, transformed by God’s grace through the Gospel of Christ.

Faith, Hope, and Love are cultivated by evangelism, catechesis, prayer, worship, and the Christian life. These “character traits” do manifest themselves in moral action, in following the 10 Commandments. Faith bears fruit in love and service to the neighbor. Hope causes us to live in this world in the light of our Heavenly destiny, giving us a perspective on what is important and what is unimportant in this life. Love of God and love of neighbor fulfill the Law and the Prophets.

The classical Christian schools of the Reformation sought to teach the 4 Natural Virtues (by studying the ancient moralists, reading inspiring literature, and practicing the habits of prudence, fortitude, and temperance necessitated by a rigorous education) and the 3 Theological Virtues (by immersion in God’s Word).

This gave a total of 7 Virtues (to counter the 7 Deadly Sins). Both kinds of virtues were cultivated in order to equip young people both for success in vocation in the world (in the family, workplace, church, and society) and for eternal life in the world to come.

Illustration by geralt, Pixabay, CC0, Creative Commons

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Virtue Ethics and the Christian Life

Last updated on: September 10, 2017 at 3:21 pm By Gene Veith

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Given that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, why should Christians bother with good works or try to avoid sin? This question is as old as Romans 6:1, but it continues to bedevil many Christians, from naive teenagers who think that their baptism or “decision for Christ” means that they can now sin with impunity to sophisticated theologians who flirt with antinomianism.

I came across an article that I am finding very helpful in thinking about moral issues in light of the Gospel: Jeff Mallinson’s “Virtue Ethics and Its Application Within Lutheran Congregations,” in Issues in Christian Education.

There are many facets to ethics–understanding the nature of goodness and evil, determining whether something is right or wrong, applying ethical principles to particular issues. Virtue ethics focuses on the character of the person who acts ethically or non-ethically. Virtue ethics asks questions like these: What kind of person commits adultery? How can someone become the kind of person who does not commit adultery?

Virtue ethics was pioneered by Aristotle, who emphasized the cultivation of good habits, and “character formation” has become a staple of Roman Catholicism and Christian schools. But many Lutherans, leery of Aristotelianism and salvation by “merit,’ have reacted against virtue ethics. How can human beings who are, in the words of the rite of confession, “by nature sinful and unclean” ever attain “virtue”? And yet, advocates of virtue ethics have included Lutherans, such as Joel Bierman, the great ethicist Gilbert Meilaender, and Philip Melanchthon.

As Prof. Mallinson explains it, Luther sets forth an approach to virtue ethics. But it is nothing like Aristotle’s.

For Luther, the Gospel makes us into a different kind of person: a Christian, who acts differently because he or she has a new nature. The Gospel also gives us freedom, liberating us from the bondage of our wills to sin and thus also liberating us from the overscrupulous parsing of rules or calculating how much we can or cannot get away with. We come before God clothed in Christ, who has borne the punishment for our sins and imputed to us His righteousness. Whereupon God calls us into the world to love and serve our neighbors, vocation being the realm of good works.

But those good works come not from efforts to acquire merit, nor even from forming good habits. Rather, they come as we grow in faith by means of Word and Sacrament. That is, as Christ transforms us. Christians are continually confronted by the Law and forgiven through the Gospel. By continual confession and absolution, hearing God’s Word and receiving Christ’s Body and Blood–all of which happen in the Divine Service–Christians are transformed into different kinds of people, receptive to God’s Will and sensitive to their neighbors, hating sin especially in themselves and yearning to please God, which they learn through the third use of the law.

Yes, we are still sinners, but we are also saints. It isn’t that we oscillate between one and the other, as is often assumed. Prof. Mallinson quotes Mark Mattes, “Discipleship in Lutheran Perspective,” Lutheran Quarterly 26 (2012), 149:

The Christian life is no perpetually reoccurring oscillation between law and Gospel, accusation and liberation. Not oscillation but simultaneity—simul iustus et peccator— characterizes Christians, even when they flee from God as wrath to God as mercy. Nevertheless, it is precisely God’s Word defining this simul that opens another dimension—the horizon of living outside oneself, first of all in honoring God, the source of goodness, and second, in serving the neighbor. As new beings, we are not trapped in the oscillation because the Gospel’s goal is to effectuate trust in God’s promise which allows us to live outside ourselves in God and the neighbor.

Prof. Mallinson says that virtue ethics–that is, the formation of Christian character in the Christian life–is not just cultivated in the Divine Service, the primary function of which is to proclaim the Gospel. Since virtue, in this sense, has to do with our life in the world, it should be cultivated in the world: in church activities, to be sure,–in Christian education and in interactions with other Christians–but also in the family and in Christian schools. And, I would add, as we face trials and tribulations in faith, and as we struggle in our vocations.

Notice how St. Paul ties together the Gospel, the experiences of life, and “character,” which in turn circles back to the Gospel:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ²Through him we have also obtained access by faith^[b] into this grace in which we stand, and we^[c] rejoice^[d] in hope of the glory of God. ³Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

Photo by John Snyder (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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Half of Protestants Agree With Catholics on Salvation

Last updated on: September 8, 2017 at 10:00 am By Gene Veith

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Over half of American Protestants (52%) believe that salvation–that is to say, getting into Heaven–requires a combination of both faith and good works. This is the Roman Catholic position.

Over half of American Protestants (52%, but not the same 52% as above) believe that the Bible is not the only sufficient authority for the church. The Bible must be supplemented by church teachings and church tradition. This is the Roman Catholic position.

These are the findings of the Pew Research Center, detailed in their report “U.S. Protestants Are Not Defined by Reformation-Era Controversies 500 Years Later.”

According to the study, Protestantism used to be defined over against Catholicism by its adherence to sola fide (faith alone) and sola scriptura (Scripture alone). But now, as we approach the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, these distinctions are fading. Another Pew study of religion Western Europe (“Five Centuries After Reformation, Catholic-Protestant Divide in Western Europe Has Faded”) finds a similar pattern there. Only in Norway do a majority of Protestants (51%) still hold to sola fide. The conclusion from this and other data (such as whether a Protestant or Catholic would accept a member of the other theology into their families–98% of German Protestants and 97% of German Catholics say “yes”) is that the Reformation divide is pretty much over.

I think these findings are significant, but possibly misinterpreted.

First, I have often noticed that Protestants who come across as the most opposed to Catholicism are often quite Catholic in their views of salvation. They fixate on sacraments, liturgy, vestments, religious images, confession–thinking those are what constitute Catholicism. But they don’t. We Lutherans, the first evangelicals and the first Reformation critics of Catholicism, have that stuff. Yes, there are other features of Catholicism–such as the papacy, Purgatory, and the cults of Mary and the other saints–that are problematic. But these too have to do with the essential issue: Catholic soteriology. That is, how we are saved. Are we saved according to our “merit”? Or by the “merit” of Christ? Must Christians endure punishment after death, possibly thousands of yeas of suffering, to purge us of our sins before we can enter Heaven? Must we be punished even for sins that have been forgiven? Or did Christ on the Cross bear all of our sins and endure all of their punishment on the Cross, so that, united to Him by faith, we can enter Heaven as having been redeemed by God’s grace?

Second, while Lutherans, along with Calvinists and others, do hold to sola fide, many Protestants do not and have never believed that way. Many of the different Protestant theologies that have emerged since the Reformation have been concerned to re-introduce some measure of salvation by works. Arminians emphasize the role of the will, with subsequent teachers in that tradition–such as Wesley and the “Holiness” movement–teaching the possibility of leading a sinless life. These traditions, along with the anabaptist communitarians and various Millennialists and Pentecostals, explicitly criticized Luther for downplaying the role of moral behavior in salvation.

Lutherans have always replied that they are not opposed to good works simply because they insist that we are not saved by them. Good works are the fruit of faith. Good works happen in vocation, where we live out our faith as we love and serve our neighbors in the family, the workplace, the church, and the community.

But not all Protestants have ever held to sola fide. As for sola Scriptura, the study seems confused about the nature of that teaching as well. Yes, Lutherans would say, church teachings and church traditions are important as long as these are grounded in Scripture. But the church is how Scripture is taught, preached, and carried out. Sola Scriptura, in the original Reformation sense, does not mean that every individual Christian can interpret the Bible however he or she wants, though this is how some later Protestants took it, resulting in still more theologies and in the authority of the individual.

So, from a Lutheran or “Reformational” point of view, after 500 years, the church as a whole still needs a reformation. Protestant churches no less than Catholics.

Illustration: Part of Wittenberg altarpiece by Lucas Cranach the Younger [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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