A View from the Heitz

Many Christians in America outside of the Orthodox and Catholic traditions have a renewed interest in traditional forms of worship and piety.  Just a few weeks ago the lead article in the East Valley Tribune reported the Pope’s call on American Catholics to return to the Latin mass suggesting that this honored tradition will have spiritual benefits.  During my trip to Rome, I attended mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, which was of course performed in Latin.  Since I did not receive the Eucharist, the main benefit I felt was a 45 minute seat from which I could admire the surrounding art.  I could not help but think of this building as the place that triggered the reformation.  The magnificence of St. Peters was accomplished through the purchase of salvation–the selling of indulgences.  Much of the art was part of the communication of the Counter Reformation–the church defending itself.

The search for tradition outside of the Catholic church goes back to the Orthodox Church.  And at first blush, we find a church that many would say is much closer in doctrine and practice with protestant Christianity practiced by Lutherans.  I should note that understanding Orthodox doctrine can be difficult as word meanings and phrases are not the same.  A pamphlet at one church I attended quoted Ephesians 2:8-9, “by grace you are saved…and not by works,” while at the same time expressing that salvation is achieved through living as an Orthodox Christian.  Patriarch Bartholomew, in his recent book entitled Encountering the Mystery: Understanding Orthodox Christianity Today, claims that salvation and participation in liturgy go hand in hand.  Here is what he says:

Moreover, this salvation through participation is accomplished through the Holy Spirit in the sacramental life of the Church.  The Orthodox Church experiences and expresses its theology in worship.

In fact, worship is referred to by the Orthodox Church as “divine liturgy” which can be understood through the words of the lenten hymn “standing in the temple of Thy glory, we think we are in heaven.”  This is a transcendent event which communicates the divine by engaging all the senses including site and smell through icons and incense. Liturgy does not directly translate to worship as protestant Christians might be inclined to think.  In both the Orthodox and Catholic traditions, liturgy refers to the sacrament of holy communion and is a sacramental experience.

So what is the main benefit of these traditions?  Luther changed many things, but he did this as a result of his commitment to sola Scriptura–to get the scriptures into the hands of the people.  While he did not set out to completely revamp everything, that focus changed the language of the mass and included music as a key way of communicating the truths of scripture.  The whole basis for protestant Christianity is finding final authority in the text of the Bible.  This focus is literal not mystical or transcendental.

So how should Christians approach worship?  What benefits can we gain from 2,000 years of historical Christianity?  And what does it mean for Lutherans who are one of the few protestant groups with a liturgical worship style?

For Lutherans the matter is further complicated by the semi-sacramental nature of worship.  There are two lines of reasoning that follow:

either embrace traditionalism in its fullest sense, or
make form and style subservient to the preeminence of the means of grace by embracing confessional worship.

If tradition is to be embraced in the form of the liturgy then go all the way and make it sacramental.  That means all services would have communion and should consider adding back the missing sensory elements of visual art and incense to make it truly transcendent, including visual art and incense.

The alternate approach is to shift the focus from form and style by placing the means of grace and its communication as the main priority, thus leaving the form, style, and frequency of the sacrament to Christian liberty.  This leaves room for both the current non-sacramental style of some of today’s Lutheran liturgies along side of confessional forms of worship that use modern art forms.

Confessional worship then should provide maximum exposure to the means of grace, which is the gospel message in word and sacrament.  The efficacy of worship in transforming lives is not ours to manipulate.  Rather it comes only by the working of the  Holy Spirit through the means of grace.  This means that confession and absolution should be even more of a priority, and possibly a mandate, because in confession and absolution the pure gospel is revealed in all its glory.

Confessional worship, regardless of art forms or instrument types, maximizes the use of confession and absolution along with the teaching of the scriptures can be used by God the Holy Spirit to transform and strengthen his people for works of service.

As I look at historical Christian traditions I am amazed by the continuity of 2,000 years of history, yet I am at the same time uncomfortable.  For when I see great traditions, I also see that they can keep the church from performing its mission by turning the focus to the form and style rather than on the work of the Holy Spirit.  I see that it takes centuries or more to happen and it is always gradual but I am more and more convinced that traditions are there for the purposes of men.  Since scripture is the only final authority we should continue to be cautious of anything that could stand in the gap between a person and the Bible.

While the old man in me wishes that future generations could walk through protestant sites and art like that of St. Peters, the new man hopes that all they find is the truth of scripture.

Today I am sitting in the lunch room at East Fork Lutheran School pondering the ever changing landscape of Christian schools.  As the high school will be closing, I realize that we are losing another Christian school.  Closing a school is always a very emotional experience and I have been here before as I served on the board of Covenant Christian School which closed its main K-12 programs almost eight years ago.  At East Fork, however, there is an alternative.  A charter school run and governed by a group of Christians with high standards and a proven educational model.

As a product of Christian schools, I have been revisiting the reasons why we have Christian schools in the first place.  Don’t get me wrong I think that in most cases the continual evolution of Christian education is a good thing, but at the same time I want to go back the foundational reasons for it and make sure I understand what we are losing.

In marketing we talk about the fact that products and services change but the brand foundation does not.  Translated: the ministry plan may change but the doctrine and teachings do not change.  This is what is happening in Christian education, the delivery of it is changing but the reasons for it should not.

My experience with Christian schools in both Reformed and Lutheran circles has shown that reasons for Christian schools include both the creation mandate and Christ-centered education.

The creation mandate approach to Christian schools starts with the view that:

“Since God is the creator we should only learn from His perspective.”

This approach emphasizes knowledge as we see the character of God revealed in natural revelation.  This goes way beyond slapping a bible verse on the top of a quiz and instead says studying infinity in Calculus teaches us something about God since He is infinite.  Knowledge is important and these educators tend to have more advanced degrees than their counterparts.  This view is largely embraced by evangelicals who are migrating from main-line denominations to community churches.

Christ-centered education on the other hand puts faith first as the most important purpose.

Christ-centered schools focus on distributing the means of grace in word and sacrament as the first and foremost priority–sharing law and gospel with each child.

The Christ-centered approach measures success by number of confirmands while the creation mandate approach measures the intellectual growth in the knowledge of God.  The purpose is not necessarily to learn about God in natural revelation but to strengthen faith.  In the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), which runs the fourth largest parochial school system, this means that teachers are experts in religion but not necessarily experts in their subject matters and few educators in this system have advanced degrees such as a masters or a doctorate.

The big question for both:

Are Christian schools a necessity or a luxury?

People who subscribe to the creation mandate view tend to be more ready to say yes it is a necessity.  I have met many in both camps that would love to have the resources to make Christian schools a non-luxury item.  Parochial school systems are more committed to making this an affordable option than are the loosely-affiliated, evangelical Christian schools.  The problem is resources and by resources this is not only money but skilled educators.  Enter charter schools.

If you believe the creation mandate then you most likely also believe that all truth is God’s truth.  This belief makes secular schools an option as long as the person’s world view is maintained.   If you take a Christ-centered approach than you realize that the distribution of the means of grace for the purpose of salvation is not limited education in its classic forms: elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schools.

And so you end up where most parents are:

Give us a school that reflects our values with good families and a safe environment so we can raise our kids.

In the past, Christian schools have met the needs of people with this view in a way the public school system had been unable to do.  Now with charter schools and other options, why run Christian schools?  Let’s just have public schools with Christian teachers, classical curriculum, special focuses, and classroom sizes we are comfortable with.

I recall some of the prayers from the Lutheran Book of Prayer where we pray for the peace and prosperity of our nation that we might live quite, peaceful lives with the freedom to spread the gospel.  Maybe that’s what we are doing here at East Fork.

Schools have become as essential to our lives as food, clothing, and shelter.  This is the “Salvation Army” approach to Christian schools.  Give them the basics and then give them the gospel.   So now we face the challenge of resources that only a public or charter system can provide and in response we strive to create “conditions of peace” which will allow for the spread of the gospel.

I pray that this will not turn out like Joseph and the Israelites in the land of Egypt.  The Israelites ended up there because of a famine and a lack of resources.  God provided through Joseph a way out much like the charter option so many of us are considering.  Many years later however Joseph was forgotten and the Israelites were enslaved.  Egypt was part of God’s plan for the growth of His people.  Charter schools may well be God’s plan for the growth of His people.  In the long term we may say with Moses: “Let my people go.”