Thursday, April 03, 2008

The ubiquity of religion in this campaign season is distinctly un-Lutheran. Uwe Siemon-Netto

Read the insightful article at http://concordia.typepad.com/vocation/2008/04/election-08s-fa.html

The ubiquity of religion in this campaign season is distinctly un-Lutheran. Uwe Siemon-Netto

Uwe lays out a nice contrast between the Two Kingdoms, right and left hand, the Church and the State. In this election cycle we would all do well to pay attention to our theology.

Here's a taste:
Nine years from now, in 2017, Protestants will celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. This is a good time to remember its theological treasures, which differ from earthly treasures in that they multiply when shared. Where the world is concerned, Lutherans have perhaps the soberest message of all Protestant traditions. Like Paul and Augustine, Lutherans know that our secular reality cannot be fixed. They know that it is finite. It will disappear. Until that happens, though, we must roll up our sleeves and manage our fallen world as well as we can, preventing chaos and lovingly serving each other - not by the gospel, which would be impossible, but by natural reason. We are free to act rationally in this world thanks to our knowledge of our redemption in the kingdom of grace. But the gospel has nothing to say about traffic rules, illegal immigration, the price of gasoline, or the deployment or withdrawal of forces to or from the Middle East. The gospel cannot really be associated with any worldly cause. The gospel will illume the Christians' good sense, we hope, and affect their personal comportment to the extent that it makes others curious about their faith. But the

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So what you are saying as it really does not matter who ends up in the White House because as Christians we are only here on this earth for a little while, and we should keep our eyes locked on the Lord who is of the heavens not this world. Still does not the Lord control this world and all who is in it? Still this helps me a lot as I had no idea who to vote for and so I just won't worry about it now.

wattswhat said...

Anonymous; I think you've missed the point of Uwe's article. Try reading it again.