Lutheran Perspectives
A Lutheran Response to Political and Racial Divides Rev. Dr. John Nunes, President of Concordia College New York, along with his wife Monique, who serves as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coach at Concordia University Irvine, joined the Concordia St. Paul community for two virtual events on November 4. The morning event was a virtual convocation titled Meant for More: Conversations on Purpose in Times of Racial Injustice. John’s latest book, Meant for More: In, With and Under the Ordinary, was recently released by Concordia Publishing House. Moved by the news of a 16 year old girl’s suicide on the south side of Chicago, John came up with the title of this book on the spot. “God had put a divine design in her life so that she could see more, do more, and achieve more,” he recalls. The idea of being “meant for more,” John proposes, applies especially well to racial and political divides. “We are incredibly divided as a nation; this nation has issues,” John observes. “What I try to do through the book is show that we as people of faith are meant for more and meant to do more to speak into the divide and bring reconciliation to the divide.” John explained that it’s in ordinary relationships and places that people can live out their calling (or vocation) to serve others and bridge these divides. “When you have a burning passion for something, it’s not called work; it’s called vocation,” Monique shares. Because they grew up in a post 9/11 world, were children during the 2008 financial crisis, have seen and experienced inflamed racial tensions, and are dealing presently with COVID-19, John believes today’s college students are uniquely equipped for a vocation of reconciliation. “Because of how much they have suffered, they have an insight into life and about the world around them and what we can do differently,” John remarks.
Within a short time, Christianity’s physical presence has shifted from Europe to Africa, Asia and Latin America. John explains that, because of these shifts, the average Lutheran is an east African. “[Western Lutherans] have a choice to listen to the faith as is it expressed, interpreted and understood in various places around the world,” he observes. He focused on the ministry and growth of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus as an example. Founded in 1959 as a conglomeration of different church bodies, EECMY membership numbered 65,000 people. Now, more than 60 years later, their membership nears 10 million people. “The EECMY is an amazing church body, and I believe it bears us listening to their experience,” John contends.
This explosive growth, some believe, was driven in part by the Marxist regime in Ethiopia that threatened, persecuted, and killed many Christians, including theologian Gudina Tumsa, the “Dietrich Bonhoeffer of Africa.” Nunes explains Tumsa’s belief that the Gospel Everyone is created in the is “too powerful to be compromised by any social or political system.” image of God and is meant
for more... you can still have conservations and common ground and a passion for seeking justice."
Monique reminded the audience that everyone, whether a person of faith or not, has dignity and deserves respect in challenging conversations. “Everyone is created in the image of God and is meant for more... you can still have conservations and common ground and a passion for seeking justice,” she shares. That evening, John spoke at the annual Vern Gundermann Reformation Lecture, the theme of which was based off another of John’s books, Wittenberg Meets the World: Reimagining the Reformation at the Margins. In this lecture, John shared that the global impact of the Reformation helps address the challenging issues in our world today.
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Monique and Rev. Dr. John Nunes
FALL/WINTE R 2020 • CONCO RDIA ST. PAUL MAGAZINE
–Monique Nunes
American Christians can learn from this experience, Nunes argues, observing that they typically “tend to divide predictably along political party lines in their positions on diversity, race, and justice.”
Nunes contends that Lutheran theology helps reimagine these divides. Because Lutherans understand sin and its effects, hold to a robust understanding of civic righteousness, and are Christ-centered, reconciliation is possible. “Despite sin, despite the situation we find ourselves in, despite pluralism...God’s mercy has the last word,” he exclaims. Nunes referred to this reconciliation between divided people as a “reimagined koinonia” that comes from the cross. He concludes: “[It is a] theologically determined inclusion, motivated by a deep commitment to scripture, the confessions, the gospel, and church history and grounded in an expansive, eschatological global approach to ecclesial identity.” To view these presentations, visit meantformore.csptheology.org and reformationlecture.csptheology.org.
