What Is A Lutheran? Jello, Confirmation and the Catechism

By Rev. David Petersen, Pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana

You may rememberfrom your confirmation instruction that Martin Luther did not want a church body named after him. In fact, the word Lutheran was meant to be an insult. But much like the name Yankee in the American Revolution, the name stuck. It was taken up by those whom it was meant to insult. Obviously, we do not worship Martin Luther. We do not even hold his writings as sacred or inspired. What we mean in calling ourselves Lutheran is that we believe the same things that Martin Luther did, and we follow his teachings.

It is, of course, his Small Catechism that served as your primary textbook for confirmation instruction. And then, on the actual day when you were confirmed, one of the questions you were asked was, “Do you hold all the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures to be the inspired Word of God and confess the Doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, drawn from them, as you have learned to know it from the Small Catechism,to be faithful and true?” You answered,“I do!”

It is important to recognize that the Catechism does not determine our teachings. The Bible alone does that. The Catechism simply draws out what the Bible teaches and organizes it in a simple fashion that can be memorized. It is almost like Cliff Notes for the Bible! With the Catechism at your side, with its formulas known by heart (that is, yes, you guessed it, memorized) you will “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15)

The other questions you were asked were more general. For instance, you were asked if you were baptized, if you renounced the devil, believed in the Holy Trinity, and wanted to remain forever in this faith. But the question about “the Doctrine of the Lutheran Church as you have learned to know it from the Small Catechism” was really asking, not so much “Are you a Christian?” but, “Do you want to be Lutheran?” It was asking, “Do you believe that what you learned from the Catechism is actually what the Bible teaches? Do you believe that you can know the truth and that you have found it in that little blue book?”

So, you see, the Catechism is a defining document for us. It helps us not only to know exactly what we believe, but also to express it. Some Christians are proud of the fact that they don’t have a formal statement of faith like our Catechism. All they’ll say is, “We believe what the Bible teaches.” And yet, we say that too, and so do the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons. But we all believe very different things. Instead of giving an overly simplistic and empty answer, when we are asked about what we believe, we have something to say. We have a confession. That confession, contained in the Catechism, places us into a long family line that goes clear back through Luther to Jesus and all the way back even to Abraham and Adam.

Being Lutheran might require you to sometimes eat strange Jello salads or pickled fish in musty church basements. You might even be asked to endure hugs from overly perfumed, squishy, elderly women who threaten to pinch your teen-age cheeks! But there are worse things in this life. And being Lutheran is more than all that. It is having a faith that knows what it believes. It is who you are, and what you meant, when you said, “I do!”