Luther’s Vision for Christ-centered Families and Brave, Equipped Congregations

[1] In 1525, Martin Luther encountered both the horror of the Peasants’ War and the joy of marriage. In his work, he acknowledges this—this constant presence of evil in the world and the comfort and joy of a loving home. This article presents lessons from Luther on the importance of acknowledging the existence of real evil and the confidence and joy human beings can experience when living out their Christian callings, in their families and within their congregations.

Coming to Terms with Evil, Deception, and Satan’s Craftiness

[2] On the 25^th Sunday after the Trinity in (1537), Martin Luther preached the following:

But how can we keep from being deceived, since some of the

deceptions which come our way are very compelling. How can we

keep from being misled? To learn such mastery or art requires that

we truly be Christians. First of all, we must recognize that the devil

is a very crafty and powerful lord-that’s why he is called lord and

ruler of the world!-and that if our dear Lord and God does not

counter and thwart his craftiness, cleverness, and power, there

would be no one on earth wise, strong, and holy enough to withstand

and survive against him. That is to say, with his knowledge, smartness,

and power the devil far exceeds all human understanding and

mental power. If God, therefore, were to withdraw his hand, the

devil would quickly contrive an apparition before our eyes and take

us in before we know it.[i]

[3] Luther did not skirt around challenging issues. He addressed misleading messages on indulgences and distortions of the Bible.  He did not remain silent, but proclaimed the victory of Christ over Satan and his scheming henchmen and built a new paradigm for a church that would help fulfill that proclamation.

[4] This article is asking this question today:  Is there a way for families and congregations to live with joy and not the sorrow of traumatized lives?  What is the path that takes us away from broken lives, passive boredom, bitter reactions, unnecessary heartaches, hard work with minimal outcomes?

[5] To answer that question, we must look at the way we are too often currently doing church. We are seeking to discover how congregations can be communities of faith that bring joy, vibrancy, safety, courage, wisdom, growth, fruitfulness, a true sense of our loving God being immediately present in the life of the congregation.  But first we must look at the prevailing paradigm.

[6] Here is Paradigm One of church as I have experienced it over most of my ministry.

1. The pastor is seen as the one person with spiritual responsibilities.
2. Most members see as a main part of their Christian lives that they attend Sunday worship and support the congregation financially.
3. Christian education takes place in the church building mainly by the educated pastor.
4. Parents’ main jobs are to have their children baptized and get them to Sunday School and confirmation.
5. Prayers are said in worship services and dire issues are prayed for by a prayer chain. The average member is not expected to be a pray-er and is not trained to be one.
6. What is happening in members’ families is overlooked so neither parents nor grandparents are held accountable or are supported for their home ministries are unnoticed and undefined.
7. The average member does not see a need for being trained or having God in their life to enable them to carry out their unnamed ministries or callings.
8. If a child is to become a disciple of Jesus, the key person to make that happen is the pastor.
9. The pastor preaches, teaches, visits, writes, counsels, prays, oversees, administers, has continuing education, officiates at funerals and weddings, etc.
10. The average member has no named responsibilities and is accountable to no one.

[6] In contrast, let us consider a different way of doing church.  I will call this Paradigm Two:

1. The congregation has mission and vision statements that challenge every member to be involved so the outcomes desired can and will happen.
2. The “callings” and ministries of all members: Leaders, spouses, children, parents, grandparents, employees and employers are equipped so they can fulfill their vital ministries.
3. The pastor and others are equipping people for those ministries.
4. Some lay people, including youth, are being trained to be leaders, teachers, and visitors in the congregation.
5. Members, staff and lay leaders are all prayed for by other members.
6. Youth are included in meaningful relationships with adult members.
7. Youth are expected to provide leadership.
8. Small groups place members in situations where they interact with others.
9. An environment exists where members are comfortable sharing personal concerns with small group leaders, elders or pastors.
10. Shut-ins and the sick are visited and seen as participating members.
11. Hard and difficult issues affecting the lives of members are addressed and actions taken.
12. Programs and action steps have been put in place to forward the mission and vision of the congregation.
13. Fellowship is practiced with celebrations, sharing meals and general gatherings to build unity.
14. Congregation interacts with neighbors and local community.
15. Prayer and fasting undergird the above.

[7] This is not an impossible or unknown paradigm. What I have experienced in my life is that when a congregation does even some aspects of Paradigm Two, good things can happen.  As a youth my congregation was Zion Lutheran in Glendive, Montana. Along with the good pastors I had, there were at least seven Christian men and women in the congregation who taught and modeled for me what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. I can still name two of my Sunday School teachers who were farmers: George Leivestad and Jake Siegle.  Also, the youth advisers were Damon McKibben and his wife, Charlotte. Partly through these people’s influence, sixteen young men and women including myself became pastors. God’s Spirit was working through members of the congregation to call forth many to Christian service.

[8] Unfortunately, not all congregations experience anything like this.  Stuck in Paradigm One, decline and discouragement can take over.

[9] I admit I was caught in its web for 45 years of my ministry without realizing its energy depleting potential. When we see our youth leaving after confirmation, people not volunteering, not showing up at classes, fewer younger adults around, we get some sense that what we are doing as a church is not working.

[10] Jesus told us we are the sheep, and he is our Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. Good news!  But we must watch for this metaphor and how we misuse it in our modern churches. We hire a pastor who has had extensive training. We delegate to him or her the workings of our congregation. We are then tempted to treat this pastor as our shepherd, and we become the sheep. Shepherds have major responsibilities 24/7 while sheep depend on the shepherd and graze with no mission or vision. As a result, many in the congregation become onlookers, an audience for the pastor with no sense of major callings, ministries and vision. The life of the congregation becomes more and more dependent on who the pastor is and what the pastor does. Only the pastor is being asked to be accountable.

Coming to Grips with Reality

[11] This model of church does not help us when we are confronted with radical evil in our society. We need something more. Here is how it happened for me and my family. A horrible reality shook me and my family to the core. My third daughter became a victim of a human trafficker. The consequences she faced and the agony our whole family faced were beyond words. My life came to a standstill. I as a father was heartbroken, helpless, with no answers.

[12] When we finally got our deeply wounded daughter back, my first response was to blame her for allowing herself to be so entrapped. Then one day she said to me, “Dad, you never prepared me to meet up with such a clever trafficker.” I didn’t want to believe her. But she told the truth. Never had I equipped her to handle the evil and sophisticated manipulators she encountered. I had to quit blaming her for allowing herself to get involved. Reality had to set in. She had been “fair game.” In raising her I did not take into account how vulnerable she was. I gave no thought as to what I could do about that. She had been an amateur matched up with a professional. That is the real truth. It had not been a fair fight.

[13] I began to work against human trafficking. For 15 years I served as director of adultssavingkids.org working to make people aware of trafficking and creating support for survivors.

[14] Finally, one wise pastor stirred my thinking. He asked me if something could be done to prevent youth from being trafficked. Prevent!? I was taken back. Could this be possible?  Where would one start?

[15] We decided to develop a course for pastors to teach confirmation students on how to be more street smart. It was called Wise as Serpents and included a video featuring both a former trafficker and a survivor. It fit right into the way of doing church under Paradigm One. The pastor could do it. The parents could sit on the sidelines.

[16] It was twenty years after my daughter was trafficked, that I finally began to see connection between the way the church leaves the parents out of the picture and the dangers young people face. In the congregation I served in North Dakota from 1974 to 1981, we did not train parents either to pass on the faith or to give their children wise skills. We did not train them to pray with their kids. We overlooked the enormous value the parents could provide for their children. The ministry of grandparents was nowhere on our radar screen.

[17] I realized that neither parents nor grandparents were prepared to help their kids be wise. Neither were they well equipped to instruct their offspring in the faith. The Small Catechism Luther had prepared for parents to teach had been taken over by pastors and taught in confirmation classes.

[18] Here is the question for every Lutheran denomination, every Lutheran seminary, and every Lutheran congregation: How can we free ourselves from the limitations of Paradigm One? How can we mobilize a congregation, so every person is heavily involved in building up the body of Christ? This might be the most important question the modern church can ask. The stakes are high.

[19] Here is what I came to notice in my ministry. Most congregations teaching Wise As Serpents were telling us, “Parents were not showing up.”  Even when the pastor invited them to a meeting where they would discuss why human trafficking was going to be discussed in the confirmation class, they still didn’t come. Big red flag! Shouldn’t parents want to know why their teenage confirmands were going to be exposed to discussions on such a dangerous issue as human trafficking?

[20] Suddenly, Ephesians 6:4 mandating parents to fulfill their call got my attention. Were parents trained to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord? Were we pastors or the church doing anything to make that happen?

[21] Luther had also noticed this blind spot in the church! While he was writing the Large Catechism, he took the time to go out and visit some towns and congregations in Saxony.  He registers his shock on what he found which brought him to write the Small Catechism. In its preface he spells out what caused him to do this.

The deplorable, miserable condition which I discovered lately when I, too, was a visitor, has forced and urged me to prepare [publish] this Catechism, or Christian doctrine, in this small, plain, simple form. Mercy! Good God! what manifold misery I beheld! The common people, especially in the villages, have no knowledge whatever of Christian doctrine, and, alas! many pastors are altogether incapable and incompetent to teach [so much so, that one is ashamed to speak of it]. Nevertheless, all maintain that they are Christians, have been baptized and receive the [common] holy Sacraments. Yet they [ _do not_ understand and] cannot [ _even_] recite either the Lord’s Prayer, or the Creed, or the Ten Commandments; they live like dumb brutes and irrational hogs; and yet, now that the Gospel has come, they have nicely learned to abuse all liberty like experts.[ii]

[22] Let us take a deeper look at our churches today.  How many of our members are basically illiterate when it comes to the Bible? How many believe being a Christian mainly entails having one’s children baptized and showing up once in a while maybe to receive communion? How many are sharing the Small Catechism, Bible stories, passages and prayer with their children in their homes?

[23] Have Christian parents and grandparents even been told what God has called them to be doing? I know I never told the parents and grandparents that in the North Dakota congregation I served.

[24] Luther speaks to all this when in The Estate of Marriage,

Most certainly father and mother are apostles, bishops and priests to their children, if they make them acquainted with the gospel. In short, there is no greater or nobler authority on earth than that of parents over their children, for this authority is both spiritual and temporal. Whoever teaches the gospel to another is truly his apostle and bishop.  Mitre and staff and great estates indeed produce idols, but teaching the gospel produces apostles and bishops. See therefore how good and great is God’s work and ordinance![iii]

[25] How important it is that parents and grandparents take their callings seriously! They are the key influencers of their offspring’s life. What they believe, share and how they live before the child may well set the child up for staying in an eternal relationship with God. In an evil world their words of wisdom, warnings, discernment may not only protect the child but give him or her ways and tools to stay safe and not be fooled. Their faith practices can inspire their offspring to follow their lead.

[26] In Deuteronomy 6, Moses speaks to the Israelites before they enter the promised land.  He is adamant that parents must daily instill in the minds and hearts of their children who God is and how God delivered them from their slavery in Egypt. They must be so prepared so they will not be seduced to follow the beliefs of the idol worshippers they encounter. Psalm 78:1-8 and Joel 1:3 say parents and grandparents are to prepare not only their offspring but in such a manner that those offspring will keep the message passed on to reach the hearts of generations down the line.

[27] In the New Testament the apostles taught people to be pastors, elders and teachers. They noted parents would need to be equipped by those pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11-12) if they were going to raise children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)

[28] Luther realized what was at stake. In his Preface to the Large Catechism he writes.

If this were not enough to admonish us to read the Catechism daily, there is God’s command. That alone should be incentive enough. Deuteronomy 6:7,8 solemnly enjoins that we should always meditate upon his precepts whether sitting, walking, standing, lying down, or rising, and keep them before our eyes and in our hands as a constant token and sign.  Certainly, God did not require and command this so solemnly without good reason. He knows our danger and need.  He knows the constant and furious attacks and assaults of the devil. So. he wishes to warn, equip, and protect us against them with good “armor” against their “flaming darts,” and with a good antidote against their evil infection and poison.  O what mad, senseless fools we are! We must ever live and dwell in the midst of such mighty enemies as the devils, and yet we despise our weapons and armor, too lazy to give them a thought![iv]

[29] Luther here shows he is realistic about human nature, the tendency of even Christians, in this case parents, to do as little as possible even if they have been assigned to dwell on God’s Word. He also understands the competition. The devil will use every trick in the book to keep parents from training their children in the Catechism and learning its teachings themselves. Has not this calling of parents and grandparents to fulfill the tasks assigned to them on an intentional basis become even more challenging in a culture like ours today? Have we bought into the lie Satan has planted in our culture, “I’m too busy.”

[30] If we read the Small Catechism telling us what the Sacrament of Holy Baptism is, we quickly discover why it was meant for parents to teach and practice.  First, it is all about forgiveness, being redeemed from death and the devil, eternal salvation. The infant has a new identity in Christ as a child of God.  Parents need to continually teach the realities of this into their child’s mind and heart.  Parents witness their child’s sin, their need for repentance. They are the loving messengers of bringing on confession and then God’s merciful forgiveness.  Walking in the new life in Christ can be a regular experience for each member of the family. So much is going on during all those years before confirmation.  Parents are in the position to bring out what sin and grace means. Connivers will seek to shift their victim’s personal identity.  Being a baptized child of God is the antidote.

Considering the Three Names Luther gives parents: Bishops, Apostles, Priests.

[31] Luther refers to I Timothy 3:1-7 and what qualities a person needs to have to be a bishop.  The Augsburg Confession in Article 28 spells out that it is the office of the bishop to preach the Gospel, to forgive sins, to condemn doctrine that is contrary to the Gospel, and to exclude from the Christian community those whose wicked conduct is manifest.

[32] How might that apply to parents?  Surely, they are to bring the Gospel to the hearts and minds of their children. They are to forgive their children and we could say ask for forgiveness when they have sinned against their children. They are to help their children from being misled by false teachers.

[33] In the Large Catechism, we read, “If God’s Word and will are placed first and observed, nothing ought to be considered more important than the will and word of our parents, provided that these, too, are subordinated to obedience toward God and are not set into opposition to the preceding commandments.”[v] From this we see what it is that a parent and a grandparent is to provide within a Christian family. Not only is godly leadership to be given but the very environment of the Christian home nurtures the child in love. The parent is self-controlled, not reactive, respectful not demeaning, temperate not dominating, hospitable not self-centered, gentle not violent.

[34] Luther, also,  calls parents “apostles” in their own home.  Apostles are those sent out by Christ. Here is an insight Luther had that has often become forgotten in the modern church.  I overlooked it. As a pastor I took the mandate of being an apostle, that a Christian is sent out to simply mean sent into the world, the community, one’s workplace to share the Good News of Christ. That is good but what I neglected to say and what Luther grasped is that we parents are first of all sent to our own children. They are the ones right in front of us with whom we are sent to share. We don’t have to travel far. Sharing with them is right there to happen.

[35] An apostle in being sent out becomes an initiator. Since small children have no sense of direction or what they need to know, parents are sent to initiate learning, sharing God’s Word.  They are like the apostles who were commissioned in Matthew 28:18-20. The words there can be applied directly to what parents are to do with their children.

[36] If a family leader realizes how important this calling is, where does one start? There are many wonderful Bible stories and passages to share. Every family needs to have Luther’s Small Catechism. Bible story books, devotional books, Christian movies, and Bible studies are available. It is tempting to treat this calling as secondary. It is not. Congregations need to know of these resources and encourage their use.

[37] Luther also believed that parents act as priests. “Not only are we the freest of kings, we are also priests forever, which is far more excellent than being kings, for as priests we are worthy to appear before God to pray for others and to teach one another divine things.  These are the functions of priests, and they cannot be granted to any unbeliever.” [vi]

[38] If parents are priests as Luther says, they are to be teaching their children, praying for them and teaching them to pray. As a child grows up, the parent and the grandparent will be continually focused on doing these three actions.

The Gift of Prayer and Insight:

[39] Priests pray. Every person in the congregation including children is to be a person of prayer.  We see this in Ephesians 6:18 and I Timothy 2:1,2,8. Jesus continually urged all his followers to pray.  Luther was a man of prayer and loved to teach people to pray. Luther is said to have said that to be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.

[40] One of the primary reasons to pray is for protection from evil. Jesus prayed this for his disciples to be protected in John 17:12-16. In Matthew 10:16 Jesus admits, “See, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves: so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” This is a word often forgotten by our congregations. Yes, we are to love our neighbors, but we must learn to be wise and shrewd. Prayer can help guide us.

[41] In working with human trafficking, I eventually related to three former traffickers. I discovered how subtle and sophisticated were the tactics they had used and how effective they had been. It is tempting as a congregation to avoid mentioning wolves like traffickers, child molesters, drug dealers, false messengers, Internet pornographers, scammers, and domestic violators. When we avoid mentioning them, we are acting like they are more powerful than Jesus. We must trust that Jesus is with us in the darkest places so that we can speak of realities. We must help our people know and value wisdom and wise skills. When we pray, we grow in strength to look clearly at the real world.

[42] Luther never dodged darkness. He exposed indulgences, deception, and spiritual abuse. Today, he would not stay silent on pornography, abuse, or grooming. In A Simple Way to Pray and his sermons, he names evil plainly and prays with fire. He knew Satan wasn’t symbolic—Satan was real, strategic, and relentless. Consider how Martin Luther saw the power of evil in the world.

Then say: O dear Lord, God and Father, thou knowest that the world, when it cannot frustrate thy name and wholly root out thy kingdom, employs tricks and frauds, carries on its many intrigues and strange plots, takes counsel, whispers, bolsters and fortifies itself, threatens and blusters, and proceeds with all evil will against thy name, thy Word, thy kingdom, and thy children to destroy them. Therefore, dear Lord, God and Father, convert and restrain. Convert those who should still acknowledge thy good will, that they with us and we with them may be obedient to thy will, ready in this obedience to suffer willingly, patiently, and gladly all evil, cross, and tribulation, learning therein to know, and test, and experience thy good, gracious, and perfect will. But do thou restrain those who will not cease their raging, raving, hating, threatening, and wicked intent to do harm, and set to naught and shame their counsels, evil plots, and stratagems, that these may return upon their own heads, as Psalm 7 says. Amen. [vii]

Conclusion:

[43] Proverbs 15:20  says, “A wise son brings joy to his father.” (NIV) What a wonderful thing is joy! We celebrate the joy of a parent who sees their child develop into a wise spouse, a wise parent, a discerning leader.  We note the joy of a pastor witnessing a parishioner develop into an inspiring thoughtful leader in the church. We view the joy of a congregation whose people are overflowing with loving service, whose youth are safe, wise and following Christ, whose members are building up one another in unity, praying for each other. Dangers and challenges are not being avoided but addressed.

[46] Human traffickers, child molesters, drug dealers, internet pornographers hate this kind of parent, pastor, and congregation. They want to insinuate themselves into the lives of families, of congregations where no one is prepared to deal with them. In fact, they want to find a place where no one is even talking about the dangers they present. What a bonanza for them to discover Christian people who think nothing bad can happen in their town or family! Where the Christian life is just a matter of going to church on Sunday. But we are equipped to transform our churches into places that empower each of us to proclaim the Gospel to our children, grandchildren, and the children around us. Will not every step a congregation takes toward Paradigm Two help the congregation be stronger, the families grow in their faith, the children be wiser and safer?  Is this not what we want, fewer dire consequences, more fruitfulness and joy? Of course, we cannot create a perfect garden of safety, but by engaging together we can create strong relationships of love, comfort, and joy.

[i] Martin Luther. “Sermon for the 25th Sunday after Trinity, Matthew 24: 15-28” Complete Sermons of Martin Luther Volume 7, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House Company, 2000) p. 200.

[ii] Martin Luther. “Preface to the Small Catechism,” Book of Concord. Bookofconcord.org.

[iii] Martin Luther.  “The Estate of Marriage,” Luther’s Works Volume 45. (Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 1955).

[iv] Martin Luther “Preface to the Large Catechism,”  The Book of Concord, (Minneapolis: Fortress  Press, 1959), p. 360.

[v] Martin Luther “Preface to the Large Catechism,”  The Book of Concord, (Minneapolis: Fortress  Press, 1959), p. 381

[vi] Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian from Three Treatises, (Muhlenberg Press, now Fortress Press, 1957), p. 290.

[vii]Martin Luther “A Simple Way to Pray,” Luther’s Works Volume 43.  (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1955), p. 196.