Where are all the Lutherans?

One of the bad habits I have is checking out other churches. For some reason every time I drive by a church I have to figure out what type of church it is. Whether it is a Catholic, Baptist, Methodist or Lutheran church, I am bent on a need to know. Now for the past few days I have been with Gina's family in Tennessee and I have seen A LOT of churches. I have seen more Baptist churches than I know what to do with but the Lutheran churches have been noticeably absent.

The other day I stopped off at a road side stand to purchase some fireworks and had a great conversation with Carl, the owner. During our conversation I discovered (or was told) that Carl was a Southern Baptist and I in turn told him that I come from the Lutheran church. After a brief period of silence and a slightly confused look on Carl's face our discussion continued.

Quite often our faith is closely connected to geography and ethnicity. If this same conversation were to happen in rural South Dakota the Southern Baptist would have been the recipient of the pause and the blank stare. Now I don't have any criticism of these truths or situations but I do see a fantastic opportunity. We need to learn how to talk to one another and learn from one another. I may not agree with everything the Southern Baptists believe but that doesn't mean we are any less brothers and sisters in Christ. Grace may not mean the same thing to them but that doesn't mean I cant learn something. The Christian church is diverse and too often we look like a divided house. But what if we used that diversity to enhance the Body of Christ? What if, instead of looking at our differences, we focused on our unity in Christ and allowed that to strengthen the body? I am guessing, with certainty, we are going to see more diversity in the church before we experience a mono-denominational church, and that can be a good thing if we approach it with the right mind set. Imagine Lutherans and Southern Baptists praying together and doing God's work! What a beautiful thing. It's going to be difficult but I think we can do it.

See you in church,

Chris