Another quick one from new Mockingbirder Win Jordan.
Muzafer Sherif’s famous “Robbers’ Cave Experiment” says that we embrace division—not just that we are happy with divisions, but that we actively seek them out. In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that we develop our identities and our community by way of our divisions. (If you want proof of this, just introduce yourself as “Democrat” or “Republican” at your next mixer and see how you’re received.)
It certainly has not and is not different for the Christian. We look to theologians, churches, or denominations to define the “Faith” marker of identity. If I’m being honest with myself, this is something I do to distance myself from dominant-prominent Christians in the media. I make distinctions because it’s tough to accept that we believe in the same thing—Jesus’ resurrection and invitation for salvation.
Martin Luther himself clearly felt this worry about where our identity was distinguished. Upon hearing Christians were calling themselves Luther-ans, he replied:
The first thing I ask is that people should not make use of my name, and should not call themselves Lutherans, but Christians. What is Luther? The teaching is not mine. Nor was I crucified for anyone. St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 3, would not tolerate Christians calling themselves Paul’s or Peter’s, but only Christians. How did I, poor stinking bag of maggots that I am, come to the point where people call the children of Christ by my evil name? Not so, dear friends, let us do away with party names, and be called Christians, for it is his teaching that we have.
Gerhard Ebeling adds in his analysis that “it is quite certain that Luther rejected with great vehemence any submission to the authority of a human being in matters of faith and any reliance on human ordinances of one’s own choosing instead of the liberating word of God. He made it quite clear that the same was true of anyone’s attitude to his own person.”
This belonging is reflected at the Heidelberg Catechism when it asks “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” the response to which is, “That I am not my own but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”
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3 responses to “Identity, Division, and Luther’s “Evil Name””
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Win Jordan,
Thank you for the encouragement, especially through the Heidelberg Catechism response quote. It would be nice to learn it and remind myself with it.
I’ve attempted to be in communion with Christians on another spectrum of theology and have gotten burned. It seems to me that I can only go so far into relationship until we part ways…speaking another language as if we were a part of the Tower of Babel. This frustrates me to no end and I don’t know how to handle it. Really, it is one of my greatest sources of frustration. We are all Christ’s body, after all. Meant to function well together. And Christ is the head.
Great post, Win. It made me think about the first ten minutes of encounters with Christians I have just met when we are both trying to relax our faces and neutralize our expressions so as to be sure not to appear as if we are judging one another, when in reality I am sure we are both analyzing every statement the other is making to see if the person has “sound theology” (i.e. agrees) or not. Your post is a good reminder that we need to stop assessing one another’s righteousness and just be with each other as we are, where we are, and let God do the rest.
This is awesome, Win! It helps me better understand the word “Christian,” since like you say, it is meant to bring us back to the most important fact: Jesus is Christ because he was crucified for you and me, and that is how we can know we are loved forever. It helps to be reminded of the real meaning of the word and why we identify ourselves that way, because I so often get caught up in the connotations and stigma that comes along with the word “Christian” that I forget why I call myself one. Thanks for the well-written reminder!