The Coolest Thing…

My Southern Baptist coworker and I did make it back from Orlando safe and sound. We made back in two hours less time than it took to get down there. The folks at work eagerly inquired as to whether I was the one doing the driving upon hearing that little tidbit.

Apparently, I have something of a reputation for driving with little or no regard for the posted speed limits. This is of course nonsense. I do however, on occasion, have “flashbacks” that cause me to believe that I once more travel upon the German Autobahn. Thankfully, when I forget which country I’m driving in, the local constabulary has always been kind enough to remind me of mine error.

So, anyhoo, my coworker did talk, albeit briefly, the issues that he had questions about concerning Lutheran doctrine and practice listed here.

The coolest thing however was my coworker’s understanding of what it means to confess Christ. I was amazed at his comprehension of the historic church’s (and Lutheran) reading and understanding of Saint Paul’s epistle to the Romans chapter 10:8,9;

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

A goodly number of evangelicals cringe at my use of the words confess and confession. Too often this response is a knee-jerk reaction to anything that too closely resembles the Roman Catholic church. There has been more than one occasion where I got the look of death for even referring to myself as a small “c” catholic.

Being able to use the word confess, and being understood while using the word confess, was a refreshing and welcome change from what I’m used to. There are certainly a great number of differences between Lutherans and Southern Baptists, but when common ground can be found, it’s very, very cool.