- You hold your hymnal open for the entire service but never look down at it.
- You think you're paying your pastor too much when he buys a new car after 9 years-I think our church is guilty if that. It was a while before my dad got a new car. :)
- You know church is going to be absolutely packed on Easter Sunday but you show up late anyway-ha, totally guilty of that. And I live right next door which is even sadder. :)
- You're watching Star Wars and when they say, "the force be with you" you reply with "and also with you."-you have no idea how much this makes me laugh. Lutherans are so big on "and also with you."
- J.S. Bach is your favorite composer just because he's Lutheran-dads guilty of that.
- You feel guilty about not feeling guilty-I don't know if I would put it that way or not.
- You actually think the pastors jokes are funny-sometimes, but not really. Pastors have the weirdest sense of humor.
- You dress up as your favorite reformer for Halloween-we've never actually done that but I think we talk about it every year. :)
- The only mealtime prayer you know is "Come Lord Jesus" and you can say it in one breath.-This is so true. ha, you have no idea how funny this is to me because it's so true. :p
- You believe that there is an 11th Commandment "If it's never been done that way before, don't do it."-once again so true...One thing Lutherans are afraid of is change.
- Your Baptist friends think you're Catholic
- Your Catholic friends think you're Baptist
- You sing "Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus" while sitting down-bahahaha...this one made me laugh so had.-but I'm not sure if we've actually done this before.
- All your relatives graduated from a school named Concordia-so far only my dad has, but both of the sibs went to a Concordia their freshman year of college.
- You know the different between a "collect" and a "gradual"-I don't even know if we use a gradual.
- You love the new hymnal-yup, I do.
- You hate the new hymnal.
- You make change in the offering plate for a $5 bill-I never have, but that is so us.
- Your idea of a mixed marriage is an ELCA bride and an LCMS groom.-My parents have already told me that if my fiance isn't LCMS he'll have to convert, even if he's ELCA and if he's WELLS I'd probably have to convert.
- Your 47 years old and your parents still won't let you date a Roman Catholic.-haha, so funny! :p
- You know how to say "Melanchthon" in German-nope, I have no idea.
- You hum "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" while mowing the lawn- I do not, but I do hum other hymns like "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". I wonder if my dad hums hymns...hmm...
- Your LCMS pastor refers to St. Louis as "The Holy City"-haha, no I've never heard it called that...just home.
- When you're agreeing with someone instead of saying "yes, I agree" you say "this is most certainly true"-haha, yes I think I do...we love that phrase. :p
- You and your family of 7 go to a Lenten supper and leave a free will offering of $2.-no never done that
- You go to the Lenten supper at your church and skip the service after the meal-no, that's a no no.
- Your church uses folding chairs but you call them "pews"-no I call our pews pews.
- Rather than introducing yourself to a visitor at church you just check their name in the guest book.-I don't think we use our guest book very much. I just ask Mom or Dad who the people are that I don't know.
- You think the way Calvinists number the commandments is not only incorrect but heretical.-I have no idea what this one means.
- The Sunday church bulletins are 17 pages long.-more like 7 or 8.
- You hold up the line at the end of the service-I don't. I can see my daddy any time. It's everybody else who holds up the line. :p
- You insist on spelling "catholic" with a small c.-nope.
- You know it's wrong to applaud during the service.-very...but I want to so bad.
- You doodle on the back of the communion cards.-no, the bulletin. :p
- Every time something changes, the old way was better.-yup, change bad!
- You have to rope off the last pews so the front ones aren't empty.-nope. My family will always be sitting in the front.
- Your house is a mess because you're saved by grace, not by works.-haha, too funny. We actually have a very clean house. But there are others things we lack because we're saved by grace not by works.
I decided to do this blog because before coming to Bethel I kinda...pretty much hated...Lutherans, even though I was one. I hated how stuck up we were thinking we were better than everybody else. I hated how little we did for others, unless, of course, they were Lutherans. I hated that we were like robots during worship services not being able to clap. I was kinda excited to be able to go to contemporary worship and try out new churches.
But...then after spending a year and a May term at Bethel I've realized that there are some things that Lutherans are waaaayyy better at. I LOVE that our worship services don't just contain singing, praying, and a message. BORING!!! Plus, I can't listen to a 30-45 minute sermon. My attention span does not last that long. I love that we recite the Apostle's Creed (We're confessing our faith). I love that we have confession and absolution. When we had this "revival" on campus I'm not gonna lie, it didn't affect me, because for me confession is something that I do routinely. I don't need a revival. And then the absolution where you hear the sweet words..."Upon this your confession and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Ahh...music to my ears! And we have Holy Absolution where we can confess something to your pastor. See, for me, I don't feel the need to confess my sins to everybody, unless that sin involves everybody and I need their forgiveness too. Otherwise it's between me and God. I like that we recite the Lord's Prayer and pray for those in need. I like that before the sermon we read from the Old Testament, Epistle, and the Gospel. And I like that everything else we do in worship comes from Scripture like the Benediction...LOVE the benediction. And you know, some of our hymns are not that bad. We have very good music.
However, there are things that Lutherans (me) lack. Lutherans are not very happy peppy people. That is one thing I liked about the other churches I went to. Everybody was so happy and friendly. I hate that we're so afraid of change. People in our congregation are so picky! I hate that we think other Christians need to be just like us and when they explain their faith it's not right unless you pretty much recite the Apostle's Creed to them. I hate how little we help others. And when we do it's for Lutheran people and it feels like a chore. That's one thing Lutherans definitely have wrong. "That we're saved by grace not by good works cuz that's what Paul says in the Bible." Okay, Lutherans if you know the Bible so well (I really don't know it that well) then try reading James where he says faith is pretty much crap unless you express it through your good deeds. Or like the song states, "Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love." Or in the words of St. Francis, "Preach the Gospel, sometimes use words."
I'm hoping that after this realization I'll be able to come to a happy medium.
To end this...interesting blog I'm gonna copy the Mormon commercials (Cuz I kinda like them and think Lutherans and everybody else should do them):
I'm Elizabeth Troup and I'm a junior Psychology and Deaf Studies major at Bethel College in Indiana. I love psychology because I like learning more about the mind and how it works. I like seeing the effects that different things have on the mind like society and drugs. I think I like it so much because I'm always becoming more convinced of how normal I actually am. And I want to help others see how normal they are too. I want to comfort them by showing them that they're not the only one who's experienced that emotion before. I don't think there is a such thing as normal. We're all so unique but at the same time experience similar things and react in similar ways. God made us all individuals but I believe He put us all on this earth to help each other. Sometimes we need more than the simple fact that God is always with us. We need that hug or hear those words of comfort come out from a person's mouth. I love Deaf Studies and ASL (American Sign Language) because it is something that has been a part of my life since I was in kindergarten and I met a Deaf person for the first time. I love the history of the Deaf culture, the trials they had to go through and how far they have come. The development of ASL is extraordinary. The language is one like no other. It shows much more emotion then words could ever express. Since God didn't give me the gift of a fine singing voice I use my gift of signing to express my emotions along with the music. I absolutely love it! It's almost like acting in a way except you're not actually acting. When school starts to get to me or my family is stressing me out I know that I can always find refuge in the pages of a book, a pen in my hand, music to my ears, dance, or a classic romcom. I love reading. I'm a wannabe writer. I love music especially the lyrics. I'm an amateur dancer. I love movies. I believe you can find a Christian message in just about every novel you read or movie you watch and if not a Christian message than some message that makes you stop and think. I love my family. They're so supportive. I love the fun we have together and the memories we make. I love my niece. She can always put a smile on my face. My name is Elizabeth Troup. I'm a daughter, a sister/sister-in-law, an aunt, a student, and an artist. I love my family, dogs, the arts. I don't care if people pick their noses cuz I do it too. I believe Jesus is my Lord and Savior and I'm a Lutheran.
I apologize if this has offended anybody. These are just my own opinions.
