Why I am a Lutheran, Part I

Reasons to be joyfully Lutheran

1. We put Jesus front & center. No church worthy of the name would say that it puts Jesus "back & to the side." And yet, in practice, many do. In the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod [LCMS], Jesus is at the heart of who we are & what we do. The Gospel for us isn't just an appetizer; it's the hors d'oeuvre, main dish & dessert. More than anything else, this is why I am a Lutheran:  because of Jesus.
2. We were protesting before it was cool. Nowadays, everybody & their brother is protesting something. It's become almost avant-garde to accept the status quo. That wasn't always so, however. In the 16th century, few would (or could) stand up to the religio-political machine of the Roman Catholic Church, which was getting rich on the forgiveness business. Luther & his confreres stood on the truth of the Gospel, & we are still reaping the benefits today.
3. We don't throw the baby ou with the bathwater. Many people in Luther's day believed that he didn't go far enough in his reforms; many still do. Why retain the liturgy? Why still celebrate the sacraments? Why keep stained glass? Weren't (and aren't) these things too, well, Catholic? Luther's response by word & deed would be, as the Scripture says, "Test everything; hold fast what is good" (1 Thess. 5:21). Lutherans don't try to pretend that nothing good happened in church history between the time of the apostles & the time of the Reformation. We are ancient & modern; evangelical & catholic; sacramental & biblical--all at the same time. Which reminds me . . . 
4. We relish paradox. Scripture is replete with paradoxes--as as life is. We are tempted to loosen the tension & let logic have the last word rather than God. Human agency or divine grace? Saint or sinner? One God or Three Persons? God or man? The surprising Lutheran answer to all of these questions is, "Yes!" We speak where Scripture speaks & remain silent where Scripture is silent. It's not our job to reconcile things the Bible says that we find confusing. When it comes to making sense of these biblical mysteries, we're called simply to confess what we have received from God.

--"Seven Reasons To Be 'Joy:Fully Lutheran," by Ryan Tinetti, The Lutheran Witness, Aug. 2019