{"id":2228,"date":"2011-07-14T06:00:59","date_gmt":"2011-07-14T11:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/hungerrumblings\/?p=2228"},"modified":"2011-07-14T06:00:59","modified_gmt":"2011-07-14T11:00:59","slug":"freed-in-christ-to-serve-faith-vs-works-looking-to-churchwide-assembly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/freed-in-christ-to-serve-faith-vs-works-looking-to-churchwide-assembly\/","title":{"rendered":"Freed in Christ to Serve \u2013 Faith vs. Works \u2013 Looking to Churchwide Assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/hungerrumblings\/2011\/07\/042511_CWA111.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/hungerrumblings\/2011\/07\/042511_CWA111.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"295\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2229\" \/><\/a>One of the most well known bits of theology that make Lutherans Lutheran is our idea of faith vs. works, most notably our insistence on justification by faith. Even though I had heard the words thrown around in various sermons through the years, I didn\u2019t really start learning and thinking about this concept until my Church History class in college.  I have wrestled with this concept ever since.  I wonder if it may be one of the root causes of the inactivity I see in some churches, especially in regards to service to the community and around the world.  In my own mind (perhaps over-simplifying it all) I wondered, \u201cWell if works don\u2019t get me to heaven, why bother?!\u201d Now perhaps most believers don\u2019t think like this\u2026 but what if this simple misinterpretation of theology did somehow encourage the church to be disengaged in the world?<br \/>\n Over the years I\u2019ve witnessed many churches whose main focus was directed within the walls of the church. These focuses can range from trying to pay for the building, discussing the layout of worship or decorating for various holidays. Don\u2019t get me wrong, these are important aspects of a worshipping community but I genuinely believe that being a follower of Christ, and specifically being Lutheran, means being able to reach out into our community and around the world as well. A few years ago World Vision conducted a survey among parish pastors across various denominations. They wanted to find out what these pastors\u2019 and their congregations\u2019 highest priorities were. The results, which are outlined in Richard Stearns\u2019 (the current president of World Vision) book <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theholeinourgospel.com\/\">The Hole in Our Gospel<\/a>, concluded that 79% saw worship as a high priority while only 18% saw \u201chelping the poor and disadvantage people overseas\u201d as a high priority for the church.<br \/>\nThis is distressing especially since scripture portrays a very different priority list for Christians. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=James%201:26-27&amp;version=NIV\">James 1:26-27 <\/a>advocates that religion that is pure and undefiled before God is one that looks after the least, the lost and the forgotten. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Isaiah%201:%2010-17%20&amp;version=MSG\">Isaiah 1:10-17<\/a> says basically the same thing. God doesn\u2019t want us to just go through the motions. Although maintaining the status quo might be the easiest thing to do, it is not the way to engage in deep committed relationship with Christ that God is looking for. The best way to do this, I think, is to show one\u2019s faith in and love for God, is to show God\u2019s love tangibly to others through compassion and by seeking justice in the world.<br \/>\nThis August the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elca.org\/Who-We-Are\/Our-Three-Expressions\/Churchwide-Organization\/Office-of-the-Secretary\/ELCA-Governance\/Churchwide-Assembly.aspx\">church-wide assembly\u2019s<\/a> theme \u201cFreed in Christ to Serve\u201d echoes those hopes for the ELCA. The theme comes from Galatians 5:1, 13: \u201cFor freedom Christ has set us free &#8230; only do not use this freedom as an occasion for self-indulgence, but serve one another in love.\u201d The concept behind the theme is that we are \u201cbound to be free from the power of sin, death and the devil, and free to be bound to God in faith and to our neighbor in service.\u201d By the grace of God through Christ\u2019s death on the cross we have been liberated from the powers that separate us from God and one another. The ELCA is a \u201cchurch that roles up its sleeves\u201d to work together for the common good. The \u201ccommon good\u201d will perhaps take form in the new <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elca.org\/Our-Faith-In-Action\/Responding-to-the-World\/ELCA-Malaria-Campaign.aspx\">Malaria Campaign<\/a> that the church will be voting on or other ministries of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elca.org\/Our-Faith-In-Action\/Responding-to-the-World\/ELCA-World-Hunger.aspx\">ELCA World Hunger<\/a> and other Lutheran organizations. No matter the form it takes, this is our \u201cfaith and our way of life.\u201d<br \/>\nAs always, I would love to hear your comments. I\u2019m aware that not everyone agrees with some of the things I\u2019ve said in this blog and I would love to have open dialog so we can all have our opinions on the table. Thanks!<\/p>\n<p>God Bless!<br \/>\nKaren<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most well known bits of theology that make Lutherans Lutheran is our idea of faith vs. works, most notably our insistence on justification by faith. Even though I had heard the words thrown around in various sermons through the years, I didn\u2019t really start learning and thinking about this concept until my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":183,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Freed in Christ to Serve \u2013 Faith vs. Works \u2013 Looking to Churchwide Assembly - ELCA World Hunger<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/freed-in-christ-to-serve-faith-vs-works-looking-to-churchwide-assembly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Freed in Christ to Serve \u2013 Faith vs. Works \u2013 Looking to Churchwide Assembly - ELCA World Hunger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the most well known bits of theology that make Lutherans Lutheran is our idea of faith vs. works, most notably our insistence on justification by faith. Even though I had heard the words thrown around in various sermons through the years, I didn\u2019t really start learning and thinking about this concept until my [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/freed-in-christ-to-serve-faith-vs-works-looking-to-churchwide-assembly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ELCA World Hunger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-07-14T11:00:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Karen Ward\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Karen Ward\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/freed-in-christ-to-serve-faith-vs-works-looking-to-churchwide-assembly\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/freed-in-christ-to-serve-faith-vs-works-looking-to-churchwide-assembly\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Karen Ward\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5d2707c770d99995a46d70467d15c17e\"},\"headline\":\"Freed in Christ to Serve \u2013 Faith vs. Works \u2013 Looking to Churchwide Assembly\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-07-14T11:00:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/freed-in-christ-to-serve-faith-vs-works-looking-to-churchwide-assembly\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":662,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/freed-in-christ-to-serve-faith-vs-works-looking-to-churchwide-assembly\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/52\\\/hungerrumblings\\\/2011\\\/07\\\/042511_CWA111.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Post\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/freed-in-christ-to-serve-faith-vs-works-looking-to-churchwide-assembly\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/freed-in-christ-to-serve-faith-vs-works-looking-to-churchwide-assembly\\\/\",\"name\":\"Freed in Christ to Serve \u2013 Faith vs. Works \u2013 Looking to Churchwide Assembly - 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