brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another” (Gala- tians 5:13).
Luther said something very simi-
lar: “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none; a Chris- tian is a perfectly dutiful servant, subject to all.”
This freedom even extends to the crazy concept of choice. We often think that ultimate freedom means the freedom of choice. But upon reflec- tion, if that is true then the only way to stay free is to always keep one’s options open. In other words, we often become enslaved by choices— we hesitate to make them because we want to keep our options open. True freedom—Christian freedom—finds liberty not in keeping options open but in living with our choices: the choice to love God, love neighbor and even to love ourselves. This sort of freedom leads to another Lutheran word.
Adiaphora Adiaphoron, n. (plural: adiaphora). Whatever. Who cares? Six of one, half dozen of another. Why bother? Do it or don’t. We couldn’t care less.
The concept of adiaphora refers to things that don’t matter. It doesn’t matter if you do it, or if you don’t. It doesn’t matter if you have it, or not. An adiaphoron is a thing that there is no law about. There is no law for it, or against it or concerning it. There is no regulation saying it must be done and must be done in a certain way. And precisely because things that are adiaphora don’t matter, many of the most intense Christian disputes are about these things.
For example, think about Sunday worship.
Music is an adiaphoron. You can either have music or not (frankly, I strongly prefer to have music). If you choose to have music, you can have any kind you like: classical or country, blues or bluegrass, rock or reggae.
The carpet is an adiaphoron. You can have it or not. If you have it, any color will do: red, white or blue. There is no law concerning it. Worship attire is mostly an adi-
aphoron. You must be dressed in clothing (that is not adiaphoron). But what you or your pastor wear is a great big whatever. Robes are cool. But if it is too hot, you don’t have to wear them. Tennis shoes are fine. So are loafers. Relax about it. Even what you do for a living is mostly an adiaphoron, as the next Lutheran word indicates.
Vocation Vocation, n. The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. What do you think they be? Holy Christian voca- tions, that is what they be.
The Lutheran word “vocation” refers to the “callings” that all of us have. Precisely because God’s grace is free—and therefore free to all— Lutherans believe that all legitimate callings are equally (un)holy. You’re a miller? Love you. You’re a skinner, or a tanner or a fuller? Love you too. Same goes for teachers, preachers, farmers, nurses, doctors, welders and soldiers.
Are there illegitimate professions that do not qualify? Yes. I’m thinking of drug dealers, assassins, slave own- ers and the like. Truth be told, all of us have many vocations. As the writer of this article, I am simul- taneously a teacher, an author, a father, a
MICHAEL D. WATSON/SHUTTERSTOCK November 2012 23
Plugging in A
ny conversation about a particu- lar topic requires special vocabu-
lary. If you want to talk about cook- ing, you’ll need to know terms such as “sauté,” “simmer,” “poach” and “blanch.” If you want to talk about baseball you’ll need to be conver- sant with terms such as “sacrifice,” “balk” and “DH” (and you will need to know that God hates the DH). If you want to talk about your Christian faith, knowing the lan- guage of theology is key. Fortu- nately for you, Rolf Jacobson and some of his friends have put together two humorous dictionaries of theo- logical terms titled Crazy Talk and Crazy Book. Each entry includes a pithy definition, followed by a lon- ger explanation. Here are two of the short definitions from Crazy Talk, offered as a sample:
Bible, n. A book that Christians believe is so holy and inspired that they almost never read it for fear that it might draw them closer to God and neighbor or change their lives in some other inconvenient way.
Sermon, n. A series of mono-, bi-, and poly-syllabic sounds that 1) made more sense the night before, 2) can bore to death, and 3) can raise the dead to new life.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72