St Paul's Lutheran Church
Ashland, Kentucky
Theory and Practice
in the Christian Faith
Have you ever considered the difference between “theory” and “practice” in terms of your spiritual life?
Lately because of the surgery I had on my hip and the follow up, I have become better acquainted with the “practice” side of the medical profession. It's one thing to visit people in the hospital, and to talk to people and pray with people about being in the hospital (theory), or being sick. It's another to be IN the hospital and to need medical care yourself (practice). The health practitioners who cared for me, i.e.: the nurses, doctors, physicians assistants, lab techs, x-ray techs, and many more people behind the scenes that I never met who worked on my case, were all excellent. They not only understood the “theory” of medicine, they knew how to do it, and do it well. They had a “practice” of medicine to go with their “theory” they had learned in their medical books.
When I think about the difference between theory and practice in our Christian faith, I think the medical field shows us something. Not only is it important to know what we believe (and don't believe), that is, to have a Biblical and Lutheran “theory of faith” (theology), we also need to have a Biblical and Lutheran practice of faith (spirituality). I would like to suggest that we need to be as aware of our spirituality (how we practice our faith) as we are of our theology.
How should we be practicing the Christian faith if we are to be more than Christian in theory, but also is practice? We should ask ourselves: “What does the practice of the Christian faith look like in my life?” Put another way: If practicing the Christian faith was illegal, would there be any evidence to convict us? Here are some suggestions for basic practices of the Christian faith:
1. At the top of the list is personally taking God's Word seriously. The Bible tells me that I am a sinner and have not kept God's law. The Bible also tells me that God nevertheless sent His Son to be my Savior. Daily taking time to read a part of the Bible seems to me to be an important practiced of the Christian faith.
2. Next is making time to worship God weekly with my church family and receiving the Lord's Supper. In worship, we join our brothers and sisters in approaching God to confess our sin and hear the Good News of forgiveness for Christ's sake. We share our prayers and concerns and we are fed on the spiritual food of the Lord's Supper. Sure, we can pray at home and worship God in the woods. But only in the church worship can we share the bread and cup as Jesus commanded: “Do this often in remembrance of Me.” Our participation in the Lord's Supper is clearly a uniquely Christian faith practice, and I would argue the heart of Lutheran Spirituality.
3. Third is taking time to pray personally every day – and not just when we are troubled. We should include prayers of thanksgiving for all the blessings we have in life and the even greater blessing of faith in Christ Jesus. Concluding our prayer time with the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus taught, is a way of being confident that all our true needs and concerns are laid before the throne of our heavenly Father.
4. Fourth is giving a positive public witness for Christ and His church. If we curse and swear often, and are full of anger and hatred, what kind of witness for Christ are we? If we are always negative and grumpy, criticizing our church, gossiping or easily offended, greedy and arrogant, we have to ask: are we being His witnesses? For better or worse, we are each a walking, talking advertisement for our church and the truth it proclaims. The devil uses our poor witness to Christ to drive other people away from the church and from the saving truth of the Gospel.
5. Fifth is being a grateful and cheerful giver. The Bible's guidance is that we tithe (10%) or our income. Yet most Americans in reality give just 2 to 3% of their income to the church. How is it that we are sometimes more generous to a waiter in a restaurant, than we are to God's church? Whatever we give in our offerings, though, we should remember two very important things: we cannot out-give God, and “God loves a cheerful giver.”
Perhaps you would add other important faith practices. The point is that faith is not just what we believe; it is also what we do! St. James writes: “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:18) Good works do not save us, but they are the testimony (public witness) of a true and vital faith.
Yours in Christ, serving together,
