Recently I found myself in a short, but very comical, situation. While standing outside our church building in Stellenbosch, two students came strolling past me. To my surprise, they stopped and asked me what church this was (clearly the sign above the entrance was not doing its work). I answered them, “The Lutheran Church”, pointing to the sign. In response to this they asked: “What denomination is that?”, “……..Lutheran” I answered.

This conversation, as amusing as it was to me, showed me two things. Firstly, what is big to me, might not even exist to someone else. My whole world revolves around the Lutheran Church. It is where I find my family roots, and now as a pastor, all I can think of pertains to our church. But truth be told, we do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.

Just because my immediate environment, family, and friends know who Luther was, does not mean the rest of the world does. Believe me – it is not common knowledge.

This led to my second conclusion. What we have in our theology is of immense value to this world, and needs to be shared! Simply said, I believe that Lutheran Theology is constantly searching to proclaim the Gospel in its purest form. What excites me as a young pastor is not a new program or a trend, but the simple and powerful message of grace – the pure Gospel that we’ve been entrusted with to share with the world. If somebody therefore does not know who Martin Luther was, or who the Lutheran Church is, then my role as a member of the church is not to judge, but to share and empower.

One day after we celebrated the 507th Reformation Day, singer-songwriter Lauren Daigle released her new song “Then I will”, written for the new Bonhoeffer movie that will be released end of November. The song begins with the words:

What we have here within our hearts is so much stronger than the dark.
What would we fear when the light is so much greater than the night?

Isn’t this amazing! Perhaps it is time we as Lutherans consider the simplicity and accessibility of our theology. Perhaps it is time that we as individuals consider the light we carry. Perhaps it is time to delve to the heart of it all, and again find the Good News that not only fuels our lives, but also our church.