What's in a name?

I've felt the call to blog for a while. I feel like I have things to say. I don't mean this egotistically. I don't know that people need to hear what I have to say. I'm somewhat skeptical about whether people will care. Really, I just know that I have thoughts rattling around in my skull that I need to express, welling up inside me. I need to express myself.

The reason I didn't begin blogging months ago is silly: I couldn't figure out what to call my blog! I wanted a name that fit. I've settled on "A Musing RevoLutheran". I'm not sure it will stick.

I am a Christian who happens to be part of the Lutheran tradition. It is my heritage: the faith of my parents and grandparents ... the faith I grew up in. My doorway to understanding Jesus -- and what it means to be Christian -- is rooted in this tradition. It is something that I am proud of, but not something I find limiting.

I have come to understand the teachings of Jesus to be revolutionary, and I believe they always will be. It seems that Christianity should always be counter-cultural, rather than blindly accepting the ways of the world as "normal". It seems that scripture is meant to be interpreted contextually, not only through the context of the community in which is was written, but also through the context of the community in which it is read -- the community in which we live today.

You may have heard the old joke: "How many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb?" The response: "CHANGE?!?" (For the non-Lutherans: this reflects the reluctance to change evident in modern Lutheran congregations.) However, it seems to me that this is contrary to our heritage.

Much of what I need to express relates to theology. It is a hobby, an interest, a passion. It isn't that I feel I have the answers -- far from it! It's more about wrestling with the questions. Jesus challenged the accepted scriptural interpretations of his time. Martin Luther questioned the established understandings of his time. Many others have been part of this great tradition. I believe that God is still speaking, and that we can be part of the conversation by interacting with the combination of scripture, community, and the Spirit.

The term "RevoLutheran" reflects both my roots, which I hope never to sever, and my tendency to be a "creature of change" who is open to thinking about my faith in new ways, and in community including people whose heritage is unlike my own. Many times the new ways probably aren't even new...but rather just ideas from the past that are being dusted off, reexamined, and recycled.

These are my thoughts as I enter the fray … the reforming process of contextualizing communal faith, wrestling with questions, emerging from the box of popular culture, and encouraging others to think critically about the things they take for granted. All are welcome to join me on this journey!