Waste of time

I cancelled Bible class so I could attend a meeting. Fortunately I had finished what needs to be done for this weekend, but I was hoping to attend an educational and fruitful conversation with a Muslim as part of the monthly LINCC (Lutherans in New Castle Co) meeting. Due to a scheduling conflict, the gentleman was unable to attend. But the conversation that was shared responding to our visit to the Mosque in January makes me wonder: Have we lost sight of the truth? of the Gospel? of the reality of sin? that inclusive love is impossible without the recognition that repentance is necessary?

We have so watered down the proclamation of God's law that we have become afraid to preach the Gospel in its purity, in its beauty, in its grandeur. As Lutherans we don't know who we are anymore, so when we are asked who we are we have no response other than to say that we are who you want us to be. Can you see the problem in that? The Church is not consumer-driven, or at least it didn't use to be.

I was looking forward to that meeting this morning. It's been rescheduled for a later date, but it is something I need to learn about as we figure out who and what Islam is in America. They live next to us, work with us, and go to school with our children. Islam is such an amorphous thing that figuring them out is like nailing jello to the wall.