Series editor’s note: Throughout 2024, “Deeper understandings” will feature teaching scholars of the ELCA reflecting on the many ways that Lutheran theology makes a difference for our daily lives. —Kristin Johnston Largen, president of Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, on behalf of the ELCA’s seminaries
For better or worse, during my studies of Lutheran history—while earning a Master of Divinity degree from Wartburg Theological Seminary and a Master of Theology degree from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago—I longed for resonance with the situation of the generations of Lutherans who had come to faith before me. But I didn’t feel it. There was a yawning gap between what I understood as the history of African American life and the history and growth of Lutheranism in the United States. And it was a gap that my God-given embodiment couldn’t ignore. Maybe you have had a similar experience.
I have struggled with whether I am a historian or an ethicist in my academic work. My ethics, based on Lutheran theological doctrines and concepts, impact how I see and share history. The unique historical situation of Black women throughout the United States is part of the container that has formed my ethical understanding, because my God-given embodiment as a gay Black woman influences how I see myself and the world.
There was a yawning gap between what I understood as the history of African American life and the history and growth of Lutheranism in the United States.
My academic background and my personal history lead me to both a practical and an academic look at our relationship with others in Christ through the lens of our freedom in Christ, which we possess because of the gift of our justification by grace through faith. Let me say that again: our relationship with others is in Christ, interpreted through the lens of our freedom in Christ. Those two characteristics make all the difference.
Practically, then, I believe we must honestly discern—within ourselves and in community with others—questions such as: Do we truly see each other? Do we see each other across our manufactured but very impactful lines of race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status? Do we see through these human constructs to the core imago dei (image of God) in each person? Even in the person whose name we have not bothered to learn as we rush past their request for money? Even in the person messing up our order or taking too much time ringing up our groceries? Or, directing this one at myself, even the person in front of me driving under the speed limit?
Take this list of questions to your next coffee date with a friend and consider them, keeping in mind that all our relationships are in Christ, interpreted through the lens of our freedom in Christ.
Grace to discern
To work against the realities of disconnection and microaggression, one of my mentors offers the idea of “micro-kindness.” I have been trying to practice micro-kindness by smiling at people I don’t know, for no particular reason. I’d like to share a bit about how this act of micro-kindness functions in practice.
There are many ways to critique the “I-smile-at-strangers” idea out of context, and only I possess some aspects of the context from which I smile. That may sound like one of Paul’s clear-yet-tangled verses, but bear with me, because the same is true for your context.
When smiling at strangers, I am aware of—and I struggle with—some of the cultural constructions around Black women’s anger as well as the expectations for Black women to be generally kind, selfless and accommodating in every circumstance. I also struggle with women’s friendliness to men being misinterpreted in this and other cultures.
Therefore, I do not insist that we smile at all times. However, I still believe we can sincerely examine the tensions I described above while at the same time heeding Paul’s reminder that we have been given everything in Christ.
I contend that each of us can dismantle internal racist, sexist, homophobic or ageist (please continue the list for yourself!) thoughts because, as Lutherans, we know that we have been justified by grace through faith. Our justification can never be taken away. Not even in the moments of encountering a new way of thinking that helps us recognize our white fragility, transphobia or classism (again, continue the list).
Each of us can dismantle internal racist, sexist, homophobic or ageist thoughts because, as Lutherans, we know that we have been justified by grace through faith.
Our justification can never be taken away. Therefore, even in the moments when we realize we have created a narrative based on prejudice instead of personhood, we can turn to what we have in Christ, and act out of that bountiful, undeserved gift of grace. And that grace and gift can help us discern when we have the capacity to offer a micro-kindness, a smile, a humanizing greeting, a new narrative and change—real change, in our families, in our churches, in our societies and in our world.
As I think about these things in the context of my academic endeavors, my concern is the ethics of doing history: Who is telling the story? What is their social location? Who is included or excluded, and why? I’m concerned about this because in many instances history is the foundation for future knowledge. This leads to questions such as: Whose stories have not been tended as the beautiful creations that they indeed are? How can our shared Lutheran history enrich us theologically for the creative, transformative work of relationship?
All this reminds me that what may seem like dusty threads of history are actually markers of relationship—relationship with others and with our relational God. The relationships and connections we have in our lives, and the narratives about our fellow humans, are an integral part of the precious creation for which God has given us responsibility. Tending these relationships brings us closer to each other and to the God who created us for relationship.
Try practicing some acts of micro-kindness for yourself, and see how it draws you into relationship with others and changes how you see them—and how you see yourself.
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