Showdown at the Crossroads Chapel

Showdown at the Crossroads Chapel

Let me start with a little introduction…

All of us here who signed up to become pastors work with congregations around the Twin Cities. I work for Spirit Garage, a nine-year-old worshipping community in the Uptown Neighborhood of Minneapolis. This congregation tries to be unconventional in the details (though very orthodox in the theology) in order to welcome those who may have been disenfranchised by organized religion in the past. For example, during the season of Advent, we don’t light candles on the Advent wreath; we light up the ol’ beeswax atop the Advent radial tire. We hold worship services in the Minneapolis Theater Garage (no relation). Our congregation’s tag line is “Faith, Love, and Rock & Roll.” You may be getting the idea. Spirit Garage then decided to roll out a new worshipping community, Spirit Garage Underground (SGU), with an even more unconventional style. SGU worships in a bar/ballroom. I play in their band. That gets us to the Showdown at the Crossroads Chapel.

The SGU band recently played a gig at the Minnesota State Fair, the “Great Minnesota Get-Together,” as a way of getting the word out about our new worshipping community. Before my set, I was outside the Crossroads Chapel, our venue, handing out little leaflets to passers-by and inviting them to worship with us. Two gentlemen were hanging around the door and peering in so I went up to them and asked if they would like to join us for worship on Wednesdays. Then the dialogue began. The man on the left leapt at the chance to question me.

“What church are you affiliated with?”

“We belong, in a way, to the Lutheran church,” I replied.

“Do you believe in election?”

“Yes, Luther taught that we are elected by baptism and called by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel to be children of God. But, I don’t believe in double predestination.” (See the Formula of Concord Solid Declaration Article XI.)

“How can there be election without double predestination? Romans 9 says that God has mercy on whom he will have mercy. Therefore”

(A side note here: double predestination means that God has complete foreknowledge and chooses who will be saved and who will be damned before all time.)

I fell back on the old standard, “Well, that’s your interpretation.”

I really did not know how to respond. This guy was looking for a theological show down and all I could stammer out was, “Well, if you say so.” I knew what I believed and I knew that there were sound theological and scriptural reasons for that belief but for the life of me I couldn’t articulate them at the time.

I finally had to excuse myself because I was going on stage soon.

I went backstage and felt really mad at the guy for picking a fight. I was just trying to be friendly and he was out to demonstrate my apostasy. Moreover, I was mad at myself.

“I’m a dang seminary student. I should know this stuff off the top of my head. I should be able to articulate my thoughts well and clearly without writing a ten page essay.”

I got on stage and played my songs. The concert went well. The kernel of the Holy Spirit that will stay with me, though, is this guy prodding me to know my stuff. This semester I know that stranger will be sitting in the back of my mind pushing me to really understand and study the scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. When I’m confronted again, I want to be ready with the Word of the Gospel.