As we walked into the seminary chapel, something didn’t feel right, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it…. A few moments later, it was clear. The baptismal font was missing. Or at least it wasn’t where it always sat. “Curious,” I remember thinking. I would have totally overlooked it after that, except that there had been a good deal of debate over the sacrament of baptism in the seminary. Suffice it to say, that some pretty weird things had been going on, and it was causing a stir. And now, the font was missing…. That very afternoon, at the end of the days classes, the president of the seminary had called an assembly in the largest lecture theater. When he came up to the dais, he was somber and thoughtful. He began: “Why are you here, anyway?” He paused, and looked slowly around the room. He then launched into a prolonged lecture (of the sort only an annoyed parent can truly deliver) regarding the danger of false theologies in the guise of open-mindedness. He said that he had seen the focus of the student body shift from being Christ’s servants to using “Christ” to serve our own arguments and interests. After dressing us all down for several minutes, he gave an impassioned plea to all of us to recommit ourselves to service of others rather than self-service. A wonderful reminder!
~Pr. Luther