We were privileged to have Dr. Uwe Siemon-Netto speak at Immanuel last Sunday. He is the director of The League of Faithful Masks: Center for Lutheran Theology and Public Life. The idea behind the phrase “faithful masks” comes from Luther’s terminology of God working through us in our various callings. I’m not sure of the citation, but he quoted Luther as saying, “If you are not God’s mask, you are the devil’s. There is no middle ground.”
The principal purpose of the League is to attack “The ‘Me’ Culture,” which emphasizes personal desire uber alles. Dr. Siemon-Netto made the profound point that desire (concupiscence) is one of the two main elements of original sin. The “Me” culture thus glorifies precisely what is wrong with humanity. By contrast, Christian theology makes the neighbor the object of human endeavor.
I look forward to watching the progress of this new organization.
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Is it true that there is no middle ground? I'm wondering about different examples. Oh, say, a pagan plumber who will do good to me and the pipes under my sink, and through this God serves me … and yet the pagan plumber is trying to put his competition out of business, or is trying to serve himself by getting rich, and thus is also the devil's mask. Maybe that's not middle ground, though? Maybe it's being both at the same time?