Doctrine Timidity?

   The American religious environment has in my opinion developed a characteristic which I find disturbing.  Many denominations are putting less emphasis on their church's doctrines.  If you look around, you see quite a few churches that have even taken their denomination identification out of the name of the church.  In my neighborhood, for example, there is a Baptist church that calls itself the Cowboy Church.  I know of some Lutheran churches which have taken Lutheran out of the name they display on their signage, logos, and stationery.  I think the intent is to not intimidate visitors with an emphasis on the church's doctrine.  In many cases this is part of the attempt to make their churches "missional" in nature.
   I disagree with this approach.  In the case of the Lutheran church, I think the understanding of the doctrine of the church is being lost.  Members of our churches simply do not know their church's doctrine the way they have in the past.  In addition to become knowledgeable in what is in the Bible, I believe it is important for Lutherans to become familiar with the beliefs as they are explained in the book shown above, the Lutheran Confessions, often described as the Book of Concord.  C.F.W. Walther once said that every Lutheran household should have these writings in their homes and parents, especially the father, should teach it to their children.
   One of the important ways that these doctrinal beliefs can be taught today is through LCMS schools.  It is National Lutheran Schools Week.  The primary purpose of our school system when it was begun many years ago was to pass along our faith and its tenets to our children.  I must admit that there are forces at work right now which cause our Lutheran schools to drift away from this focus.  We have so many non-Lutherans in our schools that it becomes a temptation to be bashful about our doctrinal beliefs. 
   In recent days, we have seen that many churches have been put in a position to put on public display what their doctrinal beliefs are.  The HHS mandate has caused this.  Maybe this will turn out to be a beneficial thing for some churches.  I applaud the Catholic Church for boldly standing by their position on contraceptives.  The LCMS has made an almost unprecedented stand in the public square on this issue as well.
   I do not think we ought to be bashful about what we believe.  I think we are demeaning people by thinking that we ought to be watering down our faith for them.  Let's give them some credit.
   Our churches should be educating its members about our doctrine.  Our schools should be helping the church with this process by passing along our doctrine to our children.  And most importantly, Lutheran parents should be teaching our Lutheran beliefs to their children.  As Lutherans, we boldly say that our doctrines are based more solidly upon the Scriptures alone than any other denomination.  Let's not be bashful are ashamed of our doctrine.