Thursday Theology: A Quick Introduction to “Crossings Theology”

Co-missioners,

Some of you are likely wondering when Thursday Theology will do as the late Ed Schroeder used to when ThTheol was his baby. When times were fraught in church or state, Ed had no apparent compunction about speaking his mind on the issue of the day. And since his speaking inevitably entailed some deft wielding of the two-edged Word of God, those of us who read his weekly screeds would pay attention.

Among those who paid attention are a few to whom this venue has since been entrusted. We tend to think and write more slowly than Ed did. More than one of us are still adapting to the ramped-up madness of the present American day in which things that once struck us as necessarily obvious to any decent and thoughtful human being turn out not to be so obvious to this or that dear friend whom you don’t want to alienate if you drop the mask and speak your mind. This reluctance, of course, would make for an interesting Crossings analysis all by itself.

One of these days we’ll get to this.

Meanwhile, as in today, we return to basics, as in the basics of the Word itself, Law and Gospel, heard the way we insist on hearing it together in the Crossings Community. Steve Albertin presented an outline of this at last month’s Crossings conference. He prepared it for people new to Crossings, of whom several were in attendance. He sent it to us last week to share with you. We’ll do this in two parts. Today you get the theory. Next week you’ll get an example of what happens when a preacher put the theory into homiletical practice. Yes, Steve will be covering what for many of you is familiar ground. We trust you’ll be refreshed anyway. We also hope you’ll share this with colleagues and friends for whom Crossings is a mystery.

Peace and Joy,
The Crossings Community

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God’s Word For Weary People: A Sample Crossings Approach

Rev. Dr. Steven E. Albertin
Crossings Conference
January 20, 2025

The Crossings Community emerged from the midst of the controversy and turmoil in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in the 1970’s. At that time, I was a student at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, the center of the storm that eventually led to the creation of Christ Seminary Seminex and the division of the denomination. Today those memories almost seem like ancient history. When the Crossings Community sought to commemorate this momentous development this last year, it became very apparent to me that the issues that led to Seminex were still very much at stake in the church 50 years later. What the 50^th anniversary commemoration exposed is that even though the world and our context has changed dramatically in 50 years, the same issue remains: keeping Christ and the good news at the heart and center of the church’s mission—and connecting/crossing Christ and his good news to people’s daily lives.

Two of my seminary teachers, Robert W. Bertram and Edward H. Schroeder, were central figures in clarifying this issue not only for the controversy of the 1970’s but for the future of what has become The Crossings Community. You can go to the Crossings website to see how this community has evolved over the years. My task today is to focus on the theological foundations of this community especially focusing on some of the peculiar Crossings “colloquialisms” that some may find confusing but, as I will show, are central to keeping Christ crucified and risen and this good news central to the church’s mission.

If you have ever been around the Crossings Community for long, you have heard lots of talk about the Gospel. But just what it is the “Gospel?” You might already have a hunch that it should somehow be about Jesus and that it ought to be good news for those who hear it. That is true but I want to clarify this even more. There is lots of talk in the culture and the churches about the Gospel but much of it is very different from the way the Crossings Community talks about the Gospel.

The Crossings Community is unabashed about its commitment to the Lutheran movement within the one, universal and catholic church. That commitment begins with the Book of Concord and especially the Augsburg Confession and its Apology. Even more specifically, our understanding of the Gospel begins with Justification by Faith, most clearly articulated in article 4 of the Augsburg Confession and especially in article 4 of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession.

The Augsburg Confession puts justification by faith this way:

In short, this article describes what some have said is “the article of faith on which the church stands or falls.” Article 5 of the Augsburg Confession maintains that without this article of faith being offered by the church through word and sacrament there is no church. As many of you already know, article 4 of the Apology spells out in great detail exactly what this article of faith means and how it is to be used in the church.

The now sainted Gerhard Forde once described the article of justification by faith as something like this:

It is also taught among us that we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God by our own merits, works or satisfactions but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God by grace, for Christ’s sake through faith when we believe that Christ suffered for us and that for his sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us.

The article of JBF describes a radical answer to a simple question: “What do I have to do to be saved?” Answer: “Nothing!” We don’t HAVE TO DO anything to be right before God because of what God has done in Jesus Christ. And we GET TO believe that good news! And in believing that good news, we are saved.

Forde’s description of justification by faith moves our understanding of the Gospel from simply the offering of information to a contemporary communication event. Justification by faith happens when the story of Jesus is told in such a way that, where the hearer’s life has been challenged or called into question, it is now offered unconditional value and worth.

The Crossings Community’s over the years has developed its own set of peculiar colloquialisms that help to explain the significance of this understanding of justification by faith. These colloquialisms inspiration in many cases has come directly from Apology 4 on justification. If you want to be able tell if the Gospel you are hearing is truly the Gospel, it must pass THE DOUBLE DIPSTICK TEST. (This quaint phrase was coined by one of the Crossings Community’s founders Ed Schroeder. It was so clear and succinct that it has stuck with me ever since.) Just like “in the good old days” when cars were so simple that you could change your own oil without having to go to a mechanic, you placed the dipstick into the crankcase of the car to test to see if an oil changed was needed. In the case of the Double Dipstick, there is a simple two-fold test you can administrate to check out if what you are hearing is really the Gospel or not.

1. 1. It’s about the content, about what you hear, namely, does Jesus get all the credit? Is Jesus the one who’s totally responsible for us getting God’s love? It’s not that we have to do something. It’s not that we have to add something or contribute something from our part in order to be really a Christian or really deserving or to show that we are really loved. No, it’s all about Jesus. It’s not Jesus plus anything else. It’s not conditional. It’s not “if… then.” No, it’s not up to you. It’s all up to God, what God did and continues to do in Jesus. Therefore, you are forgiven and you get in on the goodies.
      
      
   2. And secondly, something marvelous happens when Jesus gets all the credit or Jesus’ death and resurrection are necessitated. It is always heard and received as comfort, good news and consolation.

The next Crossings colloquialism that I will address is also a phrase you may have heard frequently used by us Crossings types: the SWEET SWAP. This phrase describes HOW this Gospel works to create faith in its hearers. In the Crossings Community it was probably first introduced by our other founding teacher, Bob Bertram. He swiped it from Luther, who called it “the happy exchange.” Luther got it from St. Paul.

Augsburg Confession and Apology

HOW does the offer of Christ and his benefits get to be ours? The Sweet Swap describes the trade, the exchange, the swap that is offered when the Gospel is proclaimed. But unlike the trades and exchanges that fill our world, this swap is NOT about trading things of equal value. This is a swap that involves trading things of unequal value. In the Gospel Jesus offers to take all the things of which we are ashamed including all our failures, mistakes and crimes. In exchange, Jesus offers us his “righteousness,” love, forgiveness, value, etc. All we need do is receive it, trust it and believe it. Such an exchange is outrageous and unfair. But that is what makes it so SWEET! Particularly in preaching, I always try to make this happen. The sweetness of such a promise is ultimately what makes faith possible.

The next Crossings colloquialism that I will address is a phrase that initially seems to cause confusion and bewilderment among those who hear it: THE SECOND USE OF THE GOSPEL. I call these commands that are not commands. If the “first use of the Gospel” is the announcement of God’s unconditional love for us in Jesus, then the “second use of the Gospel” is Jesus’ “loving commandment” to put that love to work, to love one another AS he has loved us. There are no threats of punishment or promises of reward. This command is a “get to” because of what Jesus has already done for us. There is no cajoling or arm-twisting. It is as natural as a fish choosing to swim, as a bird choosing to fly, as a dog choosing to bark, and a human being choosing to breathe. It is what you do when this is what you are.

Again, Gerhard Forde puts it so well. I know this again dates me. The work that he did with James Nestingen in the 1970’s remains one of the best catechetical resources around. However, today it is probably better suited for adult catechetics than middle schoolers. Entitled “Free To Be” it explains Luther’s Small Catechism in such a way that keeps Christ at the center and passes the Double Dipstick Test. There he describes the Christian life as being Free To Be who we are in Christ. We are free to confess this faith and live a life not under burdens and conditions but are free to serve our neighbor. i.e. THE SECOND USE OF THE GOSPEL.

The last Crossings colloquialism is not unique to Crossings. However, it permeates all of theology, preaching and teaching that is a part of our ministry: the DISTINCTION BETWEEN LAW AND GOSPEL. Tomes have been written about this issue. Given the limitations of this presentation, I am not even going to begin to explain all nuances of this important theological tool, other than it is fundamental to Crossings approach to everything it does, especially the Crossings Method which you will hear much more about from Carol Braun this afternoon, especially as it relates to reading and interpreting Scripture. However, I want to focus on a particular take on the Law/Gospel distinction that is somewhat unique to Crossings largely because of the influence of German mid-20^th century theologian Werner Elert.

Contrary to some interpretations of the Law/Gospel distinction, it is not so much about human speech or behavior as it is about God’s two-fold relationship to humanity. God relates to humanity always in terms of this two-fold divine address. Using the terminology of medicine, God through Law provides the diagnosis of humanity. It reveals the problem. Or what might be described as The God Problem. The Law diagnoses. What it exposes is not good: sinners who are under the judgment of God and cannot escape. On the other hand, the Gospel provides a prognosis. It offers a solution. The Gospel for the sake of Christ ends the judgment of the Law, grants forgiveness of sin and offers the promise of life and hope. When the Gospel is believed, it creates a new life where the believer is FREE TO BE, free to confess the truth about oneself and free to serve the world. The paradox and contradiction of Law and Gospel is only resolved in cross of Christ and its comforting promise for all who trust this message.

Helpful illustrations of these Crossings colloquialisms can be found on the Crossings website and the Faith Seeking Understanding film series. Though this video series was originally intended for a lay audience, I am sure that many pastors will also find them helpful