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Exploring What It Means to Be a Faithful Christian in Twenty-First Century America

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Exploring What It Means to Be a Faithful Christian in Twenty-First Century America Concordia Seminary - Saint Louis Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project Concordia Seminary Scholarship 3-17-2018 Exploring What it Means to be a Faithful Christian in Twenty-First Century America Scott Busacker Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.csl.edu/dmin Part of the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Busacker, Scott, "Exploring What it Means to be a Faithful Christian in Twenty-First Century America" (2018). Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project. 119. https://scholar.csl.edu/dmin/119 This Major Applied Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Concordia Seminary Scholarship at Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EXPLORING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A FAITHFUL CHRISTIAN IN TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY AMERICA A Major Applied Project Presented to the Faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Department of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Ministry By Scott Busacker March 17, 2018 Approved by Dr. Bruce Hartung Advisor Dr. Mart Thompson Reader Dr. Leopoldo Sanchez Reader © 2018 by Scott Busacker. All rights reserved. ii This Major Applied Project is dedicated to my strong and faithful wife Megan. iii CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. vii CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 SAVED BY GRACE ............................................................................................................ 2 Faithfulness Is Love ..................................................................................................... 4 THE PROJECT DEVELOPED .......................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER TWO ......................................................................................................................... 12 THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ..................................................................................... 12 OLD TESTAMENT ........................................................................................................... 13 NEW TESTAMENT........................................................................................................... 16 MASKS OF GOD: FAITHFULNESS ENFLESHED ........................................................ 22 STEWARDSHIP ................................................................................................................ 24 BEARING FRUIT .............................................................................................................. 25 THE EARLY CHURCH ..................................................................................................... 26 THE LUTHERAN CHURCH ............................................................................................ 29 CHAPTER THREE ..................................................................................................................... 38 RECENT RESEARCH ....................................................................................................... 38 A SPIRITUAL AND CULTURAL DIAGNOSIS.............................................................. 38 THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: AMERICAN CHRISTENDOM ................................... 44 MODERN RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE ......................................................................... 51 God and Jesus ............................................................................................................ 58 iv DOCTRINE AND WORSHIP ........................................................................................... 61 Politics and Religion .................................................................................................. 62 Habits of Believers .................................................................................................... 64 CHARTING A WAY FORWARD: MY THOUGHTS ..................................................... 69 Be Engaged in a Community of Believers ................................................................ 71 Faithfully Serve in God-given Vocations .................................................................. 80 Serve as God’s Stewards in the Community and the World ..................................... 84 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 89 CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................................ 91 PROJECT DESIGN ............................................................................................................ 91 DESIGN OF THE FIELD RESEARCH ............................................................................. 91 RESEARCH TOOLS AND METHODOLOGY ................................................................ 94 An In-depth Questionnaire and Follow-up Discussion ............................................. 94 A Worship/sermon Series on Faithfulness ................................................................ 99 Follow-up Survey .................................................................................................... 100 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT ...................................................................... 100 CHAPTER FIVE ....................................................................................................................... 102 EVALUATION ................................................................................................................ 102 FINDINGS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE ........................................................................ 102 OVERALL CONCLUSIONS FROM THE RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE .............. 118 SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION ...................................................................................... 120 SERMON SERIES ........................................................................................................... 121 SERMON SERIES FOLLOW-UP SURVEY .................................................................. 124 v CHAPTER SIX .......................................................................................................................... 126 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 126 CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINISTRY................................................................................ 128 CONTRIBUTIONS TO PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTH .................... 132 RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................. 132 What Does it Mean to Be a Faithful Christian Today? ........................................... 133 APPENDIX ONE....................................................................................................................... 136 RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE .................................................................................... 136 APPENDIX TWO ...................................................................................................................... 141 RESULTS OF RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE ............................................................ 141 APPENDIX THREE .................................................................................................................. 147 SERMON SERIES ........................................................................................................... 147 APPENDIX FOUR .................................................................................................................... 171 SERMON SERIES FEEDBACK SURVEY .................................................................... 171 APPENDIX FIVE ...................................................................................................................... 172 FAITHFULNESS SEVEN POINT SUMMARY ...................................................................... 172 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................... 174 vi ABSTRACT Busacker, Scott, M. “Exploring What It Means To Be a Faithful Christian in Twenty-First Century America.” Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2018. 187 pp. This Major Applied Project seeks to explore what it means to be a faithful Christian in Twenty-First Century America. It explores the Biblical and Confessional Lutheran understanding of faithfulness. It then surveys the unique history of religion in America, highlighting the importance of both religious zeal and individual liberty. Christianity in America is going through a period of change. It is no longer culturally established. Thus, Christians need to deliberately consider how to live as Christians is a non-Christian culture. With a clear understanding of history and theology, the project charts a path forward for Christians to be faithful. The field research surveys Lutheran church members in a rural Midwestern
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