Lutheran Theology - Conservative and Radical At Once!

I just completed a paper for my Lutheran Identity class where we were asked to respond to the statement, "The Essentially Conservative Nature of Lutheran Theology." When I first read the statement, I thought, no way. But after some long reading and reflection on various documents in The Book of Concord I now stand corrected. What I discovered is that Lutheran theology is quite conservative, yet there is the ever lingering Lutheran tension, in that Lutheran piety and response to such theology can often be lived out radically.

And in thinking about it - with justification by grace through faith central to our theology, it must be first conservative in that this is what is revealed to us in Scripture and tradition, yet it is also simultaneously radical, for Jesus Christ was and is radical. And thus our response to this must be radical. We respond radically to God's free gift of grace and love in Jesus Christ through the radical living out our lives in love and service to our neighbor, the church, and the world. All the while loving and caring for our very selves as well.

Lutherans I think (or maybe just me of late) are lovers of tension - human and divine -- sin and death -- slave and free -- conservative and radical. And the great thing about this is that in that tension there is an energy, an energy which propels us to keep striving in faith - even when things are just not working. God calls us to faithful discernment and struggle and love and communion with Christ. Amazing.