“Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God…” (1 Kings 2:2-3), said old King David to his son Solomon, as he was about to pass the torch to the young man soon to become Israel’s greatest king. You have often heard about the slow decline of Christianity in North America and Europe. But something new is afoot: yearning for spiritual substance in their lives, a growing number of young men on both continents are discovering historic Christianity for its beauty and faithful propagation of the Word—centered around Jesus Christ. These young bucks want “muscular Christianity,” as it is known, are eschewing the light-weight versions of the faith that also exist. This has been a phenomenon in the U.S. for some years now, with some churches that offer the historic liturgy being packed to overflowing. We are starting to see this in Europe as well. More and more young men and women wish to be connected to something bigger, and desire to build spiritual muscle. Their search begins on the Internet, where they often come across one of the most winsome and prolific pastors of our day: Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller (Sr. Pastor, St. Paul Lutheran Church and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Church, Austin, TX). Intrigued by his wonderful teaching, they realize that he is Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and then look for an LCMS sister church in their home country. Case in point: quite a few men now undergoing pastoral formation at Riga Luther Academy (our online seminary for Eurasia), and who are also part of my ministry here in Hamburg, have taken this route. Another example of the resurgence of historic Christianity is Corpus Christi, an organization of young Northern European adults espousing confessional Lutheranism. On a related note, this week I started our first Zoom class on the Augsburg Confession with young men from four different countries, many of whom discovered the historic faith as outlined above. These days, at least for some young men, to “flex” means not only to build up physical muscles at the gym but also to “show yourself a man” by embracing faithful Christianity and the ancient liturgy.
The Tiews in Germany 