postlaestadianrevival

I would like some input on how the term "believer" has been used by the OALC. Having been in the LLC, the term was extremelty narrow....like not only if you are believing in Jesus, but also agreeing with all the legalism and everything the preachers said. It was my perception that a believer is not necessarily somebody who only confesses the name of Jesus and his deity and divine sonship, but also agrees with the LLC. I suppose the use in the OALC has been similar. For me(now after my journey in the LLC), a believer is anybody who confesses faith in Jesus as being the only Savior and Son of God and is fully God and man and that the Bible alone contains all that is sufficient for life and salvation. Any input would be helpful. Thanks.

When I grew up in the OALC, we didn't use the term "believer" very much. Our usual term for one of the church members was "Christian", and that for sure meant only those in our "right Christianity".

The term "born again" was not used, but if a person was not "born into the Christianity", but converted into it, we said that they had "made repentance". "Making repentance" usually meant that they had gone & talked privately with a preacher & confessed their sins and then usually they stood in front of the congregation & either they asked forgiveness for their sin of unbelief or the preacher announced that they had confessed their sins and then the whole congregation would testify that their sins were forgiven.

Such public confessions, by the way, were also made for certain public sins like pregancy outside of wedlock.

At least that was my experience in the 50's, 60's & 70's. Maybe it was different in other localities & in later years.

Similar as well, Free. Terms like "The Christians" and making repentance were common. I was one who made repentance since I was not born into the same understanding. I have returned to my former Christianity now, so I guess I am an "ubeliever" according to the LLC and OALC, but I am once again feeling much more fullfilled in life.

I grew up in the LLC, and still live close to them. They used the term "believer" meaning them, the laestadians. According to them, they were the only true "believers. I now know that there are many believers in the world, believers in Christ. I guess thats where they get that they are the only people that can forgive sins, because it says something in the bible about other believers forgiving sins, and they think they are the only "believers". It's sad..isnt it?!

On another blog site, I posed a question to OALCers:
The fact is that almost every small sect claims that the Bible passages that say that "narrow is the way and few there be that find it", etc pertain only to them; they are God's chosen people. These sects include the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Amish, Mennonites, Laestadian groups, the no-name church, etc. My question was: what is the OALCers' unique claim to these passages?

If they claim that it is because they have "the keys to the kingdom of heaven"--meaning the ritual of the forgiveness of sins, they should be aware that the other Laestadian groups also have that.

And if they claim it is because they have a mother church in Swedish Lapland, they need to be aware that other Laestadian groups do also.

It has been awhile since I posed the question, and I am not surprised that no one has responded. I can't imagine what I would have answered if someone had asked me that while I was in that church!

Good point, Free. I don't see how they get the idea "the narrow way" refers to a particular interpretation of the Bible or religious movement. Jesus said he is the way, so it does not appear to be Laestadians vs. another group, but faith in Jesus Christ vs. another religion with faith in somebody or something else. But those are good questions to put forth to Laestadians or other groups who claim exclusivity and the only way to salvation. Just how do they know? Who are they to say some other version is not as correct as Laestadians or (fill in the blank)? Is not faith in Jesus and the Scriptures alone sufficient to embrace others as fellow believers even if we differ on some points of understanding? I think so. It sure is a blessing and a freedom. As a Laestadian, I was always bothered by what to think of other Christians and how to convert them from their "ubelief" to my way of thinking...how to convince them of all the rules and legalism. Thankfully that yoke has been removed and I am recovering and rediscovering the joy and freedom I had before. When I need assurance of forgiveness, I can turn to the scriptures and have the joy of my salvation restored. And what's more, these same verses that reassure forgiveness are heard in many churches and not only from Laestadian believers. Whether from a Laestadian or somebody else, God's word is the same and is not dependent on the human vessel because if God is dependent on a human, we are certainly the most to be pitied.

Faithful Remnant: Praise God that you got free of that bondage before you got deeply entrenched in it. I believe it was the truth of God's Word that set you free; you chose to believe it more than the questionable doctrines that didn't quite line up with the Bible. Am I right?

For some of us who were raised in the OALC & whose families were in it for generations, it felt heretical to even THINK that it might not be the only right church. (Actually, we were taught that it was sin to doubt the truth of that teaching.)

When there was a split in the OALC around 30 years ago, I went with the smaller group. It was gut-wrenching and painful to see not only the church split, but also our families. I was on my knees in prayer during that time, and even though God didn't deliver me from Laestadianism yet, He did put me in a group that honored the study of God's Word. (Too bad we were taught that Laestadius' writings were God's Word, too.)

Over the years, God sent experiences to open my eyes: a Christian friend of another religion & race who was much more devout than the women in my church. I couldn't deny that she was a real Christian. I started to see and despise the racism in my church. I started to question why there was so little interest in the Bible among the "Christians". I had a difficult time reconciling "salvation by faith alone in Christ alone" with the real doctrine that was being taught. Finally, I started to pray that God would reveal His truth to me. With some intrepidation, I prayed, "Lord, if I am believing something that is not true, please reveal it to me; I don't want to wait until I die to find out."

I want to clarify something: I believe that I was reborn when I was 15 years old. When I went through confirmation class, it was the first time that I really read any more than a few paragraphs from the Bible. I was totally enthralled with God's Word and wanted to understand more of it. I went around on a high for awhile, so much in love with God. From that time in my life, I was determined to live my life to please God. I believe that I was born of the Word, but those deceptive doctrines still held me captive for way too many years.

Sometimes I wonder why God did not deliver me from that deception right away, but I know that my passion for Him and my desire to know everything I could about Him drove me to study the roots of Laestadianism more deeply than most do. I learned Finnish, lived and traveled in Scandinavia, visited in Elders' homes, went to meetings all over Scandinavia, and was sitting in on discussions that preachers held while my peers were out doing questionable things. I even helped translate some of Laestadius' sermons into English. No one can say that the reason I left Laestadianism is that I didn't understand it, because I most certainly did!

My heartfelt prayer is that my experiences will help some of my dear friends & relatives still in the OALC & the FbALC open their eyes to the deception they have been taught. How I wish they could experience true freedom in Christ and the joy that it brings! I pity those who actually do want to know God more because they are depriving themselves of wonderful, enjoyable Bible Studies. For those people still there who are really reborn, the amount of truth from God's Word that they are allowed to believe is like a small pool of water compared to the ocean of God's truth that the Bible really contains!

Thanks again Free for the good info. Three things were bothersome to me and caused my eventual departure: 1. The legalism 2. Exclusivity 3. Only Laestadians' preaching of the Gospel is valid. I suppose a fourth is that preaching, songs and prayers of believers can also be God's Word.


These definitions may be of help. These are found on the website of the LLC's sister organization's summer service 2007 website:

word of God the written words of the Bible, the spoken words to explain these texts, and all the written words by a believer enlightened by the Holy Spirit about God's grace through the gospel.

believer is a person, to whom personal faith is the most important matter in life and desires to care for their own conscience by believing the word of reconciliation, the forgiveness of sins.

believers people who believe their sins forgiven in the gospel together with the conservative laestadians according to the doctrine of Christ. See also unbeliever.

kingdom of God the group of believers here on earth, of which Christ is the King.

Martin Luther and his teachings are often referred to in the sermons. Conservative laestadians consider themselves basic or fundamental Lutherans.

A little critique of these definitions: If everything heard among Laestadians is God's word, what is the rule of faith to define doctrine and practice? What would be the rule to test a new doctrine....the Bible? A preacher's sermon? Laestadius' writings? A believer's words? Believing forgiveness is quite common among many Christians. It is basic to the Christian faith, no matter what church one attends. Many churches believe Christ is the King and only head of the Church so this is nothing unique to Laestadianism(We could also ask of which Laestadian group is Christ the head?). Laestadians are certainly fundamentalists, but I wouldn't call them basic or fundamental Lutherans since they believe other things not found in the primary Lutheran confessions(especially the legalism). I would also have a hard time to even consider them Protestants in consideration of their legalism and their view of what is God's Word. I have been to a traditional national Protestant church now and it is very different...there is much more freedom and joy in the people, much plentiful reading of the scriptures in the service(instead a few verses followed by a long winded sermon of what those verses supposedly mean), no legalistic preaching, and although they believe they have the right faith, they don't believe they are the only ones who have it. I hear the word of forgiveness from the pastor and in the scriptures during the service, and I believe this to be as valid of assurance of my salvation as from a Laestadian layman or preacher.

Maybe you and others would also find this website helpful: http://www.suviseurat.net/2007/media-sanasto-en.html