Word for Word 7/2/25

God’s Blessings on the People who dwell in the land we call Driftless. Here are more wondering thoughts from a wayward follower of Jesus the Christ. Let me get right to the point… We need the CHURCH (i.e., the Community of Believers, the Body of Christ), but do we really need organized religion (i.e., the Lutherans, the Catholics, the Protestants, the Baptists, the Methodists, etc.)? The answer is yes, if just for the reason, as people, we need some kind of structure to govern our lives and the activities we are called to do together. The problem is when we try to control ourselves and leave God out of it, either entirely or more often, not putting Him in total charge. At a Christian summer camp I attend for many years in my youth, I learned that I needed to live by this guideline, “God First, Others Second, and I’m Third”. We have turned that around, where “I’m” is first, others are used to benefit “I” and God if consisted at all, is used as window dressing, a name drop. And that includes the “Church”. The “Church” as an institution has become more important to maintain than the work of God, salvation. 

Let us get back to the idea and practice that “Church” is not an institution but a community of believing people working together under God’s direction and yes, we need to accept and acknowledge as followers of Jesus the Christ we have been set apart from the rest of the work. Let us follow the footsteps laid down for us by Jesus the Christ, “It is not my will but Thine.” To go and make disciples in His name, baptizing, teaching them to follow His words and commandments. Yes, it includes His command to, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40. Let us remember, it was our own free will that we joined or became part of the church. We stepped into God’s house, He sets the rules, the standards, and the outcomes.  

So here is an outline of church… I became, through the initiation of God, a follower of Jesus the Christ and part of His Body of Believers, which resides in the global Christian Church/community. In my case, I belong to the subset of the global church called The United Methodist community in which I am a part of another subset called the local church, Lansing UMC. The latter two communities help and support my growth in being a follower of Christ, which also means I help and support others. They serve no other greater purpose. Our salvation is not derived because of or through these communities, only through Christ. Now, can these communities become a hinderance to our salvation? Yes, they can. Read about the 7 churches in chapters 2 and 3 in Revelation. God makes it clear that our salvation is not only individual but collective in the Body of Christ, the church. We cannot stay the course in our faith alone. We need the church, the Body of Christ. And all God’s People Said….  Amen.

Pastor James Buckhahn, United Methodist Church, Lansing