The IDEA of Christ is different than Christ himself. I have heard so much rhetoric surrounding the idea or spirit of Christ. What about Christ the man who was also a God? What about the man who was physically and brutally nailed to a cross and whose blood is able to wash our sins away. Whose blood can justify us to the sins that have held us in bondage and were destroying us.

Our world does not need the "spirit" or the "idea" of Christ...they need the resurrected Lord who bestows on his church the power of the Holy Spirit. They need a savior who is able to transform, guide, and deliver on his promises. And the church needs that savior too! United Methodists desperately need to know that the leaders of our denomination care about this risen savior. They don't need to know about Jesus as a sort of model boyscout. They need the incarnate Christ who spoke mercy to repentant sinners and condemnation to unrepentant religious people. United Methodists need to offer the world more than just an idea...we need to offer them Jesus.

I think that is part of what has been so frustrating at Annual Conference...it just seems like we are focusing on the nice idea of Christ, not Christ himself. If we were serious about a risen Christ I think we would take worship a whole lot more seriously! I think we would take ourselves much less seriously. We need to reclaim the incarnate Christ in United Methodism.