For 2000 years, the vitality of the Christian Church has been determined by what we have done with Jesus. When Jesus has been the center of our attention and we have sought to follow him as faithful disciples, then the Church has been strong. But when we have misplaced him amidst the clutter of our bureaucracy, or relegated him to a marginal place in our theology, then we have been weak and impotent. It’s always been true: As goes our relationship with Jesus, so goes the Church!

The earliest Christian creed was, “Jesus is Lord”. That’s still the best of all the creeds. After all, we call ourselves by his name – Christians. We consider ourselves to be his disciples. That’s how we define ourselves. Like our first century counterparts, we say, “Jesus is Lord”. So, if we are, in fact, Christi…