[Jesus said:] “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18 ESV)
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? (Matthew 16:21–26 ESV)
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:18–20 ESV)
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Luke 24:45–47 ESV)
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.” (John 14:21–24 ESV)
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. (John 15:9–14 ESV)
Have you ever stopped in a busy place and looked around at all the people? I know some people engage in an activity called “people watching” where they watch people around them. They may make up stories about what they are doing or they may just make observations of their activities, while thinking about what they could be doing.
When you pay attention to people, you will begin to notice things. You might see someone is having a rough day or you might notice someone’s excitement. You might notice a person who seems forgotten or neglected or you might see someone who doesn’t wish to be bothered. Some people seem lost in their own world and others are longing for connection.
What I find interesting though, is the reactions people give when you wave at them or say hi or good day. Most of them find it surprising. Why? In large part because you noticed them—you recognized them. Yes, sometimes they are just trying to figure out if they should know who you are and how you know them. But oftentimes, it is the surprise that you bothered to acknowledge them in whatever setting you were.
Seeing people is what Jesus did, yet not as a “people watcher” imagining stories but as one who cares for the people—He knew their stories already and He sought to save and rescue them. He saw them as people in need of a shepherd (Mark 6:34). We might think of how He responded to Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46–52) or how He called attention to the woman who touched His garment and was healed (Mark 5:25–34). Jesus saw and recognized people, including the downcast and outcast, including those trying to remain hidden. He saw them and treated them like people to be honored and loved.
Recently, the news carried reports about the indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center. They were accused of providing funds to the very organizations they fought against. In other words, they have been accused of supporting the hate they claimed to fight. (They have responded that what they did has been misconstrued and they will have the chance to present their case in court.)[1]
Now, if the charges are indeed correct, then what we are witnessing is the problem that faces an institution when its purpose and existence no longer seems relevant. If racism and hate have been addressed to such an extent that it no longer makes sense for the Southern Poverty Law Center to continue its existence—for funds to be directed toward it to fight racism and hate—then it faces three choices:
1. Disband, claiming the mission and purpose is accomplished or mostly completed at this point.
2. Change by switching to a new purpose and work toward a new goal.
3. Substantiate its continued existence, whether by new evidence or by fabrication of evidence.
In the last choice, the continued existence of the institution is often the primary driver. Since the institution must exist, actions to justify its existence are formulated and bolstered.
This sort of problem can also infect the church. If a church or church body loses sight of its purpose, and its existence becomes its purpose, then it can run into the same problem. It will begin to make changes and do things for its own benefit and its own existence and not for the reason God instituted the church.
This can be reflected in a church in a number of ways. One of the main ways is how decisions about money are made. If the church’s existence is the priority, then faithfulness to God’s Word becomes secondary. An institution needs money to continue to operate. So it becomes okay to compromise one’s confession to make that money. One way to do this would be to rent the worship space. It doesn’t matter to whom or that the space was dedicated to worship. Imagine renting our worship space to a group filming an infomercial. Or we could rent it out regularly in the week for TED talks. We could rent it to an Islamic group or to a group of Mormons, or allow it to be a wedding chapel for any and all, regardless of what they would say or profess about God. It doesn’t matter who or what as long as we get money to support our continued existence as a church. And yet, in such examples, we would have traded why we exist as the church in the interest of preserving or saving the church. We might save the institution but it would have ceased to be what we sought to save! After all, it would no longer be about making disciples of Jesus’ Word and teaching all that He taught; it would no longer be about preaching Jesus and repentance into forgiveness.[2] It would be about the preservation of a building, about paying the bills, about the social life of the group, and so forth.
Another way this is reflected in a church is when worship is changed in order to preserve its existence. When a church advocates a worship change so that it is more relevant or more viable, it falls into this trap. Similarly, if the motivation is to “grow the church,” that is to increase the numbers, it also becomes susceptible to the idea that it needs to change its worship to attract people. The focus in each of these is less on Jesus and less on the actual needs of people and more on preserving the institution of the church. The goal is increasing numbers and thus increasing either prestige, institutional reach, revenue, and/or longevity. The teaching of Jesus becomes secondary—a means to an end.
One other way you can see the institution being primary is when the outreach is about numbers rather than loving people. If you are encouraged to reach out to others about Jesus because we need more people in the pews, then the motivation for reaching them has become skewed. If a program is instituted in the community for the purpose of gaining new members or people are invited to a program we run because we want new members, then we have turned acts of love and mercy into a recruitment program. In other words, we are no longer acting in love but in self-interest! We end up caring more about our “church” than about either Jesus or the individual we claim to be helping!
So, what should we do about this? What can we do?
First, examine our own hearts. Look and see where we have let the motivations of church preservation decide our actions or determine what we do—and then repent of it! Where we have allowed our fears and worries to drive our actions (because that is what it is, our fears and worries of our church no longer being), we need to repent. We need to confess our sinful hearts and actions to the Lord and look to Him in faith and trust for forgiveness and restoration.
Second, we need to reassess those actions and decisions. Some of them would need to be tossed in favor of living faithfully to our Lord, committed to His Word in our lives and actions. Some of those actions might need to be tweaked and corrected (the focus and purpose being readjusted and the action changed accordingly) but can still find a place in our life lived out as earthly representatives of Christ. Other actions or programs could be maintained mostly as is except for our hearts, attitudes, and expectations being adjusted toward loving our neighbors rather than loving ourselves and seeking our own benefit. (Rather than doing these things for us, we should be doing them for the Lord and for them).
This is hard when we are struggling as an institution. This is hard when we have our own fears and worries about whether or not we will continue to be here or not. But we need not fear. Christ and His Church will continue on. Whether Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church continues on or not in this place is not important.
After all, Christ set and established this church here and it may be that His purpose for Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church has been fulfilled. His people in this place may have fulfilled their mission and purpose and it may be time for us to move onward and elsewhere. It may be that we can best serve His universal Church by merging or selling the land or property. It may be that we can best be a light to the community by continuing on until we can no longer. It could be that our Lord intends us to die martyrs’ deaths as a witness to the world. But it could also be that our Lord desires us to continue as a church for many more years past your and my days here.
What is important for us is not whether Mt. Calvary continues, or whether a church continues to operate on this property. What is important is that we seek to remain faithful to the Lord as long as we are here and that we seek to love the people around us—that we see the people as people and not as sources of income or numbers in the church roster. What is important is valuing these people and holding to our Lord’s word and commands.
Remember how our Lord valued us? Remember how He prioritized us? Remember how He went joyously to the cross in suffering and pain, carrying our shame because it meant our salvation and redemption? Remember that you no longer are part of the world, nor do you need to serve yourself, protect your interests, or even save your church? He who died to save you will not leave you, forget you or forsake you. Jesus is more important than our buildings. Jesus is more important than the preservation of our lives. These are all gifts He gifted us in the first place! These are gifts He blessed us with for the purpose of serving Him, of serving as His witnesses in this world.
So where we are not serving that purpose, we need to change and return to the Lord’s purpose for us—of making disciples, of preaching law and gospel, of loving the Lord’s Word and ways, of loving the people He died to redeem. Those things which hinder this or which get in the way should be gotten rid of. Those things which are adiaphoria (such as the building) we should assess with wisdom and make the best choice we can given our circumstances.
We exist here as an individual church at the Lord’s pleasure and for His purposes. Our focus should not be on preserving Mt. Calvary but on being faithful to our Lord, using what He has given us to serve the reason we exist as a church: to testify to Jesus and His work, to be a place where God’s Word is taught, where disciples of Christ are made and grow in His Word and grace, and where repentance is preached and forgiveness dispensed. Our monetary decisions, our programs, our institutional choices should be made in light of these reasons for the benefit of those around us—both those in the church and those outside the church. Let us focus, then, on faithfulness toward God and love toward our neighbor.
Lord Jesus, You reign and rule Your Church from heaven even today for the benefit of Your people and their salvation. Grant us likewise hearts that love our neighbors and Your commands that we would not sacrifice Your Word for anything but rather keep Your Word and seek the salvation of all those around us, trusting in Your care and provision, for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.
[1] https://apnews.com/article/southern-poverty-law-center-criminal-investigation-db7fdcf9baa0d1b24b8f1e1f2cebc0be
https://www.deseret.com/politics/2026/04/22/southern-poverty-law-center-indictment-3-million/
[2] Luke 24:47 literally translates this as “into”; however, it is often understood as a purpose statement and thus translated as “repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed” (ESV). I chose “into” here to show the movement which God intended in this passage, that is, repentance leading to forgiveness.