Some thoughts about the current crisis in UCG

Since the time of Christ there have been many organisations around the world claiming to be the true Church. But sometimes there are divisions within these groups, people leave and go to another Church group, or some may decide to set up their own Church organisation.
A lot of these people may well base their choices on their belief in the whereabouts of the Government of God. Either they think the leadership of their current Church is no longer the Government of God and so they have to leave, or they think the leaders are the Government of God and so they stay. But does the administration of a religious organisation constitute God’s Government?
The dictionary definition of government explains that government is a way a thing is done or happens, in society, business, the home, etc. A society is governed by laws, rules and regulations and these laws, rules and regulations are government. Government is defined as the act or manner of governing. A group of individuals are not the act or manner by which a state or community is governed and, therefore, a collective body of men within the Church cannot be a government.
Too many Churches of God today get hung up on saying that they are the Government of God. Just recently I read an article by a certain Church which stated that other Churches which did things differently are not following the Government of God. Specifically, this particular Church stated that Herbert Armstrong (the former leader of the Worldwide Church of God until his death in 1986) was the Government of God, and that the leader of this Church was now following in his footsteps and the true successor to Mr. Armstrong and thus he claimed to be the Government of God, or at least that the Government of God was in his Church and not in Churches like the United Church of God, which is administered by a Council of Elders, which was claimed to be the wrong way to run the Government of God.
So what is the situation with the United Church of God (UCG)? The leadership is a Council of Elders plus a President. Some say that this is not the correct form of government for a Church, and that it should be just one man at the top as it was with Herbert Armstrong in WCG.
But it is wrong to look to a body of men or a particular organisation as government, because the laws governing the Church did not originate from men but from God. “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
Only God the Father and Jesus Christ can be considered to be the Government of God. Their laws and rules, their way of life, are what we should live by. We should be ruled by God and not by our own carnal selves.
Any Church group usually has leadership. But those leaders are not the Government of God, rather they are an administration that should look after the needs of the Church, to do things like collect donations, hire meeting places for Sabbath services, ensure that there are ministers and elders to serve congregations, arrange Feast sites, publish booklets, run a website and record video and audio materials, etc. The administration should be living according to the Government of God and setting an example to others, and teaching the ways of God to people.
It does not matter which type of administration a Church chooses to have, whether it is one man at the top, or a Council of Elders, or a President or some other method.
But each of us, as members of the Church of God, must first seek a close relationship with God (“Seek first the Kingdom of God”, Matthew 6:33), and we should live “by every word of God” (Luke 4:4).
To anyone who is thinking of changing churches, think about why you are doing so. Is it because you think another group has a better “government”? There are times when it is necessary to change churches, such as it was in 1995 when a large number of members of the WCG left that Church to form and join the UCG, due to the abandonment of the laws of God by the administration of the WCG. If the Church you attend no longer teaches the truth (such as the Sabbath, the Second Coming of Christ and our eternal inheritance in the Kingdom of God), then by all means leave to join a Church that does teach the truth from the Bible. Currently there are probably errors in all the Churches and in what they teach, even if just small errors, but that is not enough to justify condemning a Church, as the administration of any Church is only human. And as humans, we are carnal and subject to our own whims, misguided thoughts and to be deceived by Satan.
We should all, in the Church of God as a whole, remember that we are a family. We are part of God’s family. And currently Satan is trying his best to attack and divide the family. Families often stick together. And in the Church, we should stick together. It does not matter if we cannot get along to the point of all being in one organisation at the moment; God sees what is happening and allows it — for the time being, at least. But spiritually we are all part of one body, the head of which is Christ.
Rather than make a hasty decision to move to another Church of God group, far better to stay in the congregation into which God has placed you, and to serve the brethren there to the best of your ability. And even if we do not agree on every point of doctrine, we can at least show love to each other and have concern for each other.
So let’s all just try to get along, with godly love, being a part of God’s family, and looking to God the Father and Jesus Christ the Head of His Church, and remember that we shall be spending an eternity together so let’s not be so divided now, as we certainly shall not be divided in the future but shall be joined together in unity in the Kingdom of God forever.