What is the importance and relevance of blood/genetics in “the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God”—the church? The apostle Paul would say, in relative terms, none at all.…The blood that matters is that of Christ, and the soil that matters is that of the new heavens and the new earth.

The “blood and soil” concept, known in German as “Blut und Boden,” refers to a nationalist ideology that ties a people’s racial or ethnic purity (”blood”) to their ancestral territory or homeland (”soil”). It emphasizes that a nation’s strength and identity derive from the unbreakable bond between its racially homogeneous population and the land they inhabit, often promoting agrarian lifestyles, rural values, and expansionism to secure living space for that group. This idea portrays non-native or “impure” populations as rootless intruders, justifying their exclusion or removal.

The phrase originated in late 19th-century Germany amid the rise of romantic nationalism and the völkisch movement, which idealized folk traditions, racial theories, and a mystical connection to nature.
—Grok

But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
—Paul to the Galatians

Though our worship hall is rectangular with no transepts, the seats on the sides and near the front face in at a 90-degree angle to the center rank of seats and about a 45-degree angle to the angled side ranks of seats further back. If you sit in these front/side seats, you have a wonderful view of both the elevated, central pulpit and much of the rest of the congregation.

From this vantage point last night, I was struck by the diversity of the gathered worshipers, and I was struck by the silly irrelevance of blood and soil. In my view were people of all ages from (at least) Norway, Brazil, Mexico, and China. There were former military people who had led a vagabond life, not having been rooted for decades, yet at home in our church. There were adopted children. Of course, the most numerous group was the one that weirdos on the right (Christian and otherwise) increasingly tout as “Heritage Americans”— mostly immigrants from the British Isles or Northern Europe who came west in the last 100-400 years.

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