"... tragically, the only people who would really notice that your church closed are the people who attended there and the pastors of the other churches that would receive them. This is true for far too many churches. The average person in your community and neighbourhood would only know your church shut down because the "For Sale" sign went up. The brutal truth is that if your church closed, the negative impact on the surrounding community would be minimal at best. Most may not even notice.

Why is this? The church is to be a beacon of hope in the darkness, a city set on a hill, the salt that preserves society and culture. But are we really any of these things if the average person in our neighbourhood wouldn't notice if we closed up shop? What has happened that the church, which seeks to be light and salt in the world, has become so insignificant and marginalised?

It is bondage to sin and addiction to things of the world that make us less than human. Jesus came to make us more human, more alive, and more free.

So when followers of Jesus go out into the world to reveal Jesus to others, they must go in a way that is compelling and beautiful. We should be the most joyful, colorful, happy, humorous, carefree, lively, and hopeful people the world has ever seen; not dour and humourless as we generally appear.