Should we switch things up? Try another tack? Measurable nonresults is one of the reasons so many churches tuck the gospel behind fog and lasers or adjust their teaching to the “7 Steps” busywork of moralistic therapeutic deism.

Pastor, here is a ministerial secret not often publicized: sometimes things that shrink are getting healthier. So here we are: totally dependent. In ruins. Vulnerable. But hopeful. A remnant will always remain.