Many who attend churches in Western countries today experience Christianity in a manner very different from that of the New Testament. Many churches are stable or declining communities, and their practice of faith differs little from week to week, year to year. While church members may be keeping the faith, little impact is being made outside the church community. This contrasts with the picture of Christianity drawn by Paul in the first chapter of his letter to the Colossians:
Whenever we pray for you we thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love which you have for all the believers, because of the hope which is kept for you in heaven, which you first heard about in the message of the truth, the Good News which has come to you. The Good News is bearing fruit and growing throughout the world, just as it has with you since the day you heard and truly understood the grace of God.
A community of believers is supposed to appear quite different from the world around it, not because they indulge in strange practices but because they possess and exemplify a type of life and vibrancy characterised by love which others do not have. The hope provided by the message of the truth is supposed to inspire followers of Jesus and transform them into extraordinary communities. Somehow we need to recapture that hope.