From the secular world: “Adapt or die.” There's some wisdom in that.

The article asks, rhetorically, “If it has Christ’s promise of permanence, wouldn’t it be wise to build our lives on and around it?” But is it the permanence of the Word that causes us to esteem it as supremely good, or is it the supreme goodness of the Word that causes us to value its permanence?

What exactly does the Word convey that we should value its permanence? What are all the benefits brought through the Word that we should aspire to remain connected with it and with one another as fellow disciples learning, relearning and celebrating what it means for us? What does God want for us, and for himself, according to what he has spoken?

Jesus spoke of the key benefits of trusting his words when he said, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). And he also spoke of the endurance of his words when he said, “My words will not pass away” (Matt. 24:35)?

Where God chooses to have mercy (Ro. 9:15) and send his Spirit (1 Cor. 2:14), the Word becomes becomes fruitful (1 Cor. 3:6-7), bringing about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23); also contentment, hope, edification, justification, sanctification, inspiration, selflessness, righteousness, thankfulness, blessedness, good works, endurance, fellowship (koinonia), and eternal life.

Isn’t a godly desire for all of that — for ourselves and for others — an excellent motivation to adapt creatively to sustain an outpost of God’s Kingdom? Why come together in one service when you have had two services for decades, for example, or why begin to partner with another congregation on the other side of the tracks? Perhaps it's like this: As a campfire ebbs, its embers will burn more brightly, more warmly and longer if you can bring them together.

One can think of the local church as a kind of dispensary where the Word is delivered through a sermon and the sacraments are delivered. Those things are essential. Yet the Bible also describes the church as a house of living stones (1 Peter 2:5), where people engage one another deliberately — cheerfully encouraging each other in the faith (Acts 2:42), lovingly looking after one another’s needs and interests (Gal. 6:10, Phil. 2:4), and energetically “[stirring] up one another to love and good works” (Heb. 10:24).

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (Ro. 10:8, Duet. 30:14).