One day, while wandering the streets of London, I came upon a church whose massive front doors had this inscription carved above them:

"Enter and receive peace and rest."

The only problem was the doors had a massive chain and padlock through the handles.

Peace and rest are fine and important things but if that is all the church can offer then we might as well leave the chains in place.

I never grow tired of reminding myself that the early church was called, "The Way". It is a wonderful image of what the church must be if we are to become more than beautiful museums and quaint reminders of a romanticized and peaceful past.