Zooming down the freeway through a major Texas city, I thought I saw a billboard that said, "Finally, a church we can believe in." The next day, heading back the other direction, I confirmed it. There was an older white couple bigger than Dallas, as they say, his arm around her shoulders, smiling down on the traffic and announcing they had finally found a church they could believe in. The church's name and logo were also big and easy to read.

This was an expensive advertisement. No doubt, the tagline came out of focus groups, surveys, and the kind of process professional consultants lead. The phrase-makers belie the assumptions underlying their church growth strategy: people are looking for a safe place to belong, a place of comfort.

The statement is also theological. It begs for exegesis. They are, of course, suggesting churches exist that people "cannot" believe in. But, "A church you can believe in" is also code for something else. "Change you can believe in," Obama's slogan, comes to ...