The question of how a church congregation relates to the world and to its community has changed a great deal over the last 50 years. At one time, churches were in a symbiotic relationship with culture. The culture expected people to attend church, and it made sure few other options were available on Sunday morning. Those days are long gone. Now culture is ambivalent, occassionally hostile, towards the church. Some have even used the metaphor of "exile" to describe the church's loss of status and place in our world.
The prophet Jeremiah writes to exiles living in a foreign land, the home of those who defeated them. Yet he counsels them to "seek the welfare" of the Babylonians. The Hebrew word translated "welfare" is "shalom," and it means much more than welfare. Could it be that Jeremiah's advice to actual exiles has something to teach us in the church today?