Keep the lights on, a further reflection on 2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Beverly Gaventa, in Texts for Preaching B,  points out:

This passage may be particularly important for those churches that were once referred to as "mainline." The frantic search for answers to declining membership and for new identity for denominations might well be set in a larger context, one that at least considers the possibility that in some sense the church's ministry cannot be defeated, despite all appearances to the contrary.