This isn't just a nice novel about a small community for entertainment's sake. There is a dire issue in the community that seems to represent a problem in the Christian culture at large. In Reverend Henry Maxwell's opinion, the issue stems from the way comfort leaves the church unable to process fear and paranoia, because they aren't willing to see the status quo change. That makes a rigid community that is unwelcoming to newcomers, like Jack Manning.
So, instead of preaching a sermon series to confront them directly, he asks them to share their opinion about what Jesus might do in a given situation. What does it mean to them to be like Jesus? Unsurprisingly, the question gets a variety of answers, answers that illustrate to the community that the community is already comprised of radically different people. Yes, they are homogenized in some respects, and yes, newcomers will shift the culture, but after all, the religion is specifically designed to include the outsiders.
The point is that although the community openly rallies around Christianity and the scriptures, they are really united by the culture they have formed. Very quickly, there is a fresh need for new insight, because it is so easy to get comfortable. There is a verse in the gospels where Jesus says, "The son of man has no place to lay his head," but this community does have a place of comfort. Their desire for safety and comfort leaves them chronically unlikely to be Christlike, because Jesus was not governed by fear or comfort, but by his ethical attachment to his destiny. As a community, they come to remember this.
