devotion and the bride

Wrestling with our text in Acts 2 where the earliest form of the church emerges, I keep running into the word "devoted".  As a practitioner of the pastoral arts for more than two decades ... Yes that makes me old ... I have long been in pursuit of what I would term the "keys of engagement" which would unlock the door of meaningful participation in the life of the local church.  I have lived through terms like "relevant" and "seeker", "missional", "attractional", "emergent" and many others that have been spoken into the dilemma of steady declines in church participation and attendance.  The recent report from the Pew Research Group clearly demonstrates that none of these discussions really offers silver bullet solutions.  The "rise of the nones" rings as clearly or perhaps more so in the great city of Seattle.  Could it be that this word "devoted" need be reinserted into the discussion?  Could it be something so radical as to put some biblical perspective back into our quest to find the missing link that would ... Although not solve it ... at least explain what has really occurred?
Could we put it in these terms ... that the Church in our culture struggles with the concept of being devoted to the biblical community often referred to as "the bride" of Christ.
The Acts 2 usage of the term "devoted" is used 5 other places in New Testament teaching, all referring to the idea of sacrificial, persevering and continual steadfastness.  As one who has lead many couples through their marriage ceremonies, all speaking in various terms that would be descriptive of this concept, I know only too well of the disconnect between belief and practice.
In contemporary language, rather than the "till death do us part" verbiage that we profess, perhaps it could more accurately read the "till something less difficult and more appealing comes along" that tends to be practiced.
It's widely recognized that continual exposure to failed marriage relationships (lack of devotion) tends to contribute to an increased reluctance to pursue marriage as reasonable option.  Could it be that the same is going on with faith identification, particularly as it pertains to participation in a church community?  My personal observation is that we are modeling, in practice, a "till something less difficult and more appealing" comes along.  The concept of devotion is less appealing than sin, repentance, and what you do with your money.  
Sunday we asked, "how can you tell what someone is devoted to?".  It wasn't a deep question at all.  Within seconds people offered the markers of finances, time, resources.  What would it look like in the context of our own lives to overlay that outline?  Would people recognize in us, not by words but by practice, a devotion to the "bride" or would they see "until something less difficult and more appealing" comes along?