The Church – Army in Camp, or Army on the March?

There are two main models of, or ways of thinking about, the Church. What I mean is that people have beliefs about who the Church is and what her mission is, and this influences how they go about the business of “being the Church” or “being a disciple of Christ.” The model a person holds is normally unspoken, but influences how they act and perceive things related to the Church and the rest of the world.

The first model is that the Church is like an army in camp behind a walled fortress which...