The Church a Battle Hospital

Paul Levy points to a good quote which I thought I would nick and put here:

A happy church is one that is giving and going, one that is reaching out, that does not have time to think how it feels today, because it is in the business of sharing the life of Jesus with the world in which Christ has placed it. And that should be the purpose of our fellowship. We do not just gather together as the be all and end all of everything. We gather to scatter. You do not go to church on Sunday morning and night only in order to have a good time together with other Christians. you go in order to prepare to penetrate your world during the week more effectively for Christ. We are not to devote all our resources to pampering ourselves. The church is not a health farm, nor is it a beauty parlour. The church is a battle hospital.
(David Jackman - Understanding the Church, p65,66)