The Church: Hospital or Army?

Almost all denominations say that their church is "a hospital for sinners." Do you know if this is an accurate statement? You may be surprised to find out that the church is really an army for soldiers not an hospital for sinners.

Almost all denominations say that their church is "a hospital for sinners." Do you know if this is an accurate statement? You may surprised to find out that church is really an army for soldiers not an hospital for sinners. For a long time I have heard people say, “The church is a hospital for sinners.” When I recently checked the internet I found out that famous people past and present like C.S. Lewis, and even Abigal Van Buren (“Dear Abby”) have said it. I also noted that many denominations use the statement: Baptist, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Catholics, Methodists and Seventh-day Adventists. It is so accepted that I began to wonder where the statement came from originally. The exact statement is this: “The Church is not a museum for saints but a hospital for [recovering] sinners."

Byron K. Hill is currently a Seventh-day Adventist pastor in the Northern California Conference. He has pastored for for 42 years. He and his wife, Brenda, live in Angwin, California.