The Marks of the Church Today
In the movie “Remember the Titans” the coaches are preparing the newly-integrated team for their first game. As they move through their opening exercises, the head coach yells out “Who are we?” The team replies, “We are the Titans!” “What are we?” the coach yells back. “We are mobile, agile, and hostile!” the team cries back. I would like to borrow this threefold cry and add one further element to it as a way of articulating the “marks” or chief and essential characteristics of the church in our world today. Mobile, agile, hostile, and I would add, fragile comprise my proposed marks. “Mobile” indicates the much-needed quality of readiness to move – physically, in service, theologically, and in whatever other ways are needed – that should mark a pilgrim people, those always “on the way” to the kingdom of God. A mobile ch...