How Healthy Is Your Church?
Healthcare is at the forefront of so many discussions today in our country. How are we feeling? How can we prevent disease? How often do we go get a checkup? Etc. The same can be said about the church we attend.
It seems like we have a ton of big churches, mega-churches, seeker-churches everywhere today. However, for the Christian, how healthy is the church and by what means do we measure it? One fallacy is that the larger the church the healthier. We have huge churches today that have very little substance. To use a popular line – “they are a thousand miles long but only an inch deep.” It is easy to get people to follow you when you tell them what they want to hear, instead of saying anything that convicts of sin, or worse, promise them something they will receive (normally monetarily) if they give or do something. We have churches today that sound more like self-help seminars and motivation conventions than a place for the hurting and people earnestly seeking God.
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[quote bar=”true” align=”center”]Other churches could be mistaken for a pop concert with a public service announcement at the end.[/quote]
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It has become cliché to stay positive and “ relevant “ for today than worry about something that happened 2,000 years ago. Other churches could be mistaken for a pop concert with a public service announcement at the end. This is not to say that most churches are doing it wrong. However, we have to constantly take introspection of what the church is doing and why in light of Scripture.
Let me paraphrase something Chuck Swindoll once said: “I don’t measure success by how large a church God gives us, but if the church is sold out for Christ by reaching people with the Gospel and trying to live holy lives.” Let me be clear. There is a major difference between preferences, i.e. worship styles, clothing, liturgy, secondary gift issues like tongues, and the clear mission of the church.
We can measure the health of the church by using three criteria based on Scripture.
- The number one priority for any church to measure everything it does is whether it is Jesus-centric. By this I mean that everything that is done should be with the priority of pointing people toward Christ and reaching others with the Gospel. That is demonstrated by the worship experience. Does the Pastor preach the Word unequivocally? Does he preach about sin, our need for Christ, the reality of hell, etc.? Is he faithful to the primary things in Scripture? Does every program done and every song sung lift up the name of Christ?
- Second, a healthy church should be measured by its faithfulness to Biblical instruction. The majority of “nones” (the religiously non-affiliated) in the country are growing because the church has failed in this area. A healthy church is faithful to God’s Word as the “final court of arbitration” in faith and practice. The church of today has failed to teach and instruct in the area of apologetics ( the general defense of the Gospel message). A healthy church teaches how to interpret Scripture in light of the Biblical times but also how to apply it to our lives today. I’m sure you know people that argue faith is just “blind faith.” The church has a responsibility to teach that Christianity is not “blind faith” but faith based in evidence. Our faith should be tested by the counter-arguments because this testing will produce a stronger faith once we see the overwhelming reasons for the truths we hold. Now more than ever we are living in a more secular country and part of that fault lies with the church. We have allowed the culture to influence it rather than the church influence the culture. It is no surprise that 70 percent of regular attendees can’t name the twelve apostles and worse can’t name the four Gospels. Teaching and instruction are a huge measure of a healthy church.
- Third, a healthy church is measured by the number of players on the field. What does that mean? That means how many are spectators and how many are active players in the game? We are called Biblically to be active participants in the body of Christ. We all have a duty to find an area to serve. We are all given at least one spiritual gift to use in the service of the Kingdom. Some are teachers, greeters, visitors, deacons, etc. We are called to use these gifts in service. Does your church actively provide these areas of service?
As we enter the fall season, do a self-checkup on your church. Does it follow these three areas?
Do I truly worship God through Biblical exposition and song?
Does my Church have a heart for reaching the lost?
Take the time to pray for God’s leadership in this area.
S. Montgomery