How is your health? Where is it strong? Where is it weak? We are all well aware of this with our physical bodies, but often not so much our spiritual body – the church we attend. None of us are always 100% healthy, and neither are our churches. When we know when our physical health is not all it should be, we take steps to improve it. The same must be true with your spiritual Body of believers. Many churches struggle, and a lot of them are dying.
Being a healthy church has nothing to do with size. Small churches can be very healthy and large churches may be unhealthy. In the New Testament we can see the health, or lack of it, in the churches mentioned. But we never know the size of any of them.
Also, being a healthy church doesn’t mean there are never problems or struggles, failures or mistakes. God doesn’t expect us, or our church, to be perfect. But He does want us totally committed to following Him, learning and obeying His Word, and loving His people. What are the signs of a spiritually healthy church?
A HEALTHY CHURCH LOOKS UPWARD TO GOD. The focus in teaching, worship, programs and all that happens must be on Jesus. Salvation only through Him and discipleship in following Him are foremost, not the church or the pastor, just Jesus. We worship “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). That means our mind and heart must be focused on Jesus alone. A church can publicize its programs and promote its ministries, but when the church or the pastor is the main focus, then God is not honored. A strong church focuses on God’s Word and teaches all of it, not just favorite parts that people like to hear. A healthy church also prays together and for each other, recognizing that God desires for us to have a reciprocal relationship with him.
A HEALTHY CHURCH LOOKS INSIDE AT ITSELF, not in a self-glorifying way but in humility, knowing each person has an important part to play and all members need each other. Because we love and serve God, we will love and serve each other as well. We recognize that we cannot live life on our own, so we band together and strive to live out the “one another’s” in the New Testament: love one another (John 13:4), forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32), encourage one another (Hebrews 10:24) and submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21). This is difficult because it requires humility, consistency and vulnerability from everyone, not just one or two people who are paid or assigned to care for everyone else. A healthy church is strategic and intentional in inviting and discipling new people and following up with all the members, seeking to meet their needs in any way possible. A healthy church is not full of gossip, clicks, favoritism or the like. All ages, economic status, races and abilities are equally welcome and accepted. Grace prevails and it overcomes conflicts and competition. Strong marriages and families are its foundation. They don’t have to be perfect, but are clearly trying to live life God’s way.
A HEALTHY CHURCH LOOKS OUTSIDE TO OTHERS. God created every Christian to do good works, and He has called us to use our time, talents, and resources to bless and serve others in love (Galatians 5:13). We are to minister to the needs of everyone in the body as well as those needs we can meet for those outside the church. Ministry is not the privilege of some, but the responsibility of all. It is never about title or position (although depending on our gifts, we may have a title or position) but about serving others. When a church is full of people with hearts of service, then the church will have an outward orientation. A healthy church leadership does not care who gets the credit for the ministry that is done because they recognize that Jesus is the only Name that really matters.
A HEALTHY CHURCH LOOKS AHEAD TO THE FUTURE. Everyone, from leadership to each member, shares the same vision to do as Jesus said and “go… make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). They recognize that they are never “home” on this earth. Their heart beats with evangelism, their hands are always reaching out and their feet are ready to go wherever God leads them. They desire more than addition — they desire multiplication through evangelism, disciple-making, missionary work, starting more small groups and eventually church planting until Jesus returns to take His Church home to Him (1 Thessalonians 4).
Jesus is the true head and Great Shepherd of the flock. Healthy churches recognize that, apart from Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, they can accomplish nothing of true, lasting value. Simply starting more churches is not the answer; we need more healthy churches. We need more people willing to go from being a disciple to a disciple-maker, from being a church member to a church planter, and from being a church consumer to a church server. And as we do, God can do “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).
Colossians 1:18 “Christ is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent.”
In which of these 4 ways listed in the article is your church strongest?
In which is it weakest?
Is it a healthy church? Why or why not?
What can you do personally to improve the health of your church? Write down the thoughts God gives you.
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
ChristianTrainingOnline.org
(India & Africa & Spanish Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
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