What are the marks of a healthy church and church member?

https://youtu.be/f7s2JuT4tT8

Reading time for this lesson: [est_time]

A mark of consumerism is customer satisfaction. The more satisfied the customer, the more likely he or she will be to return to the store and spend more money. Consumerism is not necessarily a bad word in the business world, but what happens when consumerism meets Christianity?

Here are some diagnostic questions that may indicate consumerism in the church.

• Is my decision about where to attend and join church based on my personal preferences in music, worship style, or aesthetics?
• Do I feel that the church is meeting its mission when it meets my felt needs?
• Is my loyalty to my church similar to the loyalty that I show to my favorite store at the mall?
• Is my financial support of the church in proportion to what I feel that I get out of the church?
• Do I see the church as a religious country club or recreation center? Does the church primarily exist to provide services like self-help programs, children’s activities, and social groups?
• Will I leave the church if my felt needs are not met?

 

The New Testament description of the church is anything except consumeristic. Jesus describes His church as God’s embassy on earth (Matt. 18:18). In this sense, the church is not carrying out the will of the people in the community or even the desires of the members of the church, but the will of God in heaven. It is no wonder, then, that the call of Jesus moves in the direction of self-denial instead of consumerism: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). This being the case, we will not find the marks of a healthy church by taking a survey, but by looking to Scripture. A full list and explanation of what to look for in a church is beyond the scope of this article, but consider the following items.

First, a healthy church preaches and teaches the whole bible expositionally. The phase “expository preaching” simply means that the point of the biblical passage is the point of the message (or sermon). The biblical word for “preaching” (Greek, kerysso) means to “proclaim.” The pastor, then, should not seek to share his own ideas with the church, but what God has revealed in the text of Scripture. In addition to this, churches should not shy away from teaching what Paul calls, “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). The temptation in any culture is to preach and teach on the parts of the Bible or doctrines that we enjoy hearing about while omitting those that we struggle to accept. To preach less than the whole counsel of God is to edit the truth of God.

Second, a healthy church centers on the gospel. Beginning with the incarnation and climaxing in the cross and resurrection, the gospel is the glorious announcement of God’s victory over sin and death through the person and work of Jesus Christ (I Cor. 15:1-4). In addition to assuring entrance into the Kingdom, the gospel seeks to inform and govern all of life, including thought, motive, and conduct (Gal. 2:14; I Cor. 2:2; Col. 2:6; Phil. 1:27; I Tim. 1:11). Furthermore, since all of our spiritual problems come as a result of a failure to apply the grace of God, we understand the gospel to be the instrument of all true spiritual growth (Rom. 12:1-2; Col. 1:5-6; Tit. 2:11-14). Churches are healthy to the extent that they make clear connections between the doctrines of Christ and a believer’s thoughts and actions, as well as how the gospel even relates to the seemingly mundane issues of life.

Third, a healthy church puts an emphasis on evangelism and conversion. We dealt with the topic of conversion in the first article on becoming a Christian. An emphasis on conversion and evangelism (sharing the good news of the gospel) means that, at RBC, we recognize everybody has a need to turn in faith to Jesus. A relationship with God through Christ is not negotiable or only for people who need help getting on their feet. All have sinned and are in need of salvation (Acts 17:30).

Fourth, a healthy church practices God-centered worship. Corporate worship is for the building up of the saints and for the pleasure of God. Because it is a congregation’s delight to glorify God with worship, every element (preaching, singing, prayer, etc.) of the worship service should seek to lift up and exalt God as well as put a special focus on the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4; Col. 1:24-29). Furthermore, a healthy church understands that believers are participants and not spectators in a worship service (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). As such, at RBC, our worship team does not worship for the congregation, but with the congregation.

One final mark of a healthy church is a community marked by grace and truth. God calls us to be connected to one another in a relationship of both grace and truth (Eph. 4:14-16; John 1:14). Truth means that followers of Jesus live under the authority of His Word (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:3). As such, we know the destructiveness of sin, and dare not trivialize it. This means holding one another accountable in our walk with God. At the same time, the church should be a community full of grace (1 Pet. 3:8). Understanding that we are all flawed and at different points in our spiritual journey, we seek to show love and understanding to one another (1 Cor. 13:1-8). Both grace and truth are essential to a healthy community. A church that is all truth and no grace is cold and legalistic. A church that is all grace and no truth is sentimental.

What is a healthy church member?

Travis was excited when he joined his church. Having moved to a new community, he knew the importance of finding a church home. His search came to an end when he discovered a local church just a few miles from his home that he felt met his spiritual needs. For a number of months Travis was a faithful attender and even joined a small group. In time, however, he grew somewhat bored with the church. His participation in the church tapered off and, before long, he had all but pulled away.

While visiting his parents back home, Travis met with his former pastor, Marcus, for a coffee. After some small talk, Pastor Marcus asked Travis how things were going and if he had found a church. Travis told Marcus that he had joined a church, but over time had drifted away. For the first thirty minutes Travis shared with his former pastor that he felt that the church was a good church, but didn’t feel at home. Marcus was sympathetic. He too knew what it was like to feel out of step with the culture of a church. At the same time, he felt compelled to share with Travis that a church is only as healthy as its members. Marcus shared several biblical principles with Travis.

First, a healthy member is an active member. In many churches you can remain on the roll of the church and still be considered “active” or “member in good standing”. But according to the pages of the New Testament, all church members are involved in the life of the church. 1 Corinthians 12 describes how the church is one body with many members. Paul uses the illustration of a human body: feet, hands, ears, and eyes. It is not just that each of these parts belongs to the body, but that they are all active members of the body. Interestingly enough, being an inactive member of a church is not even discussed in the New Testament because there was no such status (Heb. 10:25). Everybody has a function. Everybody has gifts. Everybody has a role.

Active membership means both participating in the services of the church and serving one another. At the moment of conversion, the Holy Spirit indwells the believer (1 Cor. 6:19). In doing this, the Spirit shares spiritual gifts for the building up the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:7, 11). At RBC, we encourage all of our members to seek their gifts and use them for the benefit of others in the church.

Second, a healthy church member seeks to maintain the unity of the church. Churches are imperfect. Flawed. Full of sinners who are only saved by grace. Despite this, Paul calls all members in the church to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). For this reason, members of RBC strive to put away gossip and negative talk (Eph. 4:29), practice forgiveness (Eph. 4:32), and whenever possible, let love cover a multitude of sins (1 Pet. 4:8). Additionally, unity is best achieved when members are willing to sacrifice preferences for the sake of the gospel (1 Cor. 9:23). This means not demanding our own way, but doing what is best for the church. This can include trivial things such as being inconvenienced by parking or moving out of your regular seat to make room for a visitor. It can be in regard to worship: singing songs that do not speak to you as well as others or sitting under a preaching style that doesn’t connect as well as the one at your former church. Each member should be asking: “What is best for the sake of the gospel?” Finally, unity can only be achieved by members who understand that the most important thing in the church is not the worship style or aesthetics of the building, but Jesus. Consider the words of A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God:

Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.

A healthy church member knows the importance of spiritual accountability. Throughout Scripture the biblical authors talk about helping each other in our walk with God. The Psalmist invites accountability into his life: “Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it” (Psa. 141:5a). Solomon very pointedly states, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Pr. 27:6). This theme of accountability is carried into the New Testament. This includes placing ourselves under the spiritual leadership of the elders in the church (Heb. 13:7) while at the same time showing a willingness to have other members of the church speak into our lives (Gal. 6:1). In Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Mark Dever writes,

Church membership is our opportunity to grasp hold of each other in responsibility and love. By identifying ourselves with a particular church, we let the pastors and other members of that local church know that we intend to be committed in attendance, giving, prayer, and service. We allow fellow believers to have great expectations of us in these areas, and we make it known that we are the responsibility of this local church. We assure the church of our commitment to Christ in serving with them, and we call for their commitment to serve and encourage as well.

Healthy church members seek to live the gospel in all of life, not just on Sundays. We tend to compartmentalize our lives in so many different ways due to our various roles in life: parent, worker, member of the community, coach or player, etc. Yet, when it comes to our walk with God, Jesus expects us to de-compartmentalize our lives. We are told, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Note the emphasis on “daily.” This means that, as Christians, we should regularly seek to apply the gospel to all of life. The book of Proverbs communicates this by sharing numerous areas of life that should be under the control of the Spirit of God: friendships, vocations, family, time management, recreation, etc. As the heat of the sun touches every part of the earth, we desire that the gospel inform all of life.

Finally, a healthy church member is active in the mission of the church. At RBC, we use the words worship, connect, and serve. Although all of life is worship, there is a special sense in which God calls His people to gather together on the first day of the week to worship Him corporately. We realize that there are occasional events and vacations that may keep our members from worshiping on Sunday; we certainly do not want to be legalistic about worship. Having said this, it is a mistake to be cavalier about corporate worship (Heb. 10:25). Unless providentially hindered, we encourage our members to join us for worship each Sunday.

The biblical word for connect is “edification,” which means to build up (1 Cor. 14). Building each other up in the faith involves using our spiritual gifts and practicing the “one another’s” in the Bible. The author of Hebrews describes edification as follows: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:24-25). Unlike worship, it is difficult to connect with people in pews. Therefore, in addition to church-wide fellowships and activities, we believe that small groups are a great way to connect at RBC.

The third idea, serve, means loving and serving our community while seeking to live out the truth of the gospel in all of life. This includes reaching out to the weak of this world, honoring Christ in our families, glorifying Him in our vocations, and sharing the gospel with our neighbors.

Each part of this mission calls us to reach into a different direction.

• Worship = up-reach.
• Connect = in-reach.
• Serve = out-reach.

 

Finally, it is not uncommon for followers of Christ to pursue one of these categories at the expense of the other two. For example, a member of the church might be faithful to worship, but neglect connecting with other Christians and reaching out to the lost. Or, perhaps a member is active in his or her small group, but tends to neglect gathering for worship on Sundays. I do not doubt that each Christian gravitates towards one of these three more than the other two, but healthy membership seeks to honor God in a balanced approach to all three areas: up-reach, in-reach, and out-reach.