The ABCs of Church Health
The goal of any pastor should not be the number of people in the pews or money in the offering plate but rather the health of the church. Of course a healthy church is likely to grow in attendance and giving, but those are not our primary goals.
But how do we recognize and work toward a healthy church? I would suggest that it is as simple as ABC.
Apostolic
I hesitate to use this word, as there is all sorts of baggage that go along with it, but I really needed an A word. By apostolic, I am not referring to churches that use ‘apostolic’ in their name or have an office of Apostle. I’m speaking about the literal meaning of the word. An apostle is a ‘sent one.’ A healthy church is a sent church. The Great Commission commands us to go. The early church actually needed a persecution to force them to leave their comfort and go into the world. Being an apostolic church means we must go beyond our local gathering and interact with those outside of our congregation.
Biblical
You can have a large and lively church without focusing on the Bible. In fact, your church may grow faster if you focus more on felt needs than on the Bible. But is that healthy? The early church was devoted to the teachings of the Apostles, what we now call the New Testament. It is true that people both outside and inside the church are less biblically literate. However, this is not the time to give up on teaching the Bible out of frustration with the lack of biblical engagement. This is the time to increase biblical teaching, while at the same time acknowledging the lack of background information among our congregations.
Caring
Churches can be extremely evangelistic and biblically knowledgable and yet lack any love or concern for others. Jesus taught us, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35) If we are not known by our love, why should anyone listen to us? I love the phrase that I recently heard from Kara Powell, “Warm is the new cool.” We don’t need lasers and smoke machines in our churches, we need warm and caring fellowship. This starts with love for each other within a Christian community, but must expand to love for everyone, including our enemies.
How is your church doing in each of these areas?
