I received one of my many church and ministry articles today with a good one about healthy and unhealthy local churches (source). We all know that no local church is perfect, because it is made up of imperfect people, but it can be healthy in several categories. How is your church doing?
1. Unhealthy Churches Do Not have a Clear Vision.
The article starts by saying, “Proverbs 29:18 states, ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.’ A church whose leadership has not explained or formed a vision that states: ‘this is who we are, this is where we’re going and this is how we’re going to get there’ is unhealthy in the highest form.”
I believe the key word here is “clear.” It must come from the leaders and be clear to the leaders and congregants of the church. Can they articulate it? Can they live it? Are they a part of it? It is very important that the local church vision is not only Biblical, but simple and strategic looking to the future.
2. Unhealthy Churches have Leaders that Can’t Be Challenged.
The article said, “If you are part of a church where leadership can never be questioned or challenged, run! I have witnessed this and I can tell you this will not end very well. Please remember, church leaders are there to cast vision and to steer the church in the direction to which God is leading. Church leaders are not and should not be dictators. What I mean is this; members should never fear asking a question against a proposed idea or direction from leadership in the church. With that being said, there should also be a level of respect given when challenging church leadership.”
It is important to have an open communication web among everyone in the local church. Leaders should be open to change and questions. Congregants should be able to ask questions about anything. Other leaders should be able to have dialog about decisions being made around vision and implementation. This is healthy.
3. Unhealthy Churches Never Bring Conviction to the Congregation.
The article reads, “If you are attending a church and you have a) never been convicted or b) never offended in your sin when the Gospel is preached or taught, hightail it out of there! It is very dangerous when a church’s preaching and teaching team operates in what I call the “Ren and Stimpy” Theology. What I mean by this is every sermon and lesson that comes from the preaching/teaching team is always “happy happy joy joy,” but there are never heart-piercing, convicting messages that will challenge people. Church shouldn’t be designed to just make you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside but church should be there to bring conviction through the Word of God to bring correction in a person’s life.”
We must be faithful to present God’s Word as God’s Word. It’s first intent is for the salvation of lost people. It’s secondary purpose is to help the believer grow in holiness, that brings conviction and change to our lives. Every local church should be preaching, teaching and training in this way.
4. Unhealthy Churches have Lots of People Warming the Pews.
The article says, “I can generally tell if a church’s culture is unhealthy if its congregants are content with being pew warmers. What is a pew warmer? A pew warmer is a person who does not get involved in their church; they only attend church on Sundays and they are content in doing so.
When a church is healthy, people are excited about lending their gifts to the up-building of their local church and the Body of Christ as a whole.”
The leadership of the local church is responsible to raise the commitment level of it’s people. We need to be willing to ask the sheep to run faster. This comes from a clear vision and process to plug in and use their gifts for the glory of God.
5. Unhealthy Churches Never Engage in Outreach.
The article said, “A church that never plans or even preaches outreach is unhealthy. When a church feels no need or desire to not only preach helping those outside of the four walls, but never does anything in its surrounding community, it speaks volumes. Outreach was and is the heart of Jesus. Simply having worship on Sundays is not church; it’s simply a meeting. The work that is done in the community to show God’s love is church. It is one thing to talk church, but it’s another thing to actually BE the church.”
Absolutely! The purpose of the Gospels was to share Jesus. The Apostle John declared that his purpose in writing his Gospel was to help people “believe” in Jesus as Savior. Outreach is first about sharing the Gospel with those in our influence and than “good works” can accompany the message.
How healthy is your church? What can you do to get healthier if your body is sick?
What do you think?
