What does a healthy church look like? Much ink and paper has been spent answering that question. Every pastor wants to lead a healthy church. Every Christian wants to be part of a vibrant, healthy church community. Unfortanetly, most churches are plateaued or seriously sick. It is the responsibility of every church to pray for, anticipate, and work toward becoming a healthy church that reaches the lost and disciples the reached.
There are two evangelical leaders who have their own view on what a healthy church looks like. The first is Mark Dever whose ministry, called
9Marks, is based on his book
9 Marks of a Healthy Church. Below are his so-called 9 marks:
- Expositional Preaching
- Biblical Theology
- Biblical Understanding of the Good News
- Biblical Understanding of Conversion
- Biblical Understanding of Evangelism
- Biblical Understanding of Membership
- Biblical Church Discipline
- Promotion of Church Discipline and Growth
- Biblical Understanding of Leadership
A lesser known approach is Jame MacDonald's 4 pillars of a healthy church. I first came across these in his book
Vertical Church. Those four pillars are as follows:
- Proclaiming the authority of God's Word without apology - 2 Timothy 4:2
- Lifting high the name of Jesus through worship - John 4:24
- Believing firmly in the power of prayer - Ephesians 6:18
- Sharing the good news of Jesus with boldness - Ephesians 6:19-20
We are currently in the midst of a sermon series that looks at the prerequisites of a healthy church. In this series I want our church to focus on what must be present before we could ever become healthy. Lack any of them, and health remains a distant dream. Below is my list (in no particular order):
- Doctrine/Gospel
- Evangelism
- Worship
- Scripture
- Fellowship
- Discipleship/Holiness
- Prayer
- Spiritual Gifts
Join us for our study of these prerequisites. It is critical that we possess these attributes in order to reach the people around us. We will one day be judged for how we handle Christ's Bride. So let us grow as a church and be the sort of congregation God has called us to be.
