{"id":14884,"date":"2007-07-11T11:44:35","date_gmt":"2007-07-11T11:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/2007\/07\/11\/le-7l3-7l334a\/"},"modified":"2007-07-11T11:44:35","modified_gmt":"2007-07-11T11:44:35","slug":"le-7l3-7l334a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/le-7l3-7l334a\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does a Healthy Church Look Like? (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Y<\/strong>our doctor says you’re healthy, no signs of disease; blood pressure and\nweight are within normal limits.<\/p>\n\n

The fitness instructor says you’re in terrible shape, resting pulse and body-fat\npercentage are way above normal; flexibility is poor, and you just flunked\nthe treadmill test.<\/p>\n\n

If both can be right, what does it mean to be healthy? And following the\nsame analogy, what does it mean for a church<\/em> to be healthy? What signs\nindicate a congregation is both free of disease and spiritually fit?<\/p>\n\n

Leadership<\/em> set out to answer those questions. We talked with a variety\nof pastors and leaders and gathered diagnostic tools and checklists, both\ndescriptive and prescriptive.<\/p>\n\n

We did not find just one answer, but we did find the many responses revealing.\nSo here, with contradictions and redundancies intact, are various ways to\nidentify and maintain a healthy church.<\/p>\n\n

Finding the Focal Point\nby Tracy Keenan<\/h2>\n\n

Church health is a matter of focus: a focus on Christ, not the church. Our\nfocus determines whether we have a survival mentality or a service mentality.<\/p>\n\n

If the primary emphasis is on maintaining our building, or on getting more\npeople or money, it’s a clue that our focus is on survival.<\/p>\n\n

A willingness to serve is the greatest indicator of a Christ-ward focus.\nIt’s a sign that faith is strong and the people are open to the workings\nof the Spirit.<\/p>\n\n

It shows up as a ready, easy smile. It’s a willingness to reach out and greet\nsomebody whom you don’t know well or whom you’ve never seen before. Part\nof my responsibility as a leader is to have and serve out of that joy.<\/p>\n\n

I heard someone in a meeting say, “How can we go beyond talking about this\nand actually do<\/em> something?” That willingness to help in a tangible\nway can come about only with a servant-focus.<\/p>\n\n

A focus on Christ allows us to support one another, even in our differences.\nI was called to this church to develop a contemporary worship service. We\nadded a third service that was, stylistically, quite different.<\/p>\n\n

Yet I’ve had a surprisingly large number of people say to me, “This contemporary\nworship is not my cup of tea, but if there’s any way I can help support this,\nlet me know.”<\/p>\n\n

That was a healthy thing to say. It shows people’s respect and appreciation\nfor our tradition, but also their unwillingness to make it into an idol.\nYou won’t see that apart from a clear focus on Christ.<\/p>\n\n

Tracy Keenan is associate pastor of Southminster Presbyterian\nChurch in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s the Structure. Period.\nby Ralph W. Neighbour, Jr.<\/h2>\n\n

The American church is unhealthy because it has an unbiblical structure.\nBy denying this and continuing to live under the illusion that the basic\nproblem of the church is something other than ecclesiology, we have a chronic\ncondition.<\/p>\n\n

If we look into the New Testament, we recognize that, apart from community,\nthe body of Christ cannot effectively present itself. Yet the need for community\nis something that we avoid, and that makes us unhealthy. Jesus lived in a\ncommunity of twelve disciples. The 12 became 120, then 1,200 in a day’s time,\nand the first thing they did was to break the crowd up into communities that\nwent from house to house.<\/p>\n\n

Around the world today—far more so overseas—healthy church life is built\naround cells, basic Christian communities that allow the people of God to\njoin together, responsible to and for each other. The true cell church does\nnot see the cell as a small group attached to a larger blob of protoplasm\ncalled church membership. The true cell church is a community of Christians\nnumbering usually no more than fifteen who are the body of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n

Here we find people who care about each other, accepting accountability and\nresponsibility to and for one another, exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit.\nIn the New Testament, the church is called the oikos<\/em>, the household\nof God. The early church was composed of household churches.<\/p>\n\n

Then, by breaking into the broken lives of unbelievers around them, these\ncells show the presence of Christ. In that context, just like in Acts 2,\nthe unbeliever says, “Wow, God is certainly among you,” and he falls on his\nface and is saved.<\/p>\n\n

The individualism that pervades American society perceives the world in relation\nto “me” rather than to “us.” Evangelical Christians have a great concern\nfor personal salvation, but we’ve been particularly prone to lose sight of\nthe corporate dimensions of New Testament Christianity. Pure, basic faith\nnever ends up as rugged individualism. Rather, it ends up living in a community\nwhere I am responsible to and for my brother and where I recognize I can\nnever have salvation from the power of sin in this world if I live apart\nfrom the community of God’s people.<\/p>\n\n

Ralph W. Neighbour, Jr., recently retired as president of\nTouch Outreach Ministries in Houston, Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honest to God\nSteve Sjogren<\/h2>\n\n

We equate health with authenticity. Healthy churches are led by pastors who\nare real, who tell their honest, heartfelt stories. Not unwisely, but they\ndisclose.<\/p>\n\n

I have Attention Deficit Disorder, and I don’t make a big secret of it. I\nhave a bumper sticker on my car that says, HONK IF YOU’RE ON RITALIN. My\nchurch knows I’ve been in long-term counseling for depression. They know\nI’ve been married for eighteen years, and we’ve had fifteen years of happy\nmarriage. We embrace our humanity here.<\/p>\n\n

We try to help a bunch of serious, overcommitted people rediscover fun. We\nhelp people create boundaries. We help them face their fears. Right after\nChristmas, I always do a sermon series on how to overcome depression or\ndifficulty. This year’s theme was “Growing beyond Future Fear.” The future\nfear for many is poverty. For others, it’s loneliness. So how do you get\nready for those things? Well, you develop a relationship with God and people\nnow.<\/p>\n\n

Another characteristic of health is being a “real life” church. A real-life\nchurch teaches the Bible in such a way that we equip people in their families,\nwork, and relationships.<\/p>\n\n

We exist to train people to live life effectively. If you approach church\nfrom that angle, then everybody—old Christians, new Christians, soon-to-be\nChristians—are going to benefit, because who doesn’t need to learn to live\nlife?<\/p>\n\n

Steve Sjogren is pastor of Vineyard Community Church in\nCincinnati, Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cause-Driven Church\nby Erwin McManus<\/h2>\n\n

The early church existed with a dynamic tension: it was both expanding and\nconsolidating—growing and unifying. The Bible tells us that first century\nbelievers “shared everything in common” and that “the church was being added\nto day by day.” We want our church to live in this same tension.<\/p>\n\n

This tension is illustrated by two biblical images—the body of Christ and\nthe army of God. The body of Christ is centered on community; the army of\nGod is centered on cause.<\/p>\n\n

Healthy community flows out of a unified cause—not the other way around.\nJesus called his disciples and said, “Follow me. I’ll make you fishers of\nmen.” This was not an offer of community. “Follow me and I will give you\nsomething worthy of giving your life to” is a statement of cause. But the\nneat thing is, when they came to the cause, they found community like they\nnever knew could exist. That’s the power of the church.<\/p>\n\n

One danger of the American church is that we often try to offer people community\nwithout cause. Without cause, you’re just another civic organization. You\ndon’t have life transformation.<\/p>\n\n

Jesus said, “I have come to the world to seek and to save that which is lost.”\nThe cause of Christ is accomplished by expanding the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n\n

Communicating the gospel in a postmodern context can make us feel forced\nto compete with the entertainment industry. You might be able to compete\nif you have millions of dollars and that level of expertise. Most of us don’t.\nWe have only one advantage that neither Hollywood nor mtv has. We have the\npresence and power of the living God!<\/p>\n\n

Why in the world would we eliminate God’s power from our core strategy and\nactually move to a deficit rather than to an advantage?<\/p>\n\n

Erwin McManus is pastor of The Church on Brady in Los Angeles,\nCalifornia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus’ Surprising Definition\nby Lee Eclov<\/h2>\n\n

In the second and third chapters of John’s Revelation, we find the letters\ndictated to the seven churches. Here, in a uniquely direct way, we have the\nLord’s assessment of health indicators for local congregations.<\/p>\n\n

What strikes me is that some of the usual indicators—evangelism, stewardship,\nchurch planting, attendance—are not evident. In a quick scan of these two\nchapters, the indicators that stand out are:<\/p>\n\n

\n

—holiness and dealing with sin.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

—endurance—being “overcomers.” The Lord praises churches that face corporate\nchallenges with vital faith. That’s an idea I hadn’t thought much about,\nbut churches do face difficult times—a rash of deaths or unemployment or\nnatural disaster.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

—confronting evil and heresy in the church.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

—exclusive love for Christ.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

—corporate growth in ministry—”you are doing more now than before.”<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

—love for one another. This is evident in the specifics of how the Christians\nare called to relate to each other—dealing with sin, earnestness of purpose,\netc.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

More careful study will probably refine this list considerably. Interacting\nwith a text like this would be an important exercise for church leaders seeking\nto discern the health of their congregations.<\/p>\n\n

Lee Eclov <\/strong>is pastor of Chippewa Evangelical Free Church\nin Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Health Checkup<\/strong>\nStephen Macchia, president of the Evangelistic Association of New England,\nworked with colleagues to develop ten telltale signs of church health:<\/p>\n\n

“A healthy church is prayerful in all of the following aspects of church\nlife and ministry, is reliant upon God’s power and the authority of his Word,\nand values …<\/p>\n\n

1<\/strong>. God-exalting worship.\n2<\/strong>. Gempowering presence.\n3<\/strong>. An outward focus.\n4<\/strong>. Servant-leadership development.\n5<\/strong>. Commitment to loving\/caring relationships.\n6<\/strong>. Learning and growing in community.\n7<\/strong>. Personal disciplines.\n8<\/strong>. Stewardship and generosity.\n9<\/strong>. Wise administration and accountability.\n10<\/strong>. Networking with the regional church.”<\/p>\n\n

(First of two parts; click here to read Part 2<\/strong><\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Copyright © 1997 by the author or Christianity Today\/Leadership<\/em> Journal. For reprint information call 630-260-6200\nor contact us<\/a>.\nSummer, Vol. XVIII, No. 3, Page 34<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your doctor says you’re healthy, no signs of disease; blood pressure and weight are within normal limits. The fitness instructor says you’re in terrible shape, resting pulse and body-fat percentage are way above normal; flexibility is poor, and you just flunked the treadmill test. If both can be right, what does it mean to be Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[1555,2277,2718,3083,3234],"tax_ctp_books":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[160],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[131],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[156],"tax_ctp_tags":[3445,3458,3609,3712,4652,5226,5242],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-14884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tax_ctp_authors-erwin-mcmanus","tax_ctp_authors-lee-eclov","tax_ctp_authors-ralph-w-neighbour-iii","tax_ctp_authors-steve-sjogren","tax_ctp_authors-tracy-keenan","tax_publications-leadership-journal","tax_ctp_tags-assessment","tax_ctp_tags-authenticity","tax_ctp_tags-church-growth","tax_ctp_tags-creativity","tax_ctp_tags-planning","tax_ctp_tags-values","tax_ctp_tags-vision"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"\nWhat Does a Healthy Church Look Like? 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