a The three marks of a healthy church that could use some work are a biblical
understanding of evangelism, church membership, and church leadership. Many
church members believe evangelism is the pastor's responsibility but in reality, all
Christians are called to evangelize the lost. Matthew 28:16-20 (ESV) teaches that
all believers should share the gospel of the good news of Jesus Christ. “Christians
should tell everyone the good news. And we should all evangelize. We should do
so with honesty, urgency, and joy, living a life that backs up our message — and
doing it all for the glory of God.”[1] The church in general has to do a better job of
embracing this biblical precept in all aspects of life, at home, in our communities,
and the workplace.
Church membership also needs to be taken more seriously. The majority of
church congregations do not serve the ministry or tithe to the church regularly.
These things are part of the responsibilities for the body of Christ and in the
modern church, they are severely neglected. “Church membership means being
incorporated in practical ways into the body of Christ. It means traveling together
as aliens and strangers in this world as we head to our heavenly home.”[2] a If
church members do not serve Christ as they should and do not reflect the
attributes of Christ then they will not have a positive impact evangelizing and
discipling others for Christ. Church leadership that reflects biblical precepts and
the love of Christ is essential for evangelism and discipleship, this type of
leadership needs to be demonstrated from top to bottom within the church. Church
members need to be ready to do their duty for Christ whenever an issue needs to
be addressed. “Paul appealed to these Galatian Christians and made it quite clear
that not only were they competent to sit in judgment of a message presented as
the gospel, but they were required to do so.”[3] Paul made this clear when
addressing many issues within the church including false teachings. Too often
many of these duties are seen as things the pastor or elders of the church should
handle but the church is called to carry each other’s burdens and travel together
towards heaven. Most churches could benefit from work in these three areas.
These three areas of ministry are areas that I need to work in and strive to be
better with in the future.
Bibliography
Dever, Mark. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Publishers,
2015.
[1] Mark Dever. a Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Wheaton, IL: Crossway
Publishers, 2015, 148.
[2] Dever. Healthy Church, 176.
[3] Ibid., 236.
