My church does a reasonably good job in addressing the nine marks of a healthy
church; however, there could be some improvement. a The three areas my church
can improve on are evangelism, church membership, and discipleship and growth.
Evangelism
Dever asserted that "one of the distinguishing marks of a healthy church is a
biblical understanding and practice of evangelism."[1] a He described evangelism
as sharing the good news. a He rightly pointed out that evangelism does not
include how the other person responds to the good news.[2] a Unfortunately, many
Christians do not share the gospel because they are fearful of being rejected.
They believe they are a failure if the person rejects the gospel. a While we have
some in my church that are gifted evangelist, many people do not feel comfortable
sharing their faith. a There are a plethora of reasons, but for many, it comes down
to fear ― fear of not knowing what to say and fear of rejection.
The one thing that my church could do to improve in this area is to provide more
discipleship. a Corporately, we can place more emphasis on evangelism and spend
more time in our classroom settings instructing and teaching evangelism. a We can
also include practical applications of evangelism as part of our biblical instruction. a
For instance, in-class instructions should be complemented with practical and real-
world community evangelism. a This would provide students an environment to
grasp what was instructed by actual doing. a Individually, those who have a better
understanding of evangelism can mentor others and demonstrate what and how to
evangelize. a Similar to how the apostle Paul mentored and instructed Timothy.
Dever is correct, "we don't fail in our evangelism if we faithfully present the gospel
and yet the person is not converted; we fail only if we don't faithfully present the
gospel at all."[3]
Membership
Church membership has always been one of the areas I believe my church needs
to address. a Dever contended that the church is a group of people committed to
Christ, to assemble and obey God's Word. [4] My church is a fair size church, and
like many churches, the number of people on the membership roster is far more
than those that attend church regularly. a Along the same lines, of the members
that do attend church, only a fraction of them actively participates in church
activities outside of Sunday service. I'm not sure how we got this way, and I know
there is no easy fix. a However, I believe it is vital for my church and others to start
to address this issue. a The problem can be complicated when lay members see
that some church leaders, i.e., elders, ministers, deacons, etc., do not consistently
support the church.
Dever mentioned that some churches required new members to sign a church
covenant that lists responsibilities such as attending services regularly and
giving.[5] I believe if my church should adopt a similar approach for everyone in a
ministry role. a In other words, we should require everyone in a ministry role to sign
a church covenant detailing expectations and their commitment. a Every year this
covenant should be reviewed and again signed. a Once the congregation sees
everyone in a ministry role actively supporting the church, they may be
encouraged to become active participants. a Over time, everyone on the
membership roster should be required to sign a church covenant annually. a I
realize this may offend some that have been inactive and inconsistent in
supporting the church, but on the other hand, I believe it will encourage everyone
that is committed to following Christ. a As Dever stated, if you are a church
member, the church should treat you as if you're converted.[6]
Discipleship and Growth
The third area I believe my church can improve on is discipleship. The dictionary
defines a disciple as "an adherent of a teacher that learned, studied, and passed
along what they learned to others."[7] a I believe only a small number of believers
truly understand the meaning of discipleship, and fewer realize that it is the
responsibility of all believers.
Like many churches, my church is much better at making converts than making
disciples. a I agree with Dever when he says that discipleship is an individual
project as well as a corporate activity to follow Christ and help others along the
way.[8] a Jesus commanded all believers to "Go … and make disciples of all the
nations" (Matt 28:19). [9] a However, somewhere over the years, the church has
lost its direction and has long neglected its mission of making disciples that make
disciples.
The church has a significant role in making disciples. Vajko contended that the
church is a living organism and is meant to generate life by reproducing
believers.[10] a Shirley argued that the primary responsibility for making disciples
belong to the local church, and in fact, the church is biblically ordained to make
disciples.[11] a Paul proclaimed, Christ "gave some to be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints
for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (Eph 4:11-13).
One consideration for improving discipleship is forming small groups. a Small
groups could host Bible study and provide a relational and safe environment for
asking and answering questions with the purpose of spiritual discipleship. We
should also assign our spiritually mature members to mentor and disciple less-
mature members.
[1] Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church 3rd ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway,
2013), 128.
[2] Ibid., 130.
[3] Ibid., 136.
[4] Ibid., 157.
[5] Ibid., 172-173.
[6] Ibid., 174.
[7] Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, s.v. “disciple”.
[8] Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, 169.
[9] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New King
James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
[10] Robert J. Vajko, "The Transformation of Society by Planting New Churches,"
Ogbomoso Journal of Theology 16, no. 3 (2011): 100.
[11] Chris Shirley, "It Takes a Church to Make a Disciple: An Integrative Model of
Discipleship for the Local Church," Southwestern Journal of Theology 50, no. 2
(2008): 208.
