I agree that a big issue is the fact that we do not evangelize as we should, as we
have been shown to do through the book of Acts, Dever reminds us that it is God
who brings life, through his word, this is done through believers sharing the good
news of Jesus to the world as he commanded us through the great commission,
and planting that seed.[1] Your second point is just as important you stated that “It
is crucial that a church grows in its discipleship…This means a committed group
of Christians, committed to Christ, and submitting their lives to Him.” I often
wonder if pastors really know how to put this important part of the great
commission into practice, I do not remember any specific discipleship going on in
the church I grew up in, so I am not sure if it was a priority at that time. I do know
that I am not as involved in this area of being a healthy church as I should be. I
am working on that through my children and this class with the “I’m a Christian
now” class I am teaching in our children’s ministry. This may be something that all
churches could benefit from. I think that these groups could build from the bible
studies that have happened, as I believe that in order to build disciples that there
needs to be that relationship, just as with Paul and Timothy. Using the word healthy
to describe a church is a great thing because “it communicates the idea of a body that’s
living and growing as it should.”A healthy church “is characterized by having members
who are seriously concerned for their spiritual growth; they want to get better atfollowing
Jesus.”When disciple making is occurring within a church that is operating in unhealth,
there will be a level of unhealth at which their disciples are trained, and in which is
transferred to them. Within a healthy church disciples hear the gospel being proclaimed
by word,but they also see it being proclaimed in the way that people live. They are also
being shown whattheir spiritual gifts are and given opportunities to use them to further
the kingdom.Church, therefore, is ultimately about discipleship. There is an
importantrelationship between the church and discipleship that cannot go unnoticed. True
discipleship involves discovering what God’s will for self is and God’s will for the Body of
Christ – the church. This paper will focus on why a healthy church is the goal of
discipleship, three key areas that my church should focus on to stay healthy, and some
initial steps that my church could take to improve its spiritual health. You certainly hit
upon three of the most concerning issues for the modern church body. It seems
that I mention evangelism and discipleship, then define them carefully for people,
so much that I cannot possibly keep track. (The same is true for how much I note
the worried look on people’s faces in response. It bears a striking resemblance to
the “gamer” teen worried that a passer-by parent has an interrupting task for him.)
d d d d d d d d d d Mark Dever is not off-base where he expresses one of the quintessential
facts of the day asking, “It isn’t really kosher, is it, in these pluralistic times, to try
to get other people to change their beliefs and accept yours?”[1] I am certainly
glad that he wrote this book because he does a great job hitting all the bases and
the details (in this case, explaining that the “beliefs” are not actually ours but what
we simply repeat on behalf of our Lord, Christ).[2]
Moreover, the entire text fits well with others concerning such contemporary
liturgical issues. One such book I encountered had a profound effect on my
thinking. (I recall it just now.) It explains how Christians require spiritual
development just as children require social, physical, and emotional development.
In DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make
Disciples, Jim Putnam and Bobby Harrington, explain how a person can be a
spiritual infant, child, young adult, or parent.[3] Yet, all people begin as spiritually
dead—as we know. But key here is the realization that it does not matter what a
person’s chronological age is: they may still be a spiritual child![4] Thus, there is
little mystery as to how people who have occupied a pew for sometimes as much
as thirty years show little more accuracy about the Scriptures than they did on
their first day of membership. And—believe me—I see this all the time. Such
entitlement in the pew, solely based on longevity. It is a frightening thing to realize
how many people are going to perish and how many, many of them are in the
congregations right now! What is worse is that, despite their faithful presence, they
have shallow hope of hearing the Gospel there (cf. Rom. 4:3; Eph. 2:8-9; Jn. 3:7).
That is something with which I cannot abide!
[1] Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, 3rd ed. (Wheaton: Crossway,
2013), 119.
