d 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] d 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. d Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Wheaton, IL: Crossway
Publishers, 2015, 148.
[2] Dever. Healthy Church, 176.
[3] Ibid., 236.
