After reading Dever's 9 Marks of a Healthy Church, what 3 do you/your
church need to work on the most? Why? What steps could you/your church
take to implement those areas?
d d d d A brief background of my local church is necessary to partially
understand some of the perceived areas of the church that needs work. In
late 2014, our pastor announced that he made a personal decision to leave
our church after twenty-five years of faithful service. He felt that church
growth had become stagnant, and it was time for a change in church
leadership. After several months, a pastoral candidate was brought forth
before the congregation, and he presented his sermon. Afterward, the church
went into a conference meeting, which formally accepted the pastor and his
family. Most congregants understood that a change in church leadership
would entail changes in leadership style, priorities, etc.
d d d d The main area that needed to be worked on and steps
implemented for was church growth. Mark Dever wrote, “The New Testament
idea of growth involves not just more people, but people who are growing
up, maturing, and deepening in the faith. We read in Ephesians 4:15-16:
"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him
who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held
together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as
each part does its work."[1] My local church, at the time, was mostly
attended by senior citizens with little enthusiasm for change. They were
happy with the status quo and resisted change. If a new member or family
joined the church, it was by God’s blessing, not by church member
involvement. The church, in essence, was dying. A good effect of having a
new pastor is that the pastor will grow together with the church. Dever
writes that a pastor and church need to “increasingly work and pray
together, walk together, not forsake the assembling of ourselves, endeavor to
bring up those that the Lord gives us in his will and ways, rejoice and
sorrow with each other, seek to live carefully, work together in ministry,
contribute to the expenses, contribute to the needs of the gospel throughout
all nations….”[2] Church growth is not a pastoral concern only; it involves
every member and facet of the church. Several programs and opportunities
have arisen that have allowed the church to be more visible in the
community. A community outreach program has been implemented,
DivorceCare was started in 2017 to address the spiritual needs of the
community’s divorcees, the church sponsors and assists in the yearly railroad
festival, etc. Within the church, new Sunday School classes have been
implemented to address the needs of the students. All these programs and
resources have contributed to an increase in church growth. However, church
growth is an ongoing mission.
d d d d While church growth is on the uprise, there is a “problem”
with how church leadership is handled. Unbeknownst to the church, at the
time of the vote for accepting the pastor, he was trained in a church
organization where the senior pastor handled everything. There was no
delegation of responsibilities. This leadership style has caused some
members to feel negative towards the pastor and caused others to leave the
church. While it is not as big of a problem as in 2015, it is still present.
Mark Dever illustrates church leadership by discussing Matthew 18:15-17 and
Acts 6:2-5. In both biblical instances, it was the whole church involved in
leadership decisions. Concerning Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 18:15-17, Dever
states, “Notice to whom one finally appeals in such situations. What court
has the final word? It is not a bishop, a pope, or a presbytery; it is not an
assembly, a synod, a convention, or a conference. It is not even a pastor,
a board of elders, a board of deacons, or a church committee. It is, quite
simply, the church — that is, the assembly of those individual believers who
are the church.”[3] The apostle Paul expounded this ideal of church
leadership in 1 Corinthians 5:4-5 when he grew agitated with the church’s
lack of action. The point is that the pastor and the congregation had to
understand there are many spiritual gifts within the church’s body. Dever
states, “We need to trust that God gives particular people gifts to serve as
church leaders. We should therefore desire to see in our church the right
balance of authority and trust. It is a serious spiritual deficiency in a church
either to have leaders who are untrustworthy or to have members who are
incapable of trusting.”[4] It has taken several pastor/deacons scheduled and
emergency meetings to resolve the internal conflict created by the pastor’s
leadership style. I believe the pastor has good intentions but is leading in a
manner he was trained in. It is better now; however, he still displays a
reluctance to delegate authority at times. Just like church growth, his
evolving leadership style is ongoing.
d d d d Related to church growth and leadership is biblical discipline.
While my church has a covenant and bylaws that address when and how to
discipline a member, it does not address the character or conduct of a new
church member. Mark Dever writes, “when we're examining new members,
we have to consider whether those who are under consideration are known
to be living Christ-honoring lives. Do we understand the seriousness of the
commitment we are making to them when they join the church, and have
we communicated to them the seriousness of the commitment that they are
making to us? If we are more careful about how we recognize and receive
new members, we will have less occasion to practice corrective church
discipline later.”[5] Fortunately, other than a couple of recent incidents, my
local church has not had to deal with corrective discipline. Traditionally, my
local church has left it upon Sunday School teachers, sermons, and few
pastoral counseling sessions to engrain the Christian character in a convert.
However, this is unbeneficial to that person. I was recently tasked with
developing a new class that involves the changed nature of a person after
accepting Christ. Dever states, “ Jesus intended our lives to back up our
words. If our lives don't back up our words, the evangelistic task is injured,
as we have seen so terribly this last century in America. Undisciplined
churches have actually made it harder for people to hear the good news of
new life in Jesus Christ.”[6] When a new Christian can differentiate between
the Christian and worldview and incorporate Christianity into their public and
private life, their Christian life becomes a positive witness for the church.
d d d d d In conclusion, my local church is not perfect but has an
increasingly positive, healthy status. Some areas still need to be worked on;
however, those areas have been recognized and actions implemented. The
focal point of the church is to work together under the God-led leadership of
the pastor to promote Christianity throughout the community and beyond.
Bibliography
Dever, Mark. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, 3rd ed. Wheaton: Crossway,
2013.
d d d d
[1] Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, 3rd ed. (Wheaton:
Crossway, 2013), 213.
[2] Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, 3rd ed. (Wheaton:
Crossway, 2013), 223.
[3] Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, 3rd ed. (Wheaton:
Crossway, 2013), 233.
[4] Ibid., 238.
[5] Ibid., 184.
[6] Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, 3rd ed. (Wheaton:
Crossway, 2013), 191.
