My church does a reasonably good job in addressing the nine marks of a
healthy church; however, there could be some improvement. d 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] d He described
evangelism as sharing the good news. d He rightly pointed out that
evangelism does not include how the other person responds to the good
news.[2] d 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. While we have some in my church that are
gifted evangelist, many people do not feel comfortable sharing their faith. d
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. d Corporately, we can place more emphasis on evangelism
and spend more time in our classroom settings instructing and teaching
evangelism. d We can also include practical applications of evangelism as
part of our biblical instruction. d For instance, in-class instructions should be
complemented with practical and real-world community evangelism. d This
would provide students an environment to grasp what was instructed by
actual doing. d Individually, those who have a better understanding of
evangelism can mentor others and demonstrate what and how to evangelize.
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. d 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. d
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. d
However, I believe it is vital for my church and others to start to address
this issue. d 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. d In other words, we should require everyone in
a ministry role to sign a church covenant detailing expectations and their
commitment. d Every year this covenant should be reviewed and again
signed. d Once the congregation sees everyone in a ministry role actively
supporting the church, they may be encouraged to become active
participants. d Over time, everyone on the membership roster should be
required to sign a church covenant annually. d 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. d 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] d 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. d 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] d Jesus commanded all believers to "Go … and
make disciples of all the nations" (Matt 28:19). [9] d 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] d 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] d 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. d 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.
