Dever outlined the c nine characteristics of a healthy churches, providing the
readers with areas of focus that enables them to measure the health of their
church and to discern where there is room for growth. When considering the
various characteristics outlined three areas stand out as potential areas where
there is work needed to improve the health of my home church. Out of the nine
characteristics discussed it is apparent that my home church needs to improve in
expositional preaching, Biblical church discipline and evangelism.
Often ministry leaders seek to make the message relational and relevant, but in
doing this they lean more topical preacher, which is often indicative of the manner
in which my pastor presents hi sermon. This method is often geared towards being
pleasing to the ear of the congregation and often focuses less on exegeting the
text in a manner that is expositional (Dever, 42). In church today the only time
some in attendance hear the word of God is when sitting in the pews, c therefore it
is incumbent that the pastor focuses upon delivering the message in a manner that
is relational but scripturally based. c Staying in the scripture and using current day
analogies will present the word of God as Jesus presented the gospel and avoids
the possibility of making about the self rather God. This plays an integral part in
biblical church discipline.
Attending a church with well over three thousand members gives the false sense of
Christian discipleship. I believe this is an issue with my local church. c The pastor
has become so focused with getting people in the seat that sometimes ensuring
that your addressing the whole person and feeding the whole person with the word
of God is lost. If the church wants to grow disciples as the Great Commission
commands it is incumbent that they are selective in membership and the discipline
required of Christians (Dever, 184). In this vain the church needs to invest time and
efforts in determining their purpose and then seek to membership that fulfill the
purpose (Warren, 77). The lack of church discipline has a significant impact on the
churches ability to engage in evangelism.
Attending a church of more than three thousand members should have a high
participation in evangelism in and outside the walls of the church. c However, if you
are not training the congregation in a manner that is consistent with building
disciples then they lack the desire or skills to evangelize. As a person that served
the community often this ministry had less than thirty people that participated in
outreach, with a congregation of over three thousand, the disparity is a very
present representation of the lack of focus upon preaching the word outside the
four walls of the church. Spending time in Sunday morning worship training the
congregation in the importance of relationships in the church and in the community
to be considered good Christians will refocus the purpose of the church. The Great
Commission mandates that Christians go out and make disciples to grow the
kingdom, this is accomplished by developing a strong foundation in evangelism for
all not just ministry leaders.
References
Dever, Mark “Nine Marks of a Healthy Church”, Washington, DC, Crossway, 2013
Warren, Rick, “The Purpose Driven Church: Growth without compromising your
message and mission”, Grands Rapids, MI, Zondervan, 1995
