LIBERTY UNIVERSITY ONLINE
HEALTHY CHURCH
Submitted to Professor Geukgeuzian
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
Discipleship Ministries 500
By
Emma Conard
11/18/2020
Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................2
The Body of Christ.........................................................................................................................2
Personal Ministry Assessment......................................................................................................3
Role of the Church.........................................................................................................................5
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................5
Bibliography...................................................................................................................................7
1
Introduction
There are many differences today from the modern church and the Church we read about
in Scripture. In a culture where personal preferences reign king, many churches are measured
against a scale of personal preferences or ideals over being measured against Scripture when
determining health. Christ expected the Church to produce disciples and leaders, and yet we are
more concerned about what and who is coming through our doors instead of mobilizing our
people to be sent out.
The Body of Christ
When defining the “body of Christ”, the Scripture that comes to mind is 1 Corinthians 12,
where Paul writes that there are many parts, but one body 1. Many people also consider the
Church to be a form of the body of Christ. Harper’s Bible Dictionary defines the Church as, “an
assembly of citizens called out”2. This is where believers can be developed to contribute and
grow the body. The body of Christ, or Church, is not made up of one “type” of believer. There
is a combination of nationalities, personalities, socioeconomic classes, giftings, and languages
represented. Many of these people need counterparts in faith to really grow; a teacher needs a
student, and a new mother needs a seasoned parent to learn from. Likewise, the body is made up
of contrasting and differing types of people and lifestyles so that the body can be as strong and
lasting as possible.
1 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. Holy Bible, NIV.
2 Miller, Madeleine S, and J Lane Miller. Harper's Bible Dictionary. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Harper &
Brothers, 1955.
2
The body of Christ has one mission: to make disciples of all nations for Christ 3. Many
churches have different techniques and styles to accomplish that mission. The TAHO Chart
classifies four types of ministries: traditional, attractional, hybrid, and organic. Traditional
models of ministries have characteristics such as limiting growth to Sunday morning, having
limited staff, and being resistant to change. Attractional models of ministry can be seen as
consumer attitudes, additional multiplication, and the attitude of meeting personal needs. Hybrid
models mix the former two types of ministries and change is tolerated but not well received.
Organic ministries equip leaders, are very missional, and are involved and active in the
community. The largest distinguisher between each type is their “growth engine” or the factor
against which success is measured in the church. Traditional churches focus on maintenance and
survival, attractional churches focus on evangelism, hybrid churches focus on activity, and
organic churches focus on missional discipleship. After evaluating the TAHO chart and my own
church, we fell most into the Organic style of ministry, with attractional one step behind, and
hybrid one step behind that. We related to almost none of the descriptors of the traditional
ministries.
Personal Ministry Assessment
The personal ministry assesment focued on three distinct areas: in, out, and up. After
evaulating my church, I determined we were strongest in loving up, then in, and lastly, out.
Gratefully, this has been an ongoing and recent conversation within staff, so changes are already
being made to address the lacking areas.
For example, to address the issue of not focusing on loving out, our church has comitted
that in 2021, a portion of every dollar we recieve through tithes and addtional giving will first be
3 Matthew 28:16-20. Holy Bible, NIV.
3
poured out to our missionaries and other outreach programs. Much like we ask our people to
tithe their first 10 percent, this is our way of giving back what has so generously been given to
us. Additionally, to raise awareness for where this extra portion of money will be going, we
recently assembled an Outreach installation in our lobby to educate and encourage our people.
Secondly, I identified the area of loving in as our second strongest area. While comitted
members of our church are part of a vibrant community, people who are not fully comitted to our
church are not pursued in the same way. Even connecting these people to serving or groups can
sometimes not be enough for them to feel included. We have taken steps as a church to bridge
the gap between new volunteers and new members to groups, to hopefully ease the transition for
these newcomers. For example, if someone wants to find community by serving for the first
time, we now have them partner with and shadow an experienced leader so that they can become
more adjusted to the team and have a mentor to follow.
The area my church is strongest in is loving up. Our church practices spontaneous
baptism and we see several new believers accept salvation and get baptized every week. We also
see people spontaneously giving words and visions to the church through obedience to the
Spirit’s calling every week. We have intentionally shortened the preaching time so that we can
allow for this obedience. While we have not diminished or washed down the preaching because
we have given it less time, since we still recognize the importance of teaching, we also wanted to
intentionally create a space for people to share their testimonies, cast vision, pray for others, and
excersize obedience because that is where true growth happens.
4
Role of the Church
The role of the church is undeniably significant in God’s plan to make disciples. The
Church, His Bride, is the main vessel in which the gospel will be carried out to all nations. Many
churches today heavily emphasize “good music”, age-specific ministry groups, and even food
served after service for “fellowship”. These areas might be effective in attracting guests,
however, how many of these same churches emphasize even greater a spiritual pathway of
growth that moves people towards discipleship? Many traditional churches admit to not even
being prepared for new guests, and therefore do not train their members to disciple and “go out”
even within the safe confines of their own building 4. Imagine these people making disiciples as
Jesus did, going from town to town and boldly speaking to thousands. If this is what Jesus
modeled, could we imagine that this is probably what he intended for us to do?
Every church can be compared to one of two bodies of water: the Jordan River and the
Dead Sea. The Jordan River is an active body of water, constantly flowing from north to south,
whereas the Dead Sea has no outlets 5. Are we internally focused or evangelistically minded?
We must continue to evaluate whether our church exists to please God or please people, whether
God is leading the church, or we are 6.
Conclusion
A healthy church is one that focuses on discipleship over preferences. No team puts up
with players who don’t contribute, yet we are recruiting people to our “teams”, or churches,
rather than sending them out and encouraging them to contribute to multiplying and replicating
4 Rainer, Thom S. Becoming a Welcoming Church. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2018.
5 Gallaty, Robby. Growing Up. Nashville, TN, n.d.
6 Chan, Francis. Letters to the Church. England: David C Cook, 2018.
5
discipleship in the community or the world. Many churches boast of those who sit under their
care, but what if we became a generation who boasted about who was sent out from our care?
It’s a sign of a healthy family if the children can maturely leave the home and replicate their own
family, so let us model this in our own spiritual church families.
6
Bibliography
Chan, Francis. Letters to the Church. England: David C Cook, 2018.
Gallaty, Robby. Growing Up. Nashville, TN, n.d.
Holy Bible, NIV.
Miller, Madeleine S, and J Lane Miller. Harper's Bible Dictionary. 3rd ed. New York, NY:
Harper & Brothers, 1955.
Rainer, Thom S. Becoming a Welcoming Church. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2018.
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