The Practices of a Healthy Church

Biblical Strategies for Vibrant Church Life and Ministry

Donald J. MacNair, Esther L. Meek

• Publisher: P Publishing
• Year: 1999
• ISBN:
  9781596386044
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Church

MacNair draws on decades of hands-on experience to answer that question. He gives both timeless principles and fresh insight into the priorities, practices, and strategies of vibrant, ministering churches.

Chapter 1 Church Health:
What It Is, Why It’s Important, How to Get It

Church Growth and Church Health

Many books have been published on church growth. With your mind’s eye, you can picture a bookstore shelf so labeled, filled with such books. If I could, I would like to designate a spot on the shelf just to the right, labeled “Church Health.” Perhaps this book you are holding today is one of only a few shelved there (more likely, you will have found this book in the “Church Growth” section!). But in the years to come, it would be best for books on church health to proliferate.

Right away let me assert that my championing of church health does not mean that I oppose church growth! We cannot take these two to be in conflict, by any means. The issue is, rather, one of focus.

In our American preoccupation with success, church growth is easily identified with increasing numbers of people sitting in the pews and participating in the programs. It would be a struggle to think otherwise!

But how can a Christian knock numerical growth? Presumably it indicates that people are turning to Christ, and certainly that is what churches want to see!

The sad reality, however, is that a church that focuses merely on numbers most likely will become an unhealthy church. When numbers rule, an organization feels justified in resorting to any means to increase them. This attitude prevails in many businesses, and employees have found their own job satisfaction decrease significantly. The comic strip Dilbert poignantly expresses this malaise.

A similar scenario can occur in a church. In fact, churches can feel pressured to “produce” in order to continue “selling their product,” in accordance with the prevailing societal mind-set. The problem for employees is that the overweening commitment to the bottom line discounts practically every other factor that makes for healthy, happy work experiences. The problem for churches is essentially the same, with the terms adjusted, and, unfortunately, with the stakes much higher. When a church is primarily committed to numerical growth, it easily accepts the lowest possible standards of commitment and a lifestyle that conforms to the world’s practices. The pursuit of spiritual maturity falls by the wayside.

If church growth is defined as an increase in the number of involved people, then church must be about much more than growth. In fairness, many people who discuss church growth declare that it means more than just increasing numbers. Yet the unhealthy focus persists. The problem may lie with our American mentality: it’s very difficult for us to avoid reducing the word growth to the word numbers. Pastors, elders, and members deeply involved with their local congregations, when talking shop with people similarly committed to other congregations, cannot resist the temptation to say something like: “Our church is growing; God is blessing us; our attendance is now up over 300!” Or people will (reluctantly) say: “Our attendance is falling off; we’re not growing; God is not blessing.”

For this and other reasons, I believe that the church should focus on health rather than growth. I am writing to persuade you to think in terms of health. I hope to show you the difference it will make as your congregation thinks this way, and I want to show you the how-tos of a healthy church.

You’ll soon find that a healthy church will grow. But growth must always be defined in terms of the maturing image of Christ in individual members as well as in the church body as a whole. You will also find that the growth of a healthy church will be natural, rather than artificially contrived. It will happen as the Holy Spirit works sovereignly—“as God causes it to grow” (Col. 2:19).

God’s Agenda Too!

The word health also more aptly expresses God’s own intention for the church. Using the metaphor of a bridegroom (Christ) and His bride (the church), the apostle Paul tells us: “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:25–27). The church’s goal is to “grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ,” says Paul elsewhere in the same letter, now using the metaphor of the head (Christ) and the body (the church) (Eph. 4:15). He also tells us that we were “predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son,” and that to this end “in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Rom. 8:28–29). Thus, “we proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me” (Col. 1:28–29).

These verses describe growth that is best defined as motion toward spiritual maturity, or Christlikeness. Individuals must be growing: believers must be moving toward spiritual maturity, and unbelievers (future believers!) must evidence movement toward embracing Christ. The body must also be growing: the church as a whole must conform more and more to the beautiful biblical metaphors of the bride and the body, and must also be extending to include new believers. To focus on this motion toward Christlikeness is to focus on health. What is more, it is both to obey God and to share His very own agenda. It is reasonable and right to expect that a church that adopts God’s agenda of health, and that strives to take seriously His own pattern for the church, will receive His blessing. It only makes sense to think that God will deem the biblically conformed church to be His most effective instrument to spread His kingdom.

A Church It’s Wonderful to Be a Part Of!

Focusing on health is not only important and obedient; it’s also beneficial! To focus on health is to focus on what is truly good, on what God Himself intended, for both individual believers and local bodies. To focus on health is to long for that motion toward godliness that characterizes both the believer and the seeker, and that characterizes both small and large churches. Individual spiritual growth is given primacy, because corporate growth, both quantitative and qualitative, springs from its soil. Outreach that focuses on health refuses to be satisfied with the mere presence of another physical body within the church doors (I exaggerate to point out the distinction!), but seeks to disciple, to teach Christ, to make righteousness attractive, at whatever point it finds the unbeliever. It leaves the outcomes to the Holy Spirit, while eagerly anticipating His working.

Imagine the changes that might occur in a workplace that consciously shifted its focus from the bottom line to customer service and employee satisfaction! Wouldn’t that office become a noticeably better place to work? Perhaps profits would increase less rapidly at the outset, but in the end profits might even increase more rapidly, because of happy, productive workers, customers who find they can rely on quality, and an increasingly good name for the company. It’s just as easy to imagine what a change in focus would mean for a church that has been driven by numbers. A church with members who are growing in the Lord and who have together come to anticipate joyfully God’s further blessing is just about the most attractive church you can imagine; it’s the one that will grow, and grow naturally.

On the other side, many churches have neither been driv-en by numbers nor done anything but maintain the status quo for years. For these churches, the biblical summons to health may come as an unwanted reveille. It may feel uncomfortable at first to begin to move toward health. No (self-initiated) change for the better can occur without dissatisfaction with the status quo, without the honesty to admit the need for change, without the courage to seek a better arrangement, and without the determination to accomplish it. All of these things require a tough-mindedness that rarely comes naturally—and that we initially resist! “Oh, how I hate to get up in the morning!”—no World War II veteran will forget Irving Berlin’s words!

But everybody who has ever experienced both the status quo (out of shape!) and good health would concur that the struggle was worth it, for health really feels much better. “No pain, no gain,” we say; it’s true of everything from organizing a closet to building a skyscraper, from physical health to church health.

The Analogy of Physical Health

Biblical church health is important, obedient, and beneficial. As I have indicated, the concept of health more aptly expresses our proper goal than does the concept of growth. I intend to devote this entire book to communicating the concept of church health.

We must begin by specifying what we mean by “health.” We can do this most easily by talking about physical health, and then drawing the analogy of a healthy church body. Also, I will then be able to express more concretely some of my claims about church health.

Physical health has several aspects, and we can use the word healthy to describe any one of them. Perhaps most basically, we identify health with what we call wellness. Wellness is an intangible quality, a feeling of well-being that is more than physical; it is what we treasure and pursue and count ourselves blessed if we have—“We’re fortunate to have our health,” we say. This is what doctors and hospitals nowadays present themselves as producing, but we know that neither they nor anything short of God Himself can guarantee wellness to anyone.

Wellness has its measurable aspects. We have the energy we need; we don’t catch colds very often; we have a good complexion; our clothes fit comfortably! Health is not simply an intangible; in fact, it would be hard to conceive of having the intangible in the absence of the concrete, and vice versa.

The fact that God alone can guarantee wellness doesn’t in the least mean that we can or ought to do nothing! One thing that doctors do is to look for evidences of health. They always take our pulse, our temperature, and our blood pressure. They talk of “vital signs,” data that indicate that we are healthy. The signs give the doctor basic information about our physical condition.

Then there are the things that we need to do in order to stay healthy. Eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, avoiding stress—we need to carry out these practices if we wish to maintain or improve wellness. And although these practices do not guarantee wellness, we reasonably conclude that a person who does them is a healthy person. In fact, because these practices represent the steps we can actively take in pursuit of health, we are justified in concentrating most of our attention on doing them better. And I probably don’t need to add that being faithful in these practices takes a great deal of perseverance!

Extending the picture further, we can say that physical health also involves some kind of standard or manual. Perhaps you want to look like a fashion model, or you want to have the strength of a certain athlete. Perhaps your doctor or hospital is sending you pamphlets to educate you concerning wellness and how to achieve it. Perhaps you’ve consulted a dietitian and received a specific diet plan. Perhaps your aerobics instructor stipulates a certain routine. All of these give us a sense of the goal and how to achieve it.

One last aspect: often there is a doctor, a nutritionist, or an exercise instructor—another human agent you employ to assess your health and guide and motivate you in improving it.

Wellness

You rightly surmise that every one of these aspects of physical health corresponds to something in the church body discussed in this book! Yes, ultimately the health of a local church lies in the hands of our sovereign Lord, as do all outcomes. It’s very, very important to realize this! It reminds us of our utter dependence on Him; it causes us to worship Him alone; it keeps us on our knees in prayer. It preserves a balanced perspective to remember that the church is both an organism and an organization. Organization refers to the concrete structures, procedures, rules of operation, and plans that make up a local church—the programs you can read about in the bulletin. It would be a grave mistake to identify the church with the organization, overlooking the essential intangible aspect without which it is not a church. The “organism” of the church is its life and ministry, God’s intang...

Table of contents

• Foreward
• Chapter 1 Church Health: What It Is, Why It’s Important, How to Get It
• Part II
• Part III
• Part IV