There is a lot of discussion on how to grow a church. Just do a Google search for “Church Growth” and you will find thousands of resources for church growth strategies or principles. Now, I’m not opposed to growing churches. In fact, I think that most churches want to grow. After all, it only makes sense: larger attendance numbers equates to more people reached with the Gospel, right?
I agree that churches should grow. I’m just not convinced that larger equates to better. I’m also not convinced that attendance should be the only, or even the best, indicator of a healthy church. Sure, reaching more people with the message of Jesus is critical to the survival of the church. But reaching more people through an unhealthy church is not good. That would only add to the number of people who are unhealthy. We all recognize that not all growth(s) on (or in) your body are good. Even though growth is necessary for our survival. It’s not growth that is necessary. It’s healthy growth.
I think that we sometimes place too much emphasis on how large a church is and not how healthy it is. While I do believe it is possible for unhealthy churches to stimulate growth, I am convinced that a healthy church will grow almost automatically. How can you tell whether your church is healthy or not? Here are some things I think you should look for. These five things should give you an indication of the health of your church:
- Your church may not be healthy if you are seeing few salvations. The mission of the church is to “Go into all the world and make disciples”. If we’re not making disciples, the health of our church should be questioned. Few salvations could also be an indication that you are not attracting people outside your church.
- Little or no impact on your community. A question to ask yourself should be “If my church were to disappear tomorrow, would anyone in our community know that it was gone?” The answer to that question should be a resounding “YES!”. We are to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). If the salt remains in the salt shaker, how effective is the salt at flavoring food? Healthy churches will be impacting their community in noticeable ways.
- Prayer is not at the forefront of the ministry. If we think that we can accomplish the mission of the church without prayer, we are not a healthy church. I’m not talking about praying at home. I’m talking about not only times of corporate prayer but about an emphasis on prayer in the services. We should be encouraging our people to pray for their pastors, leaders, volunteers and their unsaved friends. In fact, I am convinced that a healthy church will not grow without an emphasis on prayer.
- Serving stems from a sense of duty and not from the realization that service is a basic characteristic of being a disciple of Jesus. I understand that EVERY church has a problem with having enough volunteers. I’m not talking about the quantity of volunteers here, but the quality. If your volunteers are constantly grumbling or complaining about serving, you may have an unhealthy church. Jesus served. Jesus taught that we are to serve. I have worked with churches where the volunteers have complained about not being able to be in the sanctuary enough or complained about the length of the service because it meant that they were stuck serving for over an hour. If your volunteers don’t understand the concept of service, it may be a sign that your church is unhealthy.
- No one is challenged to become better. In a healthy church, people are challenged to make changes in their lives to become more Christ-like. The old adage is true: “If you keep doing what you are doing, you will continue to get what you are getting”. In a healthy church, people should be challenged to make the necessary changes in their lives that will result in them becoming more like Christ. If the sermons are “feel good” messages and there is no clear path to discipleship, you may be part of an unhealthy church.
Of course, I could list several more. This is by no means an all-inclusive list. These are just some of the observations I have found to be true in my experience. What would you add to the list?
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