Healthy Churches and The Value of Associating with Others

Signs of a Healthy Church

Faithfulness grows from an encouraging association with the community of faith.

George Guthrie

1. Biblical Evangelism

The New King James Version Chapter 10

14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,

Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

There’s a young man at my church back in the United States. His name is Adam. Adam has a mental condition called Fragile X. Every Sunday morning when I walk in he he says “Jeff Kinder your beautiful!”

The word “church” comes from a Greek word that means “an assembly of called-out ones.” It denotes that before a church can ever actually gather, the people must first hear the call to do so. As Paul questioned in Romans 10:14–15, “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” Churches are built through the fervent, faithful proclamation of Christ and him crucified. Therefore, it’s the responsibility of the local church to be a mouthpiece of Christ, calling all who would come to repentance and new life. But the new believer’s walk doesn’t end when they answer the call. Indeed, it has only just begun.

2. Biblical Discipleship

The New King James Version Chapter 28

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

The Great Commission

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

According to Matthew 28:16–20, the command to “make disciples of all nations” is qualified by two activities: “baptizing them” and “teaching them to obey.” Once a believer has declared allegiance to Christ through baptism, it’s the responsibility of the local church to be the place where they can learn obedience to Christ’s commands. A healthy church is a group of people intentionally living out the timeless, universal truths of the gospel within the context of a finite, local community.

3. Biblical Membership

The New King James Version Chapter 12

12 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: 2 You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

Unity and Diversity in One Body

12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.

15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be?

20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24 but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.

Almost every time the word “ecclesia” (church as defined above) appears in the New Testament, it refers to a particular gathering of Christians in a particular place. It’s used to describe people who know one another and share their very lives. They realize and celebrate that they are a part of something larger: the universal church that is united across all space and time. But membership in that body is undergirded by an identifiable, local membership, with clear qualifications and expectations for how they should love and serve one another and engage in God’s mission together. Each member is both called and equipped to serve the others (1 Cor. 12), with a diverse array of gifts and abilities coming together to form a cooperative whole.

4. Biblical Leadership

The New King James Version Chapter 3

3 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); 6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

One of the many gifts of the Holy Spirit is that of leadership. No church can experience health without the leadership of the pastors that Paul described in passages like 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Such leaders are never meant to be tyrants but rather shepherds, laboring “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ”

The New King James Version Chapter 4

12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ

(Eph. 4:12). Church members who are gifted and called to serve as leaders have the responsibility of equipping their fellow members with what they need in order to be who Christ called them to be. The calling of a pastor or elder is a challenging one, but that doesn’t mean the list of competencies is unattainable. 

5. Biblical Teaching and Preaching

Faithful, biblical teaching is the means by which Jesus leads his church. Individual Bible study is essential, but it isn’t sufficient. Healthy churches regularly set aside time to listen to their pastors and teachers carefully interpret and apply the Word of God to every area of life. Sound, biblical interpretation requires much time, effort, study, and training, so church leaders need to be equipped accordingly. When healthy churches gather together, they come expecting to hear God speak in both the sermon and the service.

6. Biblical Ordinances

Healthy churches regularly observe believer’s baptism and the Lord’s Supper as a part of their worship services. Both are designed to declare and affirm our commitment to Christ and his body. Some churches share the Lord’s Supper each week, and others share it each month. Some churches have baptistery, others have bathtubs. There is freedom of expression as long as they are practiced in accordance with Scripture and within the context of biblical worship.

7. Biblical Worship

The local churches come together to exalt God, sing, share testimonies of God’s grace, spur one another on toward Christ and his Word, and send one another out into service. As long as its members are following the Bible’s instructions for worship

The New King James Version Chapter 14

26 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. 30 But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. 32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. 33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

34 Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. 35 And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.

36 Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached? 37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. 38 But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.

39 Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. 40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

(1 Cor. 11, 1 Cor. 14, etc.), a healthy church is free to enjoy a wide range of variety, diversity, and creativity in their worship together.

8. Biblical Prayer

The New King James Version Chapter 2

42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Every major advance of the gospel in the book of Acts comes about as a response to the people of God praying together. If we desire the same, then like the early church, we must devote ourselves to prayer (Acts 2:42), regularly joining with one another with both dedication to and desperation for communion with God. And just like Bible study, private prayer is essential but insufficient. A healthy church not only prays but prays with one another.

9. Biblical Fellowship

The New King James Version Chapter 10

25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Fellowship described in the Bible encapsulates all its “one anothers:” love, serve, care, teach, serve, admonish, exalt, build up, and bear with one another. Biblical fellowship is about sharing our lives with fellow church members, allowing the simplest and the deepest aspects of our days to become entwined. No one is intended to live the Christian life in isolation, and the lone Christian is just as likely to wither in loneliness as they are to stumble into disobedience.

10. Biblical Accountability and Discipline

The New King James Version Chapter 18

15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Just as we need fellowship to spur us on to obedience, we need accountability to call us back from sin. Healthy churches must be places where the young in faith can be lovingly enlightened and where the disobedient can be gently rebuked in a manner consistent with the attitude and the process described by Christ in Matthew 18:15–20.

11. Biblical Giving

The New King James Version Chapter 16

16 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: 2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. 3 And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. 4 But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me.

Healthy churches are financially self-sustaining or at least moving in that direction. More importantly, though, healthy churches make generous giving to the cause of the gospel a regular corporate practice, as described in 1 Corinthians 16:1–4. And that generosity shouldn’t be confined to our finances. The desire to see the gospel change others’ lives should characterize every facet of our own.

12. Biblical Mission

The New King James Version Chapter 16

15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature

Congregations must be actively engaged in making disciples locally and globally. Every member is a disciple maker in the world, and healthy churches are both organized and administered in such a way that members are motivated, trained, and equipped to make disciples in whatever context God places them.

A healthy church, by its very definition, will create other healthy churches.

It’s why we’re here. You are probably helping us more than we are helping you. Our churches have been praying for you for months that you would receive from us what God would have you to learn. Our churches have gave financially for us to be here and for us to bless you while we are here. So I personally want to say thank for allowing us to come but also for allowing are churches to become healthier for us being here.

THANK YOU!!!