Can you feel the changing landscape of our current culture?
Our prayer is that the church (the body of Christ) is getting stronger through intentional change and becoming more mature rather than being swayed by the ever-shifting winds of culture.
As a church leader I’ll admit that it’s not so easy. The line between connecting with the culture and conforming to current culture is a thin one. The intersection of truth and grace guides our path.
It’s not an “us and them” thing, it certainly wasn’t for Jesus, but He knew the difference between truth and grace and how they were designed to intersect. The line between truth and grace is easily blurred if we don’t know how they work together.
What is the primary mission we are all working toward as we pursuit God’s purposes and champion His Kingdom?
Reaching more people for Jesus and strengthening the body of Christ.
Both are important. The book of Acts repeatedly reports multiple versions of “and the Lord added to their number.” Maturing in faith is also an obvious biblical theme.
There are so many things that keep us busy and can distract us from that mission. What are the core indicators that help us continue to lead in the right direction even when the wind may be blowing against us.
7 Core Indicators of Church Health:
1) Spiritual intensity that leads to relational intimacy with God.
Intensity is a word that describes focus. It’s easy to become so distracted in the busyness of ministry that our spiritual intensity toward God grows cool.
Casual spirituality doesn’t move the church forward; it just keeps us busy.
Focus on the other hand is like holding a magnifying glass under the sun, that light and heat is intensified and can create a small flame that is ready to grow.
As leaders, if we are casual in our pursuit of God, our churches will be casual. If we are passionate, we create a small flame that with the favor of God can grow into something that changes the community.
This focused passion manifests itself primarily in three practical areas; prayer, evangelism, and worship. When the spiritual intensity is robust, these three things find a natural, fresh, and enthusiastic expression in your church.
- Prayer takes on a level of anticipation that expects to see God move
- Evangelism becomes a natural part of people’s lifestyle
- Authentic engagement in worship happens that is alive and natural
Casual spirituality doesn’t move the church forward; it just keeps us busy. Click & Tweet!
2) Vibrancy and stability are clearly part of your overall church culture
Is there a vibrant nature within your church culture that draws people in and a stability that encourages them to return?
- What are the characteristics of your church that cause people to want to come back?
- What do people genuinely love about your church?
- In what ways does your congregation reflect the life and love of Jesus?
These are important questions to be asked regularly, and they reveal the best and most positive traits of your church culture to be developed.
Don’t put pressure on yourself to copy the culture of another church; just be the best version of the church God designed you to be.
It is good to replicate certain ministry methods that you learn from other churches, that’s one way the body of Christ helps each other, but the bottom line is to simply be the best version of you.
Pour primary energy into the development of an uplifting, encouraging, and forward-moving culture so that you can maximize your Kingdom potential in a healthy environment.
It’s often been said that culture eats vision for breakfast, it’s also true that your culture trumps ministry programming, financial stability, and even the strength of your staff.
Sadly, too many churches possess an ingrown, stagnant, or unfriendly culture that poisons health and repels people. Especially new guests.
If any of this might be true for your church, invest maximum effort and energy along with prayer to change the culture before attempting to improve your ministries or make progress with your mission.
3) High morale, unity and purity are evident among your church staff.
Whether your staff is small or large, the morale and character of the team truly matters.
Morale is contagious, and the morale of your staff always finds its way into the congregation. If the staff is healthy, you dramatically increase the likelihood that your congregation will share those healthy characteristics.
Characteristics such as self-awareness, humility, commitment, sense of humor, resilience, integrity and dependance on Jesus.
Virtues such as these go a long way as you strive for a healthy church environment, but they also do not happen by accident. They require consistent development by leaders who are good coaches.
Morale and character do not increase with low standards and relaxed goals. In fact, successful teams set the bar high and insist on excellence.
4) Innovative attention to your ministries to keep them fresh and working
Staying current, relevant, and practical in ministry is an essential part of a healthy church.
Innovation leads the way with the “new and improved” in your ministries. As current culture shifts, ministry must make adjustments to remain relevant.
Innovation is not about change for the sake of change; it’s about what works and what doesn’t work.
Don’t defend ministries that worked at one time but are no longer effective. Figure out what is needed to reach people far from God and what they need to grow spiritually.
Be willing to let go of pet ministries and special projects that don’t work but are protected by a few well-meaning members who like them.
Keep your list of ministries short and focused. It’s far better to do a few things well than many ministries poorly.
The gospel remains the same, but our methods change.
5) Believers are listening to God, growing in faith, and reflecting Jesus to others.
- Interest in spirituality is high within current culture, but they don’t know who God is.
- People do pray but they are not sure it works.
- No one questions the reality of evil in the world, but in many cases, they do not know how to think or what to do about it.
One of the most incredible opportunities we have as spiritual leaders is to help people find their way to God as they seek answers in a confusing world.
Growing in faith is a life-long journey, it’s messy, and none of us ever fully arrive, but it’s our biblical responsibility to do everything we can to help people mature in their relationship with Jesus.
To help you assess growing spiritual maturity, look for:
- The fruit of the Spirit
- Increased prayer life
- Serving others with joy
- Stories of life change
Encourage and equip people so they can serve and invest in others!
6) A consistent flow of stories about life change
Life transformation through Christ is why we do what we do.
Stories of changed lives are one of the best ways to assess the health of your church. How often do you tell stories of a transformed life?
For example, stories about salvation, marriages restored, addictions conquered, and sickness healed.
Look for, capture, and tell these stories.
One good idea is to capture the story through video and incorporate it into a Sunday worship service. You can also weave stories into your Sunday message, tell them at staff meetings, small groups, and on social media.
These stories are an incredible encouragement to others. It helps them believe it’s possible for them too!
7) Developing new leaders who rise in spiritual influence
Next to the favor of God, everything rises and falls on leadership; therefore new and increasingly capable leaders are essential to a healthy church.
If you are in a smaller church, don’t become overwhelmed by the need for more leaders.
Ask God to help you find one more leader! Then invest yourself in that person, teaching them what you know about how to lead in ministry. Never underestimate the impact of raising up one more leader. One more true leader can change your church!
If you are in a larger church, you have potential leaders. What is your plan to raise them up to become effective in ministry? An intentional plan for leadership development is essential for a healthy and growing church.
Never underestimate the impact of raising up one more leader. Click & Tweet!
