What Makes a Church Healthy?

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Episode visitor: Mark Dever

Mark Dever is the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, the place he has served for 30 years. As well as, he serves because the president emeritus of 9Marks and has authored numerous books, together with 9 Marks of a Wholesome Church. He and his spouse, Connie, have two grownup kids.

Episode synopsis

What defines a wholesome church?

On the coronary heart of this dialog is the query: What makes a healthy church? Mark Dever’s reply is theologically wealthy and traditionally grounded. A wholesome church, he says, is one which displays the glory of God by way of a transparent presentation of the gospel, each in Phrase and in deed. Mark observes that an important marks of a wholesome church are these which true church buildings maintain in frequent.

Traditionally, a “true” church has been understood to be marked by:

The preaching of the Phrase of God
Proper administration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper
The train of church self-discipline

Because the Belgic Confession declares,

The marks by which the true Church is thought are these: If the pure doctrine of the gospel is preached therein; if it maintains the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ; if church self-discipline is exercised in chastening of sin; briefly, if all issues are managed in line with the pure Phrase of God, all issues opposite thereto rejected, and Jesus Christ acknowledged as the one Head of the Church. Hereby the true Church might actually be identified. (Article 29)

From these commitments circulation different necessary traits, like significant church membership, sound conversion, discipleship, prayerfulness, and gospel-driven mission.

Recovering the centrality of Scripture within the church

When requested, Mark means that the largest blind spot within the up to date church is a poor understanding of the authority and function of Scripture. Many church buildings, he warns, function on assumptions from cultural norms or felt wants, quite than evaluating these assumptions based mostly on Scripture. Consequently, what appears self-evident or pragmatically efficient typically trumps what God has revealed.

One method to right this error, Mark argues, is to re-center church buildings on expository preaching, whereby the message of the sermon is pushed by and tethered to the message of the textual content itself. In response to Mark, expository preaching serves as the first driver of church life and well being. With out Scripture, church buildings drift into consumerism or self-styled Christianity.

The Bible’s priorities for the church vs. ours

Mark cautions in opposition to evaluating church buildings based mostly on demographic-based applications or affinity teams (e.g., youth ministries, hobby-based teams, and many others.). Whereas these might not be inherently unhealthy, they need to not exchange the biblical blueprint for the church.

Crucial qualities of a church will not be the issues that make it distinctive or fashionable, however the issues it shares with each trustworthy church all through historical past: the preaching of God’s Phrase and the appropriate use of the ordinances.

This understanding of the church additionally shapes how Christians select an area church. Reasonably than prioritizing private consolation, applications, or social match, believers ought to ask:

Does this church preach the Bible clearly and faithfully?
Is the gospel central to its educating?
Are the members’ lives being shaped by sound doctrine and wealthy group?

As Kirk provides, we shouldn’t simply search church buildings based mostly on what make us really feel good, however based mostly on what’s going to problem and form us. In actual fact, discomfort is commonly a way of grace—particularly after we’re stretched by generational, ethnic, or persona variety throughout the physique of Christ. Church isn’t about comfort, it’s about conformity to Christ.

The hazards of assuming conversion

One of many largest threats to church well being, in line with Mark, is an informal or unclear method to conversion—taking without any consideration or assuming too rapidly that somebody is a Christian and has actually embraced the gospel. As an alternative, church buildings have to be crystal clear on:

What the gospel message truly is (i.e., what God has executed to avoid wasting us)
What it means to be transformed (i.e., what it means to repent and believe in that gospel)

If conversion is misunderstood, every part downstream—discipleship, membership, management, mission—will inevitably grow to be distorted and church well being inconceivable. Church buildings are gospel communities. If the gospel is misunderstood, conversion is misunderstood—and if conversion is misunderstood, the church’s id is compromised.

When conversion turns into blurry, so do the boundaries of the church. This proves harmful to the lives of people, but in addition to the witness and integrity of the church as an entire. In distinction, correct use of church membership, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and church self-discipline all serve to visibly mark out the people of God.

Nominal Christianity seeks minimal alignment to the claims of Christianity however with out real discipleship. As an alternative, church buildings should lovingly assist individuals see what it actually means to know and observe Jesus.

Contextualization & the significance of sustaining the true gospel

Mark emphasizes that evangelism should provide the precise gospel—not a gross sales pitch for ethical enchancment or life enhancement. In Mark’s opinion, many seeker-sensitive approaches dilute the message to enchantment to common needs (e.g., “Would you like function?”), which may obscure the true gospel’s centered on the necessity for Christ’s sin-atoning death and its name to repent and consider.

Though we need to contextualize (or apply) the gospel to our specific setting, Mark warns in opposition to buying and selling readability for cultural palatability. We should always ask: Are we actually presenting Jesus as Scripture presents him? Contextualization is nice and mandatory, nevertheless it ought to by no means end in altering the message. Good contextualization diagnoses what the tradition wants after which presents the gospel because the true answer.

In actual fact, as Kirk observes, the perfect contextualization won’t solely determine connection factors but in addition contrasts with tradition. Too typically we confuse contextualization with cultural fawning. In distinction, even the perfect entrepreneurs don’t merely replicate the place persons are: They level them towards the place they really have to go and supply an genuine, uncompromised answer to get them there.

Church well being is just not about strategies or traits

A lot of the present discourse round church well being—particularly in books, conferences, and social media—focuses on applications, progress methods, and branding methods. Mark pushes again in opposition to this, calling us as a substitute to take care of the important components present in Scripture. Contextualization occurs naturally as church buildings stay out these truths faithfully of their specific tradition.

Reasonably than innovate, church buildings ought to get well and recommit to what God has already mentioned. The perfect blueprint for church well being is just not discovered within the newest finest vendor or demographic examine. The perfect methods aren’t Mark’s or Kirk’s or anybody else’s. They’re God’s. God has already offered his personal blueprint for the church. Our job is to take care of it, not invent our personal.

The function of church polity in a church’s well being

Kirk invitations Mark to weigh in on church polity—how the church is ruled—and its relation to church well being.

Whereas many see particular types of polity as negotiable, Mark argues that the Bible supplies a particular method to church authorities that we must observe. Though Scripture doesn’t spell out each element (like service occasions), Mark believes it nonetheless clearly teaches:

The character of the church’s offices (elders, deacons): Elders present shepherding and management (1 Tim 3:1–7); deacons serve sensible wants (1 Tim 3:8–13).
Congregational authority: Each Christian has a job in upholding the gospel, not simply pastors (see e.g., Galatians, 1 Corinthians), and congregations must take responsibility for dealing with sin inside its group (e.g., Matt 18:15–20; 1 Cor 5).

Whereas good polity can’t guarantee health (no polity makes a church immune from the damaging results of sin), it nonetheless supplies the God-designed construction, group, and accountability for a church to thrive. In response to Mark, dismissing the Bible’s prescribed polity in favor of self-made business-style governance undermines the church’s long-term well being.

An underrated ingredient: prayerful catholicity

Requested about probably the most underrated contributor to church well being, Mark solutions: prayer. Church buildings typically neglect company and personal prayer, regardless that the church’s work is determined by God. To this finish, Mark prays by way of his church’s membership listing often and encourages members to do the identical.

Moreover, a wholesome church is marked by a spirit of catholicity (common fellowship). Because it prayers for God to work, it prays not just for itself however for progress amongst different gospel-preaching church buildings. Mark asks: If revival broke out at one other church in your city, would you rejoice or really feel jealous? If the latter, maybe your prayers had been actually about your success, not God’s glory. Our church’s prayers must replicate, not a spirit of competitors, however “your kingdom come” within the lives of all God’s individuals.

Conclusion

In the long run, the well being of a church is just not measured by its attendance numbers, cultural savvy, or enticing applications, however by its faithfulness to the Phrase of God and the gospel.

As Mark reminds us, the church’s id and mission will not be up for reinvention—they’ve been revealed. The decision is to not chase relevance or mimic worldly success, however to be a trustworthy outpost of God’s kingdom, marked by fact, holiness, and love. The gospel doesn’t should be rebranded; it must be clearly preached, rightly believed, and visibly embodied within the lifetime of the church.

A very wholesome church is just not one which displays the most recent traits, however one which displays the timeless glory of God in Christ.