Seven Qualities of a Spiritually Healthy Church

by Rev. Jeremiah Cheung

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About 10 years ago, Rick Warren said, “The focus for the 21st century church is not church growth, but church health.” When the church is healthy, the church will naturally grow. What then is a healthy church? Let me share with you seven qualities of a spiritually healthy church, that we may pursue them together:

I. A Healthy Church Must Possess Jesus’ Heart of Love

Every church must have a vision. Almost every church has its own mission statement, but not every church has a vision of Jesus’ heart. When we talk about church growth, it is usually about the `abc’, that is attendance, building, and cash. Of course, there is nothing wrong with these. It is good when attendance increases, when the church building expands, when the facilities improve, or when cash increases. But these are the results of a healthy church, not its goals. If we only pursue success, we will be in danger of falling into the prosperity gospel trap. The prosperity gospel says that when God blesses you, you will succeed, you can never fail. Is this true? When the church does not have abc, when the attendance doesn’t increase, there is no building expansions, and no cash, does that mean the church is not being blessed?

The founder of World Vision once said, “Let the things that break God’s heart, break our hearts too.” Because he had the heart of Christ, World Vision continues to this day. Hudson Taylor was the founder of the China Inland Mission. Not only did he himself enter China as a missionary, he also sent many missionaries into China. One time, two men wanted to apply as missionaries to China, Hudson Taylor asked them: Why do you want to go to China? The first man said: Because there is a great need in China for the Gospel. The second man replied: Because this is the Lord’s command. Both men had very good answers, but Hudson Taylor said: That is not enough. The most important reason for going in is not because there is a need, for there are countless needs in this world. Neither should you go in because it is a commandment of the Lord, because obedience to a command comes out of fear and duty. The most important reason should be the love of Christ. Without the heart of Christ, you cannot remain long in China.

O Church! Do you love the Lord? If the church does not love the Lord, yet its attendance increases, its building expands, and its cash increases, the church will only become arrogant; and in the end, fighting and division will happen. Haven’t we seen enough of such incidents in the Philippines? Church, we must have Jesus’ heart of love.

II. A Healthy Church Must Preach the Old Gospel

Recently, I attended the 6th CCOWE Leadership Conference with some co-workers. I preached a message on: Presenting the Unchanging Gospel in a Changing World. This world is a changing world, the true gospel however remains unchanging. The object of the gospel changes continually, because this is a changing world. The people in the 1960’s and the 21st century are totally different in their thinking, culture, and values.

Before, one’s hair had to be combed neatly, so that even when the wind blows, not a hair will be blown out of place; even flies would slid off one’s perfectly arranged hair. Nowadays, the young people’s hairs are fixed to make them look like wild grass, the more untidy it is, the better. Recently, a street bum has been named the most fashionable man in China. His unkempt hair, clothes, style is considered most fashionable. The world has changed a lot, hasn’t it?

The Church may utilize different methods to preach the gospel, but it must not depart from the old gospel. A healthy church is a church that preaches the true gospel. What is the true gospel? Rev. Albert Lam said that the every member of his church knows how to share the gospel. The method is simple, preach only three things: there is a God, there is sickness, and there is salvation. (There is only one true God in this world, we must know Him, we must worship Him; but we have a sickness, and this sickness is sin. Sin separates us from God. But the gospel is good news, we have salvation, Christ Jesus is our Savior.) We must teach every member of the church to share the gospel in a simple way. A healthy church is a church that preaches the gospel, a church that doesn’t share the gospel is a dead church.

III. A Healthy Church must have Moving Worship

Before worship-speak to God; During the worship – let the Lord speak to you; After worship – speak to each other.

We must worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. The worship service is a very important assembly. However, it is not a good preacher, good choir singing, nor good participation from the congregation that is most important. These are important, but what is most important? A strong moving of God’s Spirit and his presence. This is most important because worship is not about any one person, but it is about the Lord and for the Lord. The Lord is the only one who deserves our worship. We are all but worshippers. What is good worship? First, before worship, we speak to God. During worship, we allow the Lord to speak to us. After worship, we speak to each other.

Before worship, we must pray. We must learn to quiet ourselves and pray first. Some believers are very excited when they enter the sanctuary, when they see brothers and sisters, they talk endlessly with them. It is good to communicate with each other, but worship is not the proper time to do so. We must quiet our hearts before the Lord. Next time, when someone chats with you, tell them: let us chat after the worship. Let us first quiet our hearts before the Lord.

During worship, allow God to speak to you. Do not listen to the message on another’s behalf and say: ‘The message today is just right for this guy, it is a pity he did not come today.’ You are wrong! Today’s message is for you, because the Lord knew that person wouldn’t be here today, but the Lord knew you would be here today, the Lord is speaking to you. We must have a longing heart that tells the Lord, before worship: `Lord, what do you want to say? I am here, please speak.’

After worship, speak to one another. This is a good practice. After worship, while having lunch, you may ask your family members: what insights have you gained from today’s message? This would be very helpful for us, because doing so will help us remember the lesson better.

There is a great correlation between a moving worship and the worship leader. The worship leader must be well-prepared and gifted in the area of worship-leading. The song leader must have the gift of music and also be well-prepared. The speaker should be gifted in preaching, and he, too, must be well-prepared. Failing to prepare well is the main reason for failure. When our hearts had been moved, as ripples created by stones thrown into still water, then, we can say that we had experienced good worship.

IV. A Healthy Church will have True Fellowship Life

A healthy church is one that grows bigger and bigger and yet smaller and smaller. Bigger because there is increase in attendance, smaller because more and more small groups arise. A church is healthiest when everyone joins a small group. We acknowledge that much improvement is needed with regards to our church’s small group ministry. But, the church would have had a harder time showing love and concern to its members without its small group ministry. A beautiful fellowship life consists of 4 L’s: 1. Love 2. Learn 3. Lead (serve) (share the work, share the fruits of the work) 4. Launch- growth.

1. Love – the small group is a place where we show one another love. It is the place where love is lived out. We must learn to love each other in our small groups.

When I see brothers and sisters in the hospital, and the whole small group goes to visit the person, my heart says: That is very good, so right. When I see a member has a need, and the small group do their best to help him, my heart says: this is good, this is right. This is the purpose of small groups. But we must remember: we should not take advantage of others, this can ruin the small group.

2. Learn – the small group is a place of learning. Because the group is small, we dare to ask questions. The small group is the best way to teach and learn.

3. Lead – the small group is a place to learn to lead. Not only the small group leader, but also the other members may learn to lead. The small group is a place to train people.

4. Launch – the small group is a place for growth. The small group must be open for people to come. That way there is dynamic life in the small group. We must remember that flowing water will not become stale, but unmoving water becomes stale eventually.

V. A Healthy Church is a High SQ Church

When a church has high IQ, its worship will put emphasis on Bible interpretation and pulpit messages, the meaning of the Bible in its original text, the rituals of the church, and language accuracy. In the area of church administration, it would give importance to the constitution and by-laws of the church. It makes a clear distinction of black and white, but gradually, it becomes legalistic.

When a church has high emotional quotient, its worship will be emotional, moving, and tears would flow easily. In church administration, emphasis would be on relationships; and people are afraid to deal with interpersonal relationship conflicts.

A healthy church is a high SQ church. SQ means spiritual quotient. A high SQ church has high EQ and high IQ. But the most important thing is that they know balance. There is justice but also love in a high SQ church. They rebuke but they also forgive. They have intimate personal relationship with the Lord. They also rejoice with the people. The Bible says: Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. It is a spiritual thing to walk with God, yet to give birth to sons and daughters pertains to matters of this world. But the Bible put these two things together, considered them together. This is an example of a truly high SQ person. On one hand, he had an intimate walk with God, on the other hand, he did not neglect his humanly duties. We must each do our own part – as husbands we must be good husbands, a wife must be the best wife to her husband, children must be the best children, parents must be the best parents, citizens must be the best citizens. Only then will God be glorified in us.

VI. A Healthy Church is a Church where Every Member Does His Part

Do not continue to be a consumer. What does this mean? Many people come to church embracing the attitude of a customer. They consider themselves as consumers or customers in the church, and that their most important role is to give their offering. They think that as long as they give their offerings, they can make many demands. In every service, they will grade the church. `Today, the choir did not sing well, I will give it only 80%. Today, the song leader was not bad, 90%. Today, the pastor preached very well, 95%. But today the sound system was not functioning well, 70%. The usher today is the worst, they spoke louder than us, 60%. Today’s average score is 80%. Today, thus, I decide to give 80 pesos to the church.’ That is the attitude of a consumer or customer.

In Ephesians chapter 4, Paul reminds us that the most important duty of pastors is to prepare God’s people, to help develop every person’s gifts and talents, so that each one may be able to do his work. If you have already taken Class 103, you should know your SHAPE; S-Spiritual Gift; H-heart; A-Ability; P-Personality; E-Experience. We must use our SHAPE to serve the Lord.

A few years ago, a call arose for the church. It was a call for a second reformation. What does this mean? The First Reformation is `righteousness by faith’ – the Church gave true salvation back to every believer. The Second Reformation says that `every believer is a priest’ – the Church gave the right of ministry back to every believer. We who are full-time workers in the church should not be lazy but on the other hand, we must give to lay believers the responsibility of serving. We must not do it all alone, instead, we must serve together. You who have never served in church ministries, we welcome you to come and be involved in serving, so that each of us may fulfill our roles.

VII. A Healthy Church must have a Generous Atmosphere

I have already mentioned this in our revival meeting – a healthy church must be a generous church; generous not only in terms of money, but also in human and material resources.

In the aspect of money, be generous. A healthy church will not lack in finances. Apart from special situations wherein the Lord wants us to learn some lessons, if everyone loves the Lord, everyone gives offerings, how can there be lack? Healthy giving is not a few families giving large amounts, it is everyone involved in giving. Let there be a good atmosphere of giving in the church. It is not how much you offer that matters, but that you give. When I see young people give offerings, it makes my heart very glad. We must develop spiritual generosity – everyone gives. Young people in our midst, you must learn to give young as you are.

There must also be a spirit of generosity regarding serving. In the church, there are many ministries that are not conspicuous, no one sees you serving – just like Sunday school teachers and other children ministries. Unlike worship leaders who sing, play instruments or preach, seen on stage and looked up to by people, many people serve backstage. But without those who serve backstage, how can those who serve upfront have wonderful ministries? Those in charge of the sound system are hidden in the sound booth, but without their private ministries, how can we have good public ministries?

A healthy church is generous with its human, material, and financial resources. Generosity is an awareness, an atmosphere, it can be cultivated, it can influence. May it begin with us!