Characteristics of a Healthy Church

[Anna]

Just like it is important for us to take care of our health by eating well, getting enough rest, and exercising, it is equally important for our churches to be healthy. A healthy church will be active in the community in which it is situated, meeting the needs of the lost in that community, shedding light in the darkness, fighting on the enemies turf. Only a healthy church can effectively train and send out its people across enemy lines with success.

A healthy church can be compared to an aircraft carrier, like the one JD Greer talks about in his article The Church Isn’t a Cruise Ship, its an Aircraft Carrier. This is where it’s people are trained, equipped, and send out into enemy territory to fight for the lives of others. A healthy church is making disciples who are making disciples who are making disciples! It is seeking God, praying with faith and perseverance for His direction and guidance, relying on the Holy Spirit for power, love, authority, and boldness. A healthy church is a place where numbers don’t matter because the results are speaking for themselves – disciples are multiplying disciples. A healthy church has revolving doors: wounded come in, are healed, given rest, are trained, recommissioned, and sent out again. And healthy churches do all these things in Jesus’s name, as He directs them – they are obedient to the call of God to go and make disciples.

[Zach]

Healthy churches are important because church really is a reflection of Christ, as His body. Jesus is not sick nor dysfunctional and neither should His body be. If it is, something is wrong and it is not Cleary connected to Him nor others the way it should be. Healthy things grow, and so all the intention of God for the church and to be released through the church hinge on its health. An unhealthy church is disconnected from the Head in a functional way, doing its own things, its relationships within are broken, governance is controlling, vision is myopic, and confusion of purpose reigns. None of these factors reflect the life of Christ and must be addressed before meaning mission and discipleship efforts can be engaged.

[Jaylen]

It is important for a church to be healthy because if your church isn’t healthy than you aren’t being effective in your purpose. I believe the answer is pretty obvious there.

[Kimberly]

It is important for churches to be healthy because it goes hand in hand with the previous topic of ethos. If a church isn’t healthy the “air” will become polluted and the church will not be effective. A healthy church is needed so that it can grow and be effective in the mission of being disciples to every nation. An unhealthy church is one that members do not feel safe or heard, and one that is not making effective disciples to release. A church should not be keeping everyone under one leadership but should be training up and encouraging new leaders.