Thursday, July 26, 2007

Maintaining Health in the Church

Two and a half years ago my doctor put me on a diet with the somber warning, “If you don’t take off the weight you’ll deal with diabetes and the have the potential of heart disease and stroke.” Say no more, Doc! Immediately – literally – I changed my eating habits. Not only that, I got serious about the need for exercise as well and started playing racquetball 2 to 3 times each week.

As a result, and I give thanks to God, Dr. Keenan, the South Beach Diet and a cooperative mate I lost the excess weight, gained a lot more stamina and went off the diabetic medication in about 3 months. But as most of us who have gone on successful diets know, once the pounds are gone you have to continue the new lifestyle to keep them off. It truly must be a change in lifestyle. A healthy body will only stay that way when it is eating right and getting exercise.

It’s no wonder the Bible compares the church to a body. Read 1 Corinthians 11-12. A decade ago we figured out that for a church to become healthy it must maintain balance in the 5 purposes of the church spelled out by Jesus in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. They are:
1. Fellowship
2. Discipleship
3. Ministry
4. Mission
5. Worship

So we worked hard as a church to find that balance. Somebody noticed, because in 2005 our church was recognized by the Purpose Driven Church organization as being a healthy church. We even have a little plaque in our lobby that says so! It’s great when a goal is accomplished, but what about since then? We certainly can’t rest on our laurels and say, “We made it!” The church isn’t stagnant. That’s the past. So how do we maintain that health now?

First, the church isn’t an organization. Her health isn’t reflected in administrative systems. If you look at the first church in the book of Acts they were administratively “flying by the seat of their pants” in those early chapters. Yet they were the healthiest of churches. Search the New Testament and see how much polity and administration you find. And while we work hard at being better organized, we’re not a corporate business or a civic organization. We’re a living, breathing organic body. It’s not our systems, or lack of them that gives us health.

The church is an assembly of believers who have been called together to accomplish the purposes of God. We’re individuals who know Jesus but know that for us to be who and what He wants us to be we have to be joined together. Each part of the body – each member plays a role in the health or disease of the church. Paul said it this way, “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.” (1 Cor. 12:26 NLT) Simply put, if you’re a part of the church, your individual spiritual condition as well as mine either makes or breaks the health of the church.

That means it’s not just contingent on the leadership. True, leaders have to be healthy as well, and God will require more from them than anyone else in that regard. (See Lk. 12:48). But every member, leader or follower, either contributes to the church’s health or to its lack of health. Again, quoting Paul, “Under [Christ’s] direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” (Eph. 5:16 NLT) That simply means every member is important and every member is vital to the health of the church. And, notice that a healthy church is a growing and loving church!

So, if we ask the question, “Is my church a healthy church?” the answer really begins when we ask ourselves, “Am I a healthy believer?” Take a look in the mirror (James 1) and ask, "Are those same 5 purposes being lived out in my life? Am I a contributor to our church health, or is my current spiritual state one that needs spiritual first aid?" Look at your own heart; not at anyone elses. (You can't see what's in there, anyway.)

Health in the body starts and is maintained with you and with me.

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