There are many perspective on how to tell if a church is healthy. This resource centers on God’s promised care. These promises reassure us that God cares for us. God’s care provides for all needs; God’s caring founded, forms, fulfills the church; and God’s care enables the members to help maintain the health the church was composed with.
With this perspective, a church is nurturing health as it is focused on responding to God’s care: receiving what God is providing, responding to what God is doing on our behalf, and utilizing what God has enabled for. This is not ignoring issues or problems but more about responding, in a healthy way, to what God is doing. God is providing us with the opportunity of church and holding secure its potential (Titus 2:13-14) and possibility (Ephesians 5:25-27) and we are responding.
- Learn about benefits
- Give it a try
- Have doubts?
- Why promises?
- The simplicity ensures scriptural accuracy– no unwanted interpretation or influence. Designed to be used by an individual, a group, congregation, or Christian organization.
- Can be used independently though additional support can be easily integrated as desired
- Solution focused – honors God, by focusing on His promised health, through our hope for desired blessings, strengthened by gratitude for blessings of health already received
- Helps to shelter discernment from the divisiveness of culture, politics, personal interests, traditions, personalities, etc.
- Adaptable – can be used for discernment, as a prayer tool, a journal, for assessments, for surveys, as a teaching outline, for small groups and facilitated workshops.
- Can be integrated with other ideas (see here for an example)
The following is an exercise in trust: trusting God with our hopes, having faith that the guidance provided is sufficient, and then living into the guidance. Our present blessings of health reassure us that God is faithful and can be trusted to care for us.
Get started – pick one of the following areas of God’s promised care that best speaks to your hope for your church. Resist the temptation to focus on a problem. What is it that you most desire of God?
External needs – safety, protection, provisions, and purpose
The rest of the process is really about being better able to receive what God is providing. In this section there are three promises, shared by Jesus Christ, for the church and it’s members. When you go on to the next page discern which best fits your need. Then read the provided text and if needed the full chapter. Look especially for anything that speaks to you as what you need to do in response to God’s giving. Head on over to the promises about provision.
Note: this resource is here to help you discern your next steps not channel you into a decision. If you find that the way the promise is described doesn’t match your sense of what the scripture says then either find a different scripture for the same promise or consider this isn’t the right resource for you
Progress– church founding, forming and growth to maturity
Good, lets keep the journey going. Church progress is all about our response to what God is doing on our behalf. In this section there will be seven promises, shared by Apostle Paul. As you transition to the next page seek the one that best fits your desire. From there you will look for guidance in the text, and if needed the surrounding chapter, that best speaks to what you should be doing in response. click here to go onto the promises of progress.
Note: this resource is here to help you discern your next steps not channel you into a decision. If you find that the way the promise is described doesn’t match your sense of what the scripture says then either find a different scripture for the same promise or consider this isn’t the right resource for you
Internal health – abilities provided to maintain health and ward off division
There are places in the scriptures that speak of the natural unity and mutual care among the members of the body of Christ (see Eph 4:3 and and 1 Cor 12:25 and Col. 3:14.) This “inner health” grouping includes seven ways in which the church has been enabled for health – such as bearing one another’s burdens, serving one another, encouraging one another, etc. (These are seven among many.) As you move onto the next page look for one mode of care that best speaks to your church’s need. Think of them as naturally being provided to the church but may need nurturing. When you are ready click here)
Note: this resource is here to help you discern your next steps not channel you into a decision. If you find that the way the promise is described doesn’t match your sense of what the scripture says then either find a different scripture for the same promise or consider this isn’t the right resource for you
After you have found some guidance from the scriptures the next step is figure out how to make that a lived practice. If we can help in anyway please let us know. You can read examples of how churches have done this on the Health Nurtured page
If this sounds too good to be true or just too simple to be helpful think a bit about two examples of the early church and how they got past roadblocks by leaning into God’s promised care. In Acts 6:1-8 we learn how they responded when part of the church felt some members were neglected when charity was distributed. In Acts 15:6-20 we learn how they addressed significant division over how the Grecian converts should honor the traditions of the Hebrews.
In the Acts chapter 6 situation the leaders didn’t question that serving all equally was needed and possible. The account never mentions what was causing the issue. Or why it was happening. Instead the account says the leaders focused on what roles God had them fulfilling. The leaders gave guidance on how others should select those to provide the lacking service. The guidance was to find those both receptive to and influenced by God’s care, that has brought them good standing in the community.
The Acts chapter 15 account mentions much disputing over the issue. The account shifts from human reasoning and opinions to declaring what God had done behalf of the Gentiles and how this fulfills promises told in prophecy. Why the focus on God’s care for the church and it’s growing membership?
This is not to suggest these accounts were endorsing this Church Healthy approach but hopefully these examples, and others, give you pause to look more closely.
As you read this you may be thinking to yourself, you know I think I’ve heard of this before. It reminds me of this book, or a sermon or ….. and that may very well be the case. As this approach is rooted in scriptural promises it’s not new, but might be a fresh take that is appropriate for the times. One needs only to think of Noah, and the ark, or Abraham, and his journey, to see trust in God’s promises lived out.
But why focus on the role God is playing for the church and understanding what our role is in response? It might be easiest to think about how natural this is to us. Take the promise of eternal life (see promised provisions – safety and eternal life.) We don’t go to church to get eternal life. We don’t earn eternal life. It’s not something that gets handed out. As John 10 says, we hear and follow Jesus because we believe he is Christ. Of course there are other passages that talk about our response to God’s gift of eternal life but our role is a response.
If salvation, church, eternal life, the peace of Christ and more are all gifts then our role is to receive and scripture tells us how. This resource focuses on God’s ability and our response.
We’d love to hear from you about your experience.
Feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or suggestions