Assessing the Health of the Church after 2,000 Years (Part Five)

The Church that Jesus is building is made up of people who are saved for eternity. Many members of the Church, the Body of Christ, have passed away during the last 2,000 years. They await the trumpet call and shout that will awaken them from death and bring life to their bodies (1 Thessalonians 4; 1 Corinthians 15). Many members of the true Church are still alive on earth doing the work God has called them to do.

That is not necessarily true of churches we see across our country and throughout the world today. Those churches are made up of saved and unsaved people. Those who are saved should have a positive influence on the unsaved by preaching and teaching the saving Gospel of Christ. Unfortunately, many churches have lost their interest in preaching the saving Gospel of Christ. They’ve become more interested in the social and cultural aspects of “playing church.”

Assessing Your Church

We addressed in the last article in this series what pastors and other church leaders can do to assess their church’s spiritual condition and the process to make changes. How about people in churches who aren’t pastors, teachers, or deacons? Any way they can assess the spiritual condition of their church and make a difference? There is, but it begins with self-assessment.

Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 1 Corinthians 11:27-28

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. 2 Corinthians 13:5

Each true member of the Church should begin their assessment with a personal examination. The Greek word is dokimazetō and means “to put to the test, to approve by testing.” Each of us can do that in the privacy of our own personal time with God in prayer as we use the Bible to guide us. As you read Scripture, ask God if you are living up to His commands, His expectations, His will for your life. If you are, thank God for His grace. If you aren’t, ask God for His grace to help you change your beliefs and behavior. We need to examine ourselves before trying to make changes in the spiritual condition of our church.

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load. Galatians 6:1-5

It’s also good to remember what Jesus told His disciples about dealing with spiritual challenges between or among the brethren.

Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Matthew 18:15-17

Notice that the goal is to “gain” your brother. That’s the same thing Paul said – “restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.” However, if the brother or sister “will not hear,” then Jesus said to take the next step of taking one or two people with you to address the person about the sin. If the brother or sister won’t listen to two or three people, “tell it to the church.” If the brother or sister refuses even to hear members of the ‘assembly,’ “let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.” While that may sound harsh, the aim is to gain (restore) a brother or sister. If they won’t listen, then the church must exclude them. Why? For the sake of the person and the church.

Not everyone in local churches are truly saved. They may be self-righteous and oppose church discipline. What should Christians do in that situation? Make the Gospel plain to them and give them an opportunity to repent and be saved. If they won’t, then the best thing for them and the church is to exclude them. Remember, this is in the situation of someone causing problems in a church. This is not an instruction for unsaved people who are attending, listening, learning, questioning, wanting to know the truth, etc. This is only about people in a church situation where they are sinning and refusing to listen to anyone about their behavior. It’s not good to let those people continue attending and causing problems in the church. Jesus and the apostles were very clear about that.

As Paul wrote to Titus about this type of problem in the churches on Crete –

To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. Titus 1:15-16

Saved people can cause problems in a church, so what do you do about them? That’s what we saw in Galatians 6 – “if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.”

What Would You Do?

Here is one situation Paul mentioned in his letters about people who cause problems in churches. Do you think the people he addressed in Titus are saved or unsaved? Based on what you believe, how would you respond as a member of the same church? First, let’s look at the conflict (problem).

For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain. Titus 1:10-11

So, what do you think? Saved or unsaved? How would you “stop” the mouth of someone? Here’s how Paul explained the correct response. It’s the resolution to the conflict – the solution to the problem.

Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth. To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. Titus 1:13-16

Notice that Paul told them to ‘rebuke’ (elenche – discipline, expose, convict, reprove) them sharply (apotomōs – severely, abruptly, curtly), that they may be ‘sound’ (hugiainōsin – healthy, uncorrupted) in the faith. That sounds like Paul is directing Titus in how to deal with saved people who cause problems in the church. Paul went on to write about those who are ‘defiled’ (memiammenois – corrupted, polluted) and ‘unbelieving’ (apistois – not believing, not persuaded, faithless). Those people ‘profess’ (homologousin – confess to know, publicly declare) to know God, but their works demonstrate that they ‘deny’ God. They are ‘abominable’ (bdeluktos – detestable, abominable), ‘disobedient’ (apeithés – unbelieving, will not be persuaded, disobedient), and ‘disqualified’ (adokimos– unfit, counterfeit, unapproved, disqualified).

It’s helpful to know whether you are trying to help a saved or unsaved person in your church. Both need to repent and change, but while the the saved person is redeemed, the unsaved person is not. One major difference is how the Holy Spirit will work in each person. What we want to do as God’s people is cooperate with His Spirit as we minister to the needs of each individual.

Your Role

Every individual Christian in a church has an important role to play in the health of their church and in the larger worldwide Church that Jesus Christ is building. However, if we are spiritually unhealthy we will not be able to help others. That’s why God tells us to examine ourselves first.

Once you have put yourself to the test and found God’s approval, the next step is to ask God how you can help your church. Every Christian has spiritual gifts given to them by God to ‘build up’ (edify) the Body of Christ (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12). Christians who are like-minded can join together and use their spiritual gifts to assess the spiritual condition of their church and take the necessary steps to ‘restore’ (katartizete – complete, fit together, properly adjust) those who have been ‘overtaken’ (prolēmphthē – take beforehand, taken by surprise) in any trespass, and to ‘bear’ (bastazete – carry, take up) one another’s ‘burdens’ (barē – weight, burden).

People in churches and communities across the world are carrying heavy burdens in their lives. God calls on His people to help carry those burdens, “and so fulfill the law of Christ.” What is that law?

Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 22:37-40

We demonstrate obedience to Christ by loving our neighbors. One way to love our neighbors is to help carry their burdens. In so doing, we can also help restore someone who has been caught up in sin. Through that process of loving, carrying burdens, and restoring others, every Christian can improve the health of their church.

Preaching and teaching the Gospel of Christ includes words and actions. Christians need to focus on having a balance of both in their lives and ministries. If we have the words, but not the actions, our efforts appear cold and uncaring. If we have actions, but not words, our efforts appear shallow and spiritually meaningless. We need both: the Word and works.

The Apostle Paul explained the balance beautifully in his letter to the Ephesians:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10

We are not saved ‘by’ works, but we are saved ‘for’ works. Salvation is a free gift from God. That’s where we are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves. It’s not of works. Why? Because we would boast about that. God doesn’t allow us to boast about His free gift. Our boasting should be about Him, not about us (Galatians 6:14).

God designed salvation to include our doing ‘good works’ after being saved. We are God’s ‘workmanship’ (poiēma – a work, a thing made), ‘created’ (ktisthentes – to build, create- aorist tense) in Christ Jesus ‘for’ good works. God ‘prepared beforehand’ (proētoimasen – to predestine, made ready in advance, prepare before) that we should ‘walk’ (peripatēsōmen – conduct ourselves, live, walk around) in those good works. Good works is the outcome or result of God’s good work in saving us. God saves us through the Gospel to tell others about the Gospel and show them what it means to be saved.

Your Ministry

Your personal ministry in helping bring health to your church depends on three things. Paul explains it nicely in 1 Corinthians 12.

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. 1 Corinthians 12:5-11

Notice that the ‘diversity’ of gifts (diairesis– division, distinction, distribution) comes from the Holy Spirit. The ‘differences’ in ministries (diakoniōn – service) comes from the Lord Jesus. The ‘diversities’ of activities (energéma – energizings, operation, effect, working) come from God “who works all in all.” I think of this as how the Trinity (Godhead) works together in gifting and energizing Christians for their ministries.

The ‘manifestation’ (phanerósis – disclosure, coming to the light, manifestation) of the Spirit is given to each Christian for the ‘profit’ (sumphero – combine to bring profit, bring together to be profitable) of all. All of the ‘gifts’ (charismatōn – grace gift, operation of grace, free gift) are given to believers by the Holy Spirit. He distributes “to each one individually as He wills.” Christians should never complain about the gift they receive from the Holy Spirit. They shouldn’t wish they could have something different. They should also not think that their gift is not as important as another believer’s gift.

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’; nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it;or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

The Holy Spirit did not give ‘gifts’ (charismatōn) to believers to cause schisms in the Church, but to bring strength and unity to the Body. Notice how God wants the entire Body of believers to “have the same care for one another.” If one member suffers, “all members suffer with it.” If one member is honored, “all the members rejoice with it.”

Have you ever been part of a church like that? You should have because that’s how God designed the Church. Unfortunately, many Christians say they’ve never, or rarely, had such a wonderful experience in a church where members cared for each other, suffered with each other, and rejoiced when another member is honored.

Your ministry is to make sure that happens in your church. Every Christian’s ministry is to ensure that the Body grows in love with God and each other. Our ministry should be to bring glory to God and encouragement to every precious soul God brings into our sphere of influence.

My Assessment

My assessment of the modern Church is that it is, for the most part, ‘unhealthy.’ People are leaving churches and denominations at an ever-increasing rate. Many are de-constructing and de-converting. False preachers and teachers abound in the pulpits of churches across the world. Christians who aren’t leaving churches are being fooled by these false teachers and preachers. It won’t be long before Christianity will be a minority religion in the world and many who are left to attend will be weak and ineffective. After 2,000 years of growth, Christianity will appear to many to be dying. However, that’s not true.

People often confuse the church they see with the Church they don’t see. Jesus Christ is building His Church, His Body. However, that is a spiritual Body. The physical members of churches may or may not be part of the Body of Christ. We need to be careful not to confuse the two. Don’t be misled by what you read in the headlines. Christianity is not a dying religion. It is alive and growing because Jesus Christ brings it life and nourishment. But … Christians also have a powerful enemy.

Satan is not more powerful than God. In fact, Satan can only do what God allows him to do, but it may be more than some of us realize. That’s why Paul wrote these important words to the early Church –

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Ephesians 6:10-18

God has placed each of us in the spiritual battle against Satan and his wicked kingdom. That’s our reality. We can either stand and fight, or pretend there is no battle. If you study the history of war, you’ll quickly realize that anyone who pretends there is no war becomes a casualty of that war. We need many more warriors in this ‘spiritual’ battle. We need more laborers in the fields for the harvest (Matthew 9). We need more people willing to spiritually plant and water, then watch in awe as our great God gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3). Will you do your part to build up the Body of Christ wherever He places you?