We had a recent graceTALK question…

I recently visited another church with a friend who wanted to start going to church again. They (husband and wife) wanted a church that was big so that they could “ease” into the whole church thing. So, I went along to encourage them. We went to a “mega” church in the area and I was blown away. It was like a rock concert! The message was good (in a creative sense) but seemed very shallow. I didn’t even need to use my Bible. So, now I am in a pickle. I want my friend to go to church, but I fear that they will see Christianity is a warped way by going to this “mega” church. What should I do?

In my answer, I said that it was important to focus on what makes a church healthy and not on style or size. I mentioned Mark Dever’s Nine Marks of a Healthy Church as a good resource for taking a look at what the Bible either says or implies about a healthy church.

This is a summary from the 9Marks Web site…

The Mission of 9Marks

We believe the local church is the focal point of God’s plan for displaying his glory to the nations.  Our vision is simple: Churches that reflect the character of God.  Our mission is to cultivate and encourage churches characterized by these nine marks:

1.  Expositional Preaching
This is preaching which expounds what Scripture says in a particular passage, carefully explaining its meaning and applying it to the congregation. It is a commitment to hearing God’s Word and to recovering the centrality of it in our worship.
2.  Biblical Theology
Paul charges Titus to “teach what is in accord with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). Our concern should be not only with how we are taught, but with what we are taught. Biblical theology is a commitment to know the God of the Bible as He has revealed Himself in Scripture.
3.  Biblical Understanding of the Good News
The gospel is the heart of Christianity. But the good news is not that God wants to meet people’s felt needs or help them develop a healthier self-image. We have sinfully rebelled against our Creator and Judge. Yet He has graciously sent His Son to die the death we deserved for our sin, and He has credited Christ’s acquittal to those who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection. That is the good news.
4.  Biblical Understanding of Conversion
The spiritual change each person needs is so radical, so near the root of us, that only God can do it. We need God to convert us. Conversion need not be an emotionally heated experience, but it must evidence itself in godly fruit if it is to be what the Bible regards as a true conversion.
5.  Biblical Understanding of Evangelism
How someone shares the gospel is closely related to how he understands the gospel. To present it as an additive that gives non-Christians something they naturally want (i.e. joy or peace) is to present a half-truth, which elicits false conversions. The whole truth is that our deepest need is spiritual life, and that new life only comes by repenting of our sins and believing in Jesus. We present the gospel openly, and leave the converting to God.
6.  Biblical Understanding of Membership
Membership should reflect a living commitment to a local church in attendance, giving, prayer and service; otherwise it is meaningless, worthless, and even dangerous. We should not allow people to keep their membership in our churches for sentimental reasons or lack of attention. To be a member is knowingly to be traveling together as aliens and strangers in this world as we head to our heavenly home.
7.  Biblical Church Discipline
Church discipline gives parameters to church membership. The idea seems negative to people today – “didn’t our Lord forbid judging?” But if we cannot say how a Christian should not live, how can we say how he or she should live? Each local church actually has a biblical responsibility to judge the life and teaching of its leaders, and even of its members, particularly insofar as either could compromise the church’s witness to the gospel.
8.  Promotion of Christian Discipleship and Growth
A pervasive concern with church growth exists today – not simply with growing numbers, but with growing members. Though many Christians measure other things, the only certain observable sign of growth is a life of increasing holiness, rooted in Christian self-denial. These concepts are nearly extinct in the modern church. Recovering true discipleship for today would build the church and promote a clearer witness to the world.
9.  Biblical Understanding of Leadership
What eighteenth-century Baptists and Presbyterians often agreed upon was that there should be a plurality of elders in each local church. This plurality of elders is not only biblical, but practical — it has the immense benefit of rounding out the pastor’s gifts to ensure the proper shepherding of God’s church.

In identifying and promoting these nine marks, we are not intending to lay down an exhaustive or authoritative list. There are other significant marks of healthy churches, like prayer and fellowship. We want to pursue those ourselves as well, and we want you to pursue them with us. But these nine are the ones we think are most neglected in most local churches today, with the most damaging ramifications.  Join us in cultivating churches that reflect the character of God.

Afterwards, it was pointed out to me that as nice as my answer was, I hadn’t actually answered the question. Oops.

I would suggest that the questioner talk to his or her friends about the purpose of the church and why it is so important to be vitally connected to a healthy local church. It sounds like these folks are seeking to avoid this and prefer anonymity while they “ease into the whole church thing.” I think they would be well served by basic discipleship. I would approach concerns about the church they are attending (and why) as they come up in discussions about what we are are called to as Christians.

7 Comments

1. Larry : January 7th, 2009 at 9:44 am

   I wouldn’t say you didn’t answer the question, you pointed the questioner to a resource they can use to engage their friend in a discussion of what they should look for in a church. I think that’s a good answer. It requires the questioner to do a little more digging but that’s not a bad thing.

   I appreciate you sharing these. As you pointed out, they all sort of hinge on the first one expositional preaching. All the others kind of become givens if we are preaching the word each week, in season and out.

   There’s another great resource from Nine Marks called “What is A Healthy Church Member” by Thabiti Anyabwile that I would also recommend to anyone trying to find a church or who is wondering how to participate where they are in a healthy God-centered way (presupposing that ‘where they are’ is a healthy church of course!).

2. O'Ryan : January 7th, 2009 at 10:17 am

   Recently, a study was conducted to gage the spiritual condition of churchgoers and what has motivated them at various stages in their growth. The study would characterize your friends as “Exploring Christianity” and what the study suggested was that the two things that move people from exploring to engaging was the bible and the doctrine. Specifically the doctrines of God’s grace and trinity. This makes sense to me because in a broad sense, the bible is about who God is and how he relates to us. Most strikingly expressed in Christ and the grace he brings about.

   In my opinion and based on my past, I would suggest making sure your discipleship of them focuses on the gospel. It was the very thing that moved me and continues to do so.

   I think too, most of us who goes to a country club church like ours will see any mega church as rock concerty, regardless of the marks it endeavors to possess. And, I think they realize this, and work to maximize the spiritual growth of people through the small group ministry. So, I would also encourage them to get into a small group or, invite them to yours.

3. Eric Farr : January 7th, 2009 at 11:01 am

   @O’Ryan: Good advice. You’ve piqued my curiosity, though. How do you define a “country club” church?

4. O'Ryan : January 7th, 2009 at 3:04 pm

   Generally, I would characterize a country club church is suburban, white, elite, and big enough that everyone knows of each other without necessisarily knowing each other. I didn’t mean it as a pejorative. However, like you said, it isn’t the size or style of church that makes it deep. I used the term because I think it is important to realize all churches can be labeled and dismissed. Not that anyone in this context actually has but I have heard it around.

5. CAN : January 20th, 2009 at 1:28 pm

   So then a in your opinion a “healthy” church is all about good solid information and biblical teaching & understanding along with the importance of being very deep intellectually and never ever “shallow”? What about the balance of a relational (others) and experience (exa. music and drama) focus along with the informational? Had to chime in as this is way close to home.

6. O'Ryan : January 21st, 2009 at 10:55 am

   I don’t think that is what is being said at all. I think what is being said is that there is really one think that makes a healthy church broken down into 9 marks. A healthy church is one that sits under the bible; it is informed and guided by it in all things; and, it does everything through that lens. Including being relational through fellowship and one anothering and, being informational through expositional preaching.

   Further, I think it is the commitment of a church to being under the bible that marks it as healthy; not the churches achievement of attaining those specific goals.

   I see no reason why music and drama would have any bearing on a whether or not a church is healthy church.

7. CAN : January 22nd, 2009 at 10:45 am

   Biblically based balance is my point. Too heavy on information is not healthy. Too heavy on relational or experience is not healthy. Balance of all three is healthy. Music and drama were only used as examples of the experience part which is also worship and a vehicle God uses to encourage and build up the body. Just like teaching or a small group is.