What does a strong established church look like?

(La version française apparait après celle-ci)

According to Paul in his letters:

For Paul, a church was “strong” or established, when it had good, solid leadership, when it had unity, when the believers, or members, or “saints” were doing the ministry of the church, using their giftedness to serve, when the church was reaching out to the community and beyond, when the faith of the church was an example to others, and when the church showed tangible concern for others.

Solid, qualified leadership (in both character and ability):

Acts 14:23 “So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”

I Timothy 3:1-7 “This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of bishop (overseer), he desires a good work.  A bishop must be blameless…”

I Timothy 3:8-10 “Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued…”

Titus 1:5 “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you”

Titus 1:7-9 “For a bishop must be blameless…”

Unity:

Ephesians 4:12-13 “For the edifying of the body of Christ (the building up of the church), till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”  In other words, that there be unity in doctrine, attitudes and lifestyle.

I Corinthians 1:12 “Now I say this that each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,' or ‘ am of Cephas,’ or ‘I am of Christ.’”

I Corinthians 3:4 “For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal?”

Philippians 2:2 “Fulfill my joy by being likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”

I Corinthians 12:26 “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”

Ministry by the membership:

Ephesians 4:11-12 “And He gave some to be … evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints (believers, church members!) for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

Romans 12:4-13 “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching…”

Reaching out to the community and beyond

I Thessalonians 1:8 “For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything.”

An example to others in faith and practice

I Thessalonians 1:6-7 “And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.”

II Thessalonians 1:3-4 “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure.”

Showing tangible concern to others

Philippians 4:10-18 “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity… For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account… a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.”

I Corinthians 16:1-2 “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come”

II Corinthians 9:1-4 “Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you: for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority. Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect… lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this confident boasting” (In other words, don’t embarrass me by being cheap!)

According to some modern evangelical attitudes

I have the impression that for the evangelical church today, a church is often considered to be “strong” or established, when it has a considerable number of members, when it has at least one paid leader or pastor, and when it has a building of its own that is at least well on the way to being paid for. In other words, when it is financially “healthy”, then the church is healthy.

Evangelism is stressed, sometimes due to a genuine concern for souls and for kingdom growth, but it sometimes seems as though the preoccupation is to have large churches, and evangelism being the means to that end. Ministry on the part of members is definitely encouraged, but it is often not seen, from the outside, as being a sign of a mature, strong church.

A healthy financial situation in a church is a blessing, or at least it can be. But Paul seems to have been more interested in what a church did with its wealth than how wealthy the church was.  In the same way, James was more interested in the believers’ attitude to wealthy members than in the believers being wealthy themselves. (James 2:2-7)

Why is there such a difference between what is often the modern way of judging a church, and Paul’s way? It seems that the world has crept in, not through its sexual mores, or its addictions, but through its materialistic mentality.  “More is better”; “bigger is better” appear to be the unstated laws of our society.  And these laws have far too often become the laws of the church as well. Finance has become the absolute measure of success. Much can be forgiven if a church has a large membership, is paying its own way and is helping to pay for others.  Deviation from the Scriptures might not be noticed. Unscriptural attitudes might pass as “normal human behaviour”.

Let us seek to look at the church, the bride of Christ, as Paul saw it, and seek to bring the church to look the way Christ would have it appear: holy, pure, loving, united, serving one another and reaching out in love to the world.