Statisticians tell us that as many as 70 percent of all South Carolina Baptist Convention churches are either plateaued or declining. Does that mean that 70 percent of us are in ill health? Personally, I don’t think so. I just think that we have locked onto the wrong scoreboard.
Jeff LethcoWhether we want to admit it or not, we equate the health of a church today by the number of people we can gather each week or perhaps the number of people we baptize each year. The more people a church has for a weekend service, the higher the pedestal we place that church on. The opposite also seems to be true: If a church isn’t attracting large numbers of people to its weekend services, then we assume that something is wrong.
Personally, I like it when our numbers are up and the sanctuary is full. But that doesn’t mean we are winning; it doesn’t even mean we are coming close. And when numbers start going down, it concerns me. Every number represents a life, and lives are important. However, a win in the kingdom of God is not another body or another baptism. A win in the kingdom of God is a transformed life!
So what does a transformed life look like? The answer to that question has to be answered in terms of relationships. Healthy churches are made up of people with healthy relationships. When certain relationships within the church are healthy, then that church is healthy. When those relationships are not healthy, or dysfunctional, then regardless of how many people make up that church body or how many people are being added to that church, that church is not healthy.
So what are these relationships?
First, we must begin with a healthy, practical, authentic relationship with God. I want to know if the people that I pastor are growing in their intimacy with God. Are they learning to worship God in the everyday details of their lives? Are they coming to understand that worship is so much more than what happens on Sunday? Are they learning to pray without ceasing and that praying has more to do with listening than it does with talking? Are they learning how to live consistently in the presence of God?
Second, I want to know if they are growing in their relationships with other believers. I want to know if they understand what it means to be brothers and sisters in Christ. I want to know if they see themselves as family. Are they learning what it means to be authentic and transparent? Are they growing in their willingness to warn the unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, uphold the weak, all the while being patient with all (1 Thessalonians 5:14)? Are they learning to do nothing out of selfishness or conceit, but in lowliness of mind are they esteeming others as more important than themselves (Philippians 2:3)?
Finally, I want to know if they are intentionally investing themselves relationally in the lives of people who are spiritually lost. Are they aware of the people around them who are lost? Are they praying for those who are lost? Do they live with a sensitivity and compassion for those who are lost? Are they intentionally building personal relationships with those who are lost in order to gain their trust and friendship as they seek to point them to Christ?
When people are growing in these three relationships, then they are developing as disciples. Therefore, I believe that the heart of the Great Commission – the heart of “Go ye therefore and make disciples” – is a mandate to develop relationships. Any church that does not focus on the building of such relationships, regardless of what else they are accomplishing, is missing the point.
So before you diagnose the health of your church, before you determine whether or not you are winning or losing, make sure you are looking at the right scoreboard. You might not be as far behind as you thought you were.
Lethco is pastor of North Side Baptist Church, Greenwood.