HEALTHY CHURCH: Healthy Churches Multiply

      Several books have been written on the “shifts” that need to occur in the Western church — the need to focus more on disciples, not decisions; sending capacity, not seating capacity; releasing, not keeping; and deploying, not accumulating. There must be a commitment to discipling every new believer from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity. This develops healthy adults who are able to leave “home” and start their own family. It requires being intentional and deliberate in multiplying disciples, leaders and churches. Healthy churches reproduce, and a lack of reproduction indicates something is broken.

      The biblical pattern of the book of Acts is church planting, and it is easy to see what took place in the early church. You could argue that it is more descriptive of what was happening than prescriptive of what should be occurring now, but that would be a little short-sighted. There are at least seven great reasons to consider healthy multiplication: to follow the biblical strategy, to evangelize effectively, to gather in the harvest, to reach people groups, to fulfill the Great Commission, to obey His leadership in your heart and to make His name known. How can your church be more directly involved in church multiplication?

      In One Eighty, Jeff Vanderstelt wrote, “The sign of a healthy church is not necessarily how big it gets, but how it raises up, equips and sends people who are mature enough to ‘leave home’ and start new spiritual families themselves.” That is the supernatural progression of multiplication from disciples who make disciples toward spiritual parenthood and beginning a new family. That is why we say so much about church health because healthy things multiply and reproduce. BMA Global’s vision statement says: “Sharing God’s glory and love to the nations by multiplying disciples, leaders and churches!”

      Healthy churches will reproduce, and daughter church planting should be envisioned and planned from the beginning of the new church. Even churches that have existed for decades should also prayerfully adopt and surrender to a vision of multiplication. What is the supernatural progression of multiplication? If disciples are spiritually healthy, leaders will be spiritually healthy, churches will be spiritually healthy and the natural by-product of health will be reproduction. It involves a commitment to strengthening existing churches and starting new churches simultaneously.

      Your church is a family of baptized believers living on God’s mission. Healthy families aim to raise and develop healthy children to become healthy young adults who are eventually able to leave their homes and start a new family. The goal is to Go (next door or wherever God leads), Disciple (from being spiritually dead to spiritual parents), Plant (churches planting churches) and then Repeat (it is a never-ending lifecycle). Are you engaging with unbelievers? Are you being salt and light in your community? Are you making disciples who are making disciples? How will you be involved in multiplying disciples, leaders and churches?

      Your church needs to be equipped and ready to evaluate your spiritual health as a congregation and to challenge your people to embrace the mission of God. Koinonia is New Testament fellowship, and it is greatly enjoyed and celebrated in many of our churches and our association of churches. The problem is that koinonia can become “koinonitis.” This term, coined by Peter Wagner years ago, describes what happens when community inflammation blocks the blood flow of mission. It describes what happens when a church feeds on community but has no mission antibodies to fight inward, insular and self-absorbed community!

      A local church cannot be truly healthy if a heart for mission is conspicuously absent. Even worse is when that omission is celebrated. Lifeway Research, Barna and Pew Report have all confirmed that 85% of all North American churches have plateaued or are on the decline. Of the 15% who are growing, 14% are growing because of membership transfer, and only 1% are growing because of conversion growth. This necessitates a call and challenge to every believer and every church to engage those who are far from God and once again embrace God’s mission. John 20:21 (NKJV), “…As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

      Where do you start? Begin by getting spiritually healthy yourself with proper spiritual soul care. Oswald Chambers stated, “My worth to God in public is what I am in private.” Recommit to making sure what you're doing for God flows out of your being with God. There is no substitute or shortcut to spiritual health and walking with God through surrender, self-denial and sacrifice. Staying in His presence will guarantee that you are not energized by a program, project or people, but instead by a person, Jesus Christ. This supernatural energy that comes from abiding in Him is not grounded in who you are but in where you are — in His presence.

      Begin with prayer to the Lord of the harvest for Him to send forth laborers, for God to open doors that no man can shut, and for how your church could do more by multiplying disciples, leaders and churches. Then begin the journey of vision by preparing and making plans for your next steps. Be willing to do the groundwork of knowing and exegeting the community or region where God has placed you for His mission. Be willing to continue to learn and be trained in how to effectively communicate the gospel to those around you who are far from God. Begin at the starting point by focusing on making disciples where you are.

      Now, you can begin looking for partners. Paul thanked the church in Philippi and prayed for them because of their partnership in advancing the gospel. It requires a conviction from the Scriptures that we are stronger together. Here is something to consider and evaluate in your present situation — are you practicing the very things that enabled your church to be birthed and grow to maturity in its history? Philippians 4:9 (NLT) says, “Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me — everything you heard from me and saw me doing….” There comes a time to “put it into practice.”

      What things will you put into practice from God’s Word to make healthy disciples who make disciples, develop healthy leaders, strengthen your church to be healthy and then partner with others to plant healthy new churches? The vision is to raise up families from within your family that will be sent out from your church to start new families. Who is there that God has in your church that you need to be preparing to be your church planter or missionary? How can your church be more directly involved in multiplying disciples, leaders and churches?