HEALTHY CHURCH: Start With The Why
2023 is here, and another year of opportunity is before us. A new year brings evaluation of what we need to change, what we need to do differently and what we can do better. We seem to be enamored with the “how” of ministry far more than the “why.” We spend many hours trying to answer “how” to get people to attend our church or “how” to keep them once they are here. “How” do we make the music better, “how” do we make the transition from traditional to contemporary or “how” to move from attractional to missional. “How” do we get the programs, and “how” do we navigate those transitions.
More importantly than the “how” is the “why.” Why does your church exist? Why has God placed your church in the context He has placed it? Why has He placed you there to lead and be a part of that church at this point in time? Jesus said very clearly in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of man is come to seek and save the lost.” Then, in John 20:21, He told His disciples, “As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you!” Every church exists to go out in love, to seek and to save the lost by presenting the gospel clearly to everyone and making disciples of those who do not presently believe. We exist to help people find and follow Jesus.
What has happened to our evangelistic passion for those who are far from God without Christ? What has happened to our burden to seek and to save the lost? It seems we are overly focused on helping people follow Jesus more than pursuing the lost sheep who need to find Jesus. It is easy to incorrectly think that the size of a congregation guarantees that it is healthy and is growing in a healthy way. A survey of mega-churches (attendance of 2,000 on Sunday or more) revealed that the percentage of people who come to their church who were unchurched, or non-Christians, is only 5%, at best.
This is consistent with statistics that state only 2-3% of churches in the States are experiencing any real conversion growth. Approximately 10 million less people are going to church today than 30 years ago. “The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion continues to grow at a rapid pace. One-fifth of the U.S. public — and a third of adults under 30 — are religiously unaffiliated today,” the highest percentages ever in Pew Research Center polling — 13 million are self-described atheists and agnostics with another 14% of the population claiming no particular religious affiliation.
The fields are white unto harvest. Is there anything worse than being lost, far from God and an eternity separated from God? Yes! Being lost and having no one who is looking for you or who even cares that you are lost. Everything Jesus did as God incarnate can fit into one of two categories — seeking and saving. Seeking can be seen in His deliberately connecting with people who were lost, such as Zacchaeus and the woman at the well. Saving was His helping followers to grow in grace and truth, such as the 12 disciples and Mary and Martha. Our church members say they are burdened for the lost, but less than 5% have ever shared the gospel.
The reality is that gospel information apart from a relationship with a real live breathing Christian will have limited results. It is real people who have been radically saved caring enough to reach out and calling real people to also be radically saved. This is accomplished by loving them and building relationships with them. You must make people, in your circle of influence, aware of you in a positive way by loving them. You need to then connect with them by learning their name so you can begin praying for them. The relationship builds when you know their story, listen to their story and love them whatever their story is.
Once relationships have been built, then you begin having spiritual conversations with them. We are not saying there are never opportunities to present the gospel sooner because the debate of whether it is more confrontational or is it more conversational will not be answered anytime soon. Realize that it normally takes time and multiple conversations when the person is far from God. The process of planting and watering is how God uses people, conversations and experiences to move people toward the defining moment of placing their faith and trust in Christ as their Lord and Savior.
In a training I attended over 10 years ago, Ed Stetzer said, “It takes time and it often takes conversations… With few exceptions, people come to Christ after they have journeyed with other Christians — examining them and considering their claims.” We do what we do so that we might help others find Jesus and follow Him. We must get back to the main thing by praying to the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth laborers (Matt. 9:37-38). Then we must refocus our attention on those who are far from God. What if you tithed 5-10 hours a week to engaging your community with the gospel? What would that look like?
Prayerfully consider making it your goal, with the leadership of the Holy Spirit, to have more spiritual conversations with people in the next 60 days than you did in 2022. Train yourself and your people how to have good gospel conversations with non-Christians by answering their questions and concerns and equipping them to be able to explain key truths necessary for salvation. Then do not be okay with a 3-5% conversion growth rate, but have a vision to grow a healthy thriving church that is at least increasing by a 50% conversion rate. Lastly, realize what an honor it is to be an answer to Jesus’ prayer in Matthew 9!
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Larry Barker
Director of Church Planting and Church Health Larry Barker submits a weekly column titled, Healthy Church Solutions, designed to strengthen and encourage the local church.
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