Session 2: "Defining the Goal - A Healthy Church"

Owned by David Hina
Last updated: Mar 07, 2017
4 min read
  • Question: Why is this important?
  • Process:  Review & discuss Mark Dever's "Marks of a Healthy Church"
  • Questions to ask:
    1. Do we understand it?
    2. Do we agree that these are characteristic of a "Healthy Church"?
    3. Are there things that I would add or remove?

Essential Marks of a Healthy Church

WHAT IS a healthy church?  It is one that Displays God's Character:  "A healthy church is not a church that's perfect and without sin. It has not figured everything out. Rather, it's a church that continually strives to take God's side in the battle against the ungodly desires and deceits of the world, our flesh, and the devil. It's a church that continually seeks to conform itself to God's Word....  More precisely, a healthy church is a congregation that increasingly reflects God's character as his character has been revealed in his Word." (Mark Dever)

  1. Expositional preaching is practiced:  
    1. deliberately works through Scripture, explains & applies throughout the Word
    2. presumes that what God says is authoritative for his people, that they should and need to hear it
    3. Scripture itself determines the content of the preaching
  2. Biblical theology is taught:
    1. the Bible is understood & interpreted in the context of the larger biblical story (God's decree / plan)
    2. the "part" is informed by the theology of the whole Bible
    3. sound doctrine (reliable, accurate, and faithful to the Bible) is taught, and false doctrine refuted
  3. Biblical understanding of the Good News:
    1. every member knows the gospel, and unites around the wonderful good news of salvation through Jesus Christ
    2. the members of a healthy church pray and long to know this gospel more deeply
    3. the members of a healthy church want to and are prepared to share the gospel (not merely the benefits of the gospel)

Important Marks of a Healthy Church

Dever's distinction:  "What I'm calling the important marks are important, at least when they are considered individually, but their absence doesn't necessitate leaving a church (but it may be wise to do so)."

  1. A Biblical understanding of conversion:
    1. "In the simplest terms, conversion equals repentance and faith."
    2. conversion is worked in the believer by the regenerating Spirit of God (the first act in conversion is not something we have done)
    3. true conversion will evidence itself in its fruit (sincere profession, without change, does not equal conversion)
  2. A Biblical understanding & practice of evangelism:
    1. sermons/teaching are NOT moralistic and me-centered (where the gospel is recast as little more than spiritual "self-help")
    2. motivation for evangelism comes primarily through teaching & meditating on the gospel, not through learning methods for sharing it.
    3. members are engaged in speaking the Good News of Christ to people around them, out of a heart that has been changed (NOT merely seeking to get someone to make a decision for Christ)
  3. A Biblical understanding & practice of membership:
    1. congregations should reflect the character of God, so our earthly records should approximate (to the extent possible) heaven's own records
    2. A healthy church communicates (by teaching & practice) that being a Christian means being joined to a church
    3. members practice biblical membership, taking on responsibility to love, serve, and encourage one another
    4. a healthy church manages membership well (because membership is the church's corporate endorsement of a person's salvation)
      1. encourages people to become members, and teaches the meaning & value of membership
      2. removes inactive members from the rolls (after seeking hard to instruct & restore them)
  4. Biblical church discipline:
    1. a healthy church follows through with biblical instruction to exercise God's judgment over membership in the area of ongoing sin
    2. a healthy church is not permissive of sin, but deals with it with the purpose of:
      1. restoring the member to fellowship with God
      2. preserving the holiness of God's church
  5. Biblical discipleship and growth:
    1. a healthy church has a concern for growing members, not just numbers
    2. does not view personal growth as "an optional extra for zealous disciples," but as normative for all members
    3. the church should be marked by a vital concern for increasing holiness of members, rooted in Christian self-denial
    4. as members grow together in holiness, that growth evidences itself in:
      1. growing numbers being called into missions
      2. older members getting a fresh sense of their responsibility in evangelism and in discipling younger members
      3. increased praying in the church, and more prayers centered on evangelism and ministry opportunities
      4. more members sharing the gospel with outsiders
      5. greater involvement in ministry activities
      6. members are routinely motivated to prayerfully speak the word to someone else for their growth
      7. increased spiritual conversation among members, including willingness to confess sin while pointing to the Cross
      8. increased and sacrificial giving (money, time, career, in marriages)
      9. increasing obedience in family relationships
  6. Biblical church leadership:
    1. a leadership team marked by the following:
      1. a plurality of elders whose spiritual gifts and pastoral concern indicate that God has called them to be elders
      2. a congregation that strives to ensure that the gospel is faithfully preached
      3. deacons who model service in the affairs of the church

      4. a pastor who is faithful in preaching the Word of God

    2. Elders are men who are especially devoted to prayer and the ministry of the Word 


  • Output:  A listing of any changes (additions or subtractions) we would make to this list.
  • Capture:  Capture a single primary prayer request out of this Session.

Output from Session #2:  

  1. Corporate Worship.  It was decided that an addition needs to be made to the list in the area of worship, because we would see the need for a healthy church to have certain elements present as part of corporate worship.  This area still needs to be defines, as we did not have time on the retreat  (DRH to research why this was missing from Mark Dever's listing).
  2. Areas of weakness.  The areas in which we find Providence to be the weakest are highlighted in green above.