9 marks of a church in poor health

Thanks to Mark Dever, many of us know the Nine Badges of a Healthy Church. Although they never claimed to be the last word in all that a church should be or do, the nine marks were useful in reminding Christians (and particular pastors) of the necessary elements that we have always neglected in a style-focused era.

In a sense, the nine marks of a sick church could simply be the opposite of anything that constitutes a healthy church, so a sick church ignores belonging, discipline, explanatory preaching, and everything else. But the signs of illness in the church are not always so obvious. Your church may teach and understand all good things, and yet it is a terribly sick place. There are certainly dozens of indicators that a church has become dysfunctional and sick, but let’s limit it to nine.

Here are nine marks that your church has even one that believes in the Bible.
Preaches the gospel.
And embraces good ecclesiology: you may be sick.

1) The more peripheral the theme of the sermon, the more enthusiastic people become. One of the things I’ve always liked in our church is that the sermons people like the most are those that address the most central themes of the Bible. They like to hear about sin and salvation, the glory of God, providence, Christ, and the cross. It is not that they never listen (or hate) sermons about the end of time or social problems or financial stewardship or marriage or fatherhood, but I seem to be more passionate about messages that focus more on guilt, grace, and gratitude. I worry when a congregation gets tired of hearing about the Godhead, Atonement, New Birth, or Resurrection and wants to hear another long series on how to deal with Daniel’s stress or 70 weeks.

2) Church employees are not happy to work. Every job has its ups and downs. Every job will have tensions from time to time, but leaders should be attentive to employees who look grumpy, dissatisfied, and have to crawl through the church every day. Do your church employees appreciate each other’s presence?Do you see them laughing together as friends in the communion room, do you see them laughing together?Otherwise, there may be constant stress, conflict or worse.

3) The pastor and his wife don’t get along. I am not talking about the common disagreements and difficult times that each couple goes through, I am talking about a marriage that has grown cold and lost love, a superficial relationship that lacks passion, each church must have a mechanism for it. Ask the pastor and his wife how the marriage is going (or not). Churches can survive many conflicts, but they will rarely be happy and healthy places if the pastor and his wife are secretly or overtly unhappy and sick.

4) Almost no one knows where the money is going. Churches manage their finances in different ways. As churches grow, it can be more difficult (or even silly) for everyone to have a say in allocating every penny; however, when it comes to financing, exaggerating transparency is rarely a bad idea. At least there must be more than a small group of people who know (and have a say) where the money is going. Don’t make the pastor’s salary a national security problem.

5) The management team never changes or changes, both situations are alarming signs. On the one hand, the church has a very limited view of itself when there is never any new blood among the rulers, if its elders, deaconos, committee leaders, small group leaders, EBD teachers, coordinators, and members of the cult group are the same now since Joseph Sarney was president of the Republic, you have a problem, maybe former leaders love power , maybe no one else is in formation, maybe your church hasn’t welcomed anyone new in twenty years, they’re all big problems. On the other hand, if the elders are never interested in serving one more term and the staff never stays more than two years, the culture of their church can be very limited, very conflicted or very ruthless with honest mistakes.

6) No one is lifted from the church for pastoral ministry or sent from the church to missionary service. Good preaching inspires young men to preach. The clarity of the gospel encourages men and women to share the gospel with those who have not heard it. Small churches may not send workers every year, but the congregation that almost never produces pastors and missionaries is almost never a healthy church.

7) There is an exacerbated slowness in decision-making. It may be the congregation’s fault. Some members insist on approving all decisions, from hiring employees, length of service, and carpet color. If everyone has to vote on each decision, their church will never be greater than the number of informed people who can vote in each decision (which is a very small number). This slowness may be the pastor’s fault. In some churches, does nothing happen without the pastor’s personal approval and direct supervision?a sure recipe for territorial wars, slow growth and the elimination of talented leaders.

8) Preaching becomes erratic. This can take many forms; perhaps the pastor no longer shares the pulpit with other members and with some occasional external guest; perhaps the opposite is happening, and the pastor seems to call the substitutes most of the time; perhaps preaching has become more virulent, or always. hammered on the same subject, or shows signs of little preparation. You may have noticed that the preacher relies more on videos or sketches that are not yours, or that you are constantly reusing material from a few years ago. No one wants preaching boring. Some variations are expected and welcome, but be careful if the preacher seems doctrinally unstable, irritable, or exhausted.

9) There are problems that everyone knows, but no one talks about them openly. Sick churches often have a great tácita rule: the person who mentions our problems is the one who has the problem. He may be a pastor who doesn’t know how to preach, an organist who never stays to listen to the sermon, an old man who says he’s in an illicit relationship, a youth director who has no way of talking to children, an employee who doesn’t get along with anyone, a leader who leads in order and intimidation. It is preferable that many problems be solved secretly and discreetly, but this is no excuse for neglecting what everyone can clearly see. Talking about what everyone knows is often the first step in eliminating the power to deactivate the problem.

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply