Church Vitality

I spent some time recently with a group of people discussing a process for church revitalization.  The discussion grows out of a concern that the majority of Baptist churches in Texas have reached a plateau (meaning that they have neither grown nor declined over a long period of time), or they have experienced a long period of decline.  The decline is not only in numbers and finances, but a loss of influence and ministry to the broader community.

The group began the discussions by talking in terms of church health.  The idea of church health has been around for a while and several indicators exist to measure and define whether a congregation is “healthy” or “possesses areas of improvement.”  The truth is that no matter how healthy, any church can still improve and we worried that the idea of church health gives the illusion that some perfect church exists which faces no challenges or problems.  We know quite well that even the churches that we might deem the healthiest still face challenges.

So we began to think in terms of vitality.  Vitality means “to possess the power, vigor and energy required to live, endure, and survive.”  In terms of our discussion, revitalization of a church would be the process of renewing a congregation's spiritual energy so that it can endure and thrive.  So, what creates vitality in a congregation?

One could look for statistical vitality.  Church growth models look for growth in attendance, participation in church ministry and programs, baptisms, and financial contributions as indicators of vitality.

One could look at the functions of the church, often listed as worship, ministry, evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, and prayer for indications of vitality.  Models exist to examine the effectiveness of a church related to these functions and to develop better ways of performing those functions.

But I suspect that true spiritual vitality in a church goes a little bit deeper than categories that we can measure and mines a quality of life that is produced by our relationship with Christ as his disciples.  I began to look at the New Testament for signs of church vitality and I have begun to ponder on the oft-repeated phrase “one another” as it relates to congregational vitality.  The phrase appears at least 46 times in the New Testament beginning with its most notable use by Jesus in John 13:34-35.  Jesus commanded the disciples to “love one another as I have loved you,” pointing out that this kind of love gave public evidence of true discipleship.

Jesus later repeated the command twice (Jn. 15:12, 17) and John repeated it 6 times in the letters of 1 and 2 John.  Paul uses the command in Romans 13:8, Colossians 4:2, and 1 Thessalonians 3:12, 4:9.  Peter instructs his readers to “love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Pt. 1:22).  Clearly, being mentioned no fewer than 14 times in the New Testament, love for one another is the defining characteristic of a vitalized church.

How is that love made evident?  The New Testament offers the attitudes of hospitality (1 Pt. 4:9), humility (1 Pt. 5:5), and acceptance (Rm. 15:7) toward one another.  A longer list of actions is provided in the New Testament that will create and give evidence of love for one another.

We should serve one another with acts of humble service, lest we turn on one another and destroy each other (Jn. 13:14, Gal. 5:13, 15).  We are to stimulate one another to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24) on one hand, but not provoke or envy one another on the other hand (Gal. 5:26).  In our speech we should not slander (Ja. 4:11), grumble against (Ja 5:9), pass judgment (Rm. 14:13), or bite and devour one another (Gal. 5:15).  Instead, we are to submit to one another (Gal. 5:21), live in harmony and peace with one another (Rm. 12:16, 14:19), encourage one another (1Th 4:18), confess our sins and pray for one another (Ja. 5:16).  We should forgive one another (Eph. 4:31, Col. 3:13, 19), and bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2).

Much like the Fruit of the Spirit in the life of a believer, these characteristics seem as if they should flow naturally through the life of a church much like a river flows through a valley, enriching the soil to enable deep roots for the gospel of Christ.  Even more importantly, I must ask myself in my own relationship to my church, what do I bring to the community of faith that increases this kind of vitality?

What about you?

The vitality in our churches can only be the result of the synergy created by the spiritual vitality in our own hearts.  Synergy is when the product is greater than the sum of the individual parts.  In other words, 1+1=3 because the energy created when 1 and 1 get together is greater than just 2.  When we let Christ develop greater vitality in our own hearts, then greater vitality will be created in our churches.