In the business world, flashiness or virality may lead to short-term success, but it’s not a recipe for long-term flourishing. The companies that succeed in the long run are the ones that do the basics well most of the time.
The same is true of churches. Many churches suppose themselves to be doing well because they don’t know what they’re doing. If there are bodies in the seats and envelopes in the offering plates, that’s a sign that all is well. But full auditoriums and steady giving (grateful as we are when we have them) are not the mission of the church of the Lord Jesus. Our mission is to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19).
What are signs that a local church is in step with this God-given mission? When Luke describes the beginnings of the church in Jerusalem in Acts 2:42–47, he gives us a clear picture of at least four basics that we ought to commit to doing well.
A Healthy Church Learns Christ Through the Preaching of the Word
The first thing we learn about the first converts after Pentecost is that they “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42). Indeed, it was Peter’s preaching that had been the catalyst for their repentance (2:37). It’s no surprise, then, that they continued to look to the apostles’ teaching for help.
These days, preaching is largely out of style. Even many Christian pastors suppose that there are more effective ways to communicate. But the authority of the preacher is the authority of God, the Holy Spirit, who has chosen “the folly of what we preach” (1 Cor. 1:21) as His means of delivering His Word. The church of Jesus preaches Jesus: that He was a historic figure, not a mythology; that His death on the cross was on account of sin and brought forgiveness; that He rose from the dead and will raise up those who believe; and that the Spirit He sent brings the power for a brand-new life.
A healthy church is not full of “lifelong learners” looking to stimulate their minds or warm their hearts. A healthy church is full of men and women eager to learn Christ (Eph. 4:20). That’s how the church was born in Acts 2, that’s how it proceeded, and that is what we endeavor to do today. Acts 2:42 describes how three thousand believers took themselves off to biblical kindergarten to learn about the Lord Jesus Christ, who fulfills the Scriptures and gives life to those who trust Him.
A Healthy Church Shares in Fellowship Around the Truth
Acts 2:42 also tells us that long with the apostle’s teaching, “they devoted themselves to … the fellowship.” The Greek word for “fellowship” is koinōnia, whose root is the word for common. The church, in other words, is to have a common understanding of the Word and a common fellowship with God (1 John 1:3).
The fellowship that unites a church is not ultimately a matter of shared interest, stage of life, mutual regard, or any such thing. It is a shared experience of God’s grace, and it is built on humility and honesty. As sinners forgiven in the Gospel, we can be honest with each other and with outsiders about our own faults, looking to Christ and not to ourselves for assurance and forgiveness. The church is thus a place where genuine friendship and affection can grow up around the Lord Jesus, without appeal to worldly pride regarding age, sex, race, interest, intellect, or status.
A significant consequence of this fellowship is that believers regard nothing as their own (Acts 4:32) and so share things in common. Such sharing is not communism or poverty for poverty’s sake, but it is an ongoing, mutual care that puts the needs of others above our own desires. When the circumstances arose, not only were the first Christians prepared to give what they had on hand, but also, they sold their belongings to serve the needs of the church. In a healthy church, spiritual fellowship overflows in practical sharing and sacrificial giving.
A Healthy Church Worships Reverently and Joyfully
Among those first believers, “awe came upon every soul” (Acts 2:43), and they were “attending the temple together” and “praising God” (vv. 46–47). To be sure, there was reverence for the manifest presence of God among them in signs, wonders, and repentant hearts—but the reverence was not at the expense of gladness. The gathering of the people of God should naturally lead to joyful celebration of the mighty acts of God through Jesus Christ.
The presence of reverence and joy together is important. Some churches are like crematoriums, all downcast looks and dead bodies. Others are like carnivals, frivolous and unordered. The true church of Jesus Christ recognizes that the solemn fact that Jesus died for sins is good news about which we should rejoice. And that worship can be both formal, in the regular gatherings of God’s people, and informal, around the hearts and under the rooves of Christian homes. It is worship, in other words, that encompasses all of life.
We shouldn’t forget, though, that if we are to worship truly, we first need to be spiritually alive, spiritually assisted, and spiritually active. We need to have been brought to new life by the Spirit, helped by the Spirit, and engaged with the Spirit. True worship is spiritual, rational, and volition—by God’s help, engaging the mind and the will to offer thankful praise to God.
A Healthy Church Grows with God’s Help
Finally, Luke tells us, “The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). After receiving the Gospel preached to them, the congregation in Jerusalem went out and preached to others. Yet Luke understood that it is always God who changes hearts and brings people into the fellowship.
A great danger in our churches is that a preacher would think that because he can convince many people to stand up at the end of a service, many people are therefore being converted. In fact, over the centuries, it may be that many people with a small amount of social courage have convinced themselves that they are saved when they have had no change of heart, no repentance—no more faith, in fact, than the demons have (James 2:19).
A healthy church is a preaching church. It preaches through the godly behavior that is able to win “favor with all the people” (Acts 2:47) and through the explicit proclamation of the Gospel, both formally from the pulpit and informally in the course of life. Yet a healthy church never supposes that mere assent to the Gospel is what God seeks. It grows through repentant faith that bears fruit in the life of a believer. It’s one thing to say that we have invited Jesus into our hearts. It’s quite another to see Him truly at work there.
“Pray to the Lord of the Harvest”
Our Lord Himself declared, “The harvest is plentiful” (Matt. 19:37). People have a spiritual hunger that needs to be filled. How sad it is when they walk into a church that cannot fill it! Let us pray earnestly that our own churches will not let them down but that we can demonstrate the power of God among us through biblical teaching, loving fellowship, living worship, and ongoing, God-helped evangelism.
This article was adapted from the sermon “True Living” by Alistair Begg.
