It's hard to quantify or classify this, but the intangible litmus test when it comes to churches is this: is it life-giving? What do I mean by that? I simply mean the worship and the message and the relationships breathe life into your soul. I'm assuming it's Bible-believing and Christ-centered. I'm assuming theological orthodoxy. When you walk out of church, do you feel more full of life?
Jesus said, "I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly." That was his mission. And missional churches are life-giving churches. Not sure how else to say it. And I'm not sure it's something we even know how to wrap our words around. But you know whether a church is life-giving or not. And I think it determines whether you want to go back again.
Jesus said, "I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly." That was his mission. And missional churches are life-giving churches. Not sure how else to say it. And I'm not sure it's something we even know how to wrap our words around. But you know whether a church is life-giving or not. And I think it determines whether you want to go back again.
10 Comments:
Great post, Mark. And that's why the Association of Related Churches is so powerful. When the plans for launching a new church are constantly filtered through two questions, Is Christ lifted up and is everything we do life-giving? Life change is the result. Church becomes a "get to" instead of a "got to."
That's why we drove 45 miles each way (from Stafford) to NCC. When we left each Sunday afternoon, we felt inspired for God and full of life. I know you didn't post your message in search of praise, but I couldn't help post it anyway!
Craig Groeschel calls this the it factor. He says you can tell when church has "it" or doesn't have "it." It has alot to do with the Spir"it."
Your litmus test is a new idea to me. My initial reaction is, wouldn't it be better if we judged churches on objective rather than subjective criteria? How do I know that the "full of life" feeling is really God or just my morning coffee kicking in? How do we know that the worship is breathing life into people's souls or that they are simply attracted to the cute girls in the praise band? We need an objective set of criteria!
The Reformers believed the true church was where, "the word of God is truly preached and taught and the sacraments rightly administered". I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on their view of the marks of the Church.
As a follow-on to Randy, I would say that I've been in churches where there is not obvious theological error and the sacraments are administered properly ... but I did not leave motivated to go change the world, or at least my world. Maybe that is completely my fault. When I leave a life-giving church (like NCC), I am excited and motivated to make God-honoring changes in my life, to talk to people about God, to devote my energy and thoughts to God. Just my own experience.
Great post!
Love how Chris & Brenda say life giving church becomes "a get to instead of a got to."
Yes, I agree. I believe it is a maybe a matter of "discernment"; something of our spirit and our soul. I was in a life-giving church last Sunday. Thanks, Mark.
Maria,
Your last sentence makes my point perfectly. Its your experience. What if I attend NCC and am not motivated? Does that invalidate that church? Talking about the "it" factor or the "breathing life into your soul" idea is way too subjective! The basis for what we judge a church needs to be outside of us, an objective criteria because feelings come and go. Actually basing judgements on feelings has more in common with Star Wars "feel the force Luke...feel don't think" than orthodox Christianity.
Again, I think the Reformers had a pretty good criteria, the true church is where "the word of God is truly preached and taught and the sacraments rightly administered"
Randy,
Jesus said, "I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly." Is that subjective? I understand the point you're trying to make. And I'm "assuming" those things. But there is something beyond that. To say that "subjective" things are invalid is like invalidating the work of the Holy Spirit. God is the God of the objective and the subjective. He wants to sanctify our logical left brain and creative right brain and amygdala (the emotional center). I think it's all of the above. But now I'm rambling :)
My two cents,
Mark
First of all, I think Mark assumes in his blog that the 'objective value' is there. When it comes to the subjective vs. objective question, I don't believe it is either/or answer but both. The objective test would tend to look at the 'results' of the worship service, and the easiest way to look at that is to look at actions. A church should inspire us to change our actions, but are acts alone enough? We must also change our spirit, and there is no objective test for that. A worship service that leaves you with warm fuzzies, but does not inspire you to change or to action is of little worth. Inspiring action without meaningful change is also.
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