Tennessee pastor David Worley (known as Volfan007 to many) offered this good word about the essentials of church.
What should a church be most interested in? Numbers and finances? Budgets and Backsides in the pews(or chairs)? I don’t think so. Oh, I’m not saying that these things are not important. They are. And, nobody would be more excited about my church having double the attendance that we have now, than me. Nobody would love to see the finances being much better and overflowing, than me. But, there are some people, who would make these things THE most important factors in determining if a church is successful, or not. To them, it’s all about the attendance. If the attendance is great, and increasing; then the church is doing good. If the finances are going great; the money is coming in; then things are wonderful in a church. And, if those things are not doing so well, then the church is doing bad. To some people, it’s all about the numbers.
But, I submit to you that we should be looking at some other things. I submit to you that God is more concerned about other things. I submit to you that God is more concerned about the faithfulness of a church. God is more concerned that we’re doctrinally sound and spiritually healthy. The most important thing to us should be whether a church is staying true to the clear teachings of the Bible, even if people don’t attend, because of it. We should be more concerned that the congregation is spiritually healthy, than we are about the finances. And, by spiritually healthy, I’m talking about the unity and harmony of the church. I’m talking about people growing in their faith. I’m talking about people actually serving the Lord. I’m talking about the church having a sweet spirit, and there’s life in the worship. That’s being spiritually healthy. And, our greatest concern should be the spiritual health of our churches.
Now, when a church is more concerned about faithfulness, and being Biblically sound, and spiritually healthy; it may not result in a lot of people coming to that church. Or, it may result in a lot of people coming. The finances may not be the greatest in the world. Or, the finances may do great. I mean, we might even have some people leave our churches, because they don’t won’t to live by the clear teachings of the Bible. Your attendance may not shoot thru the roof. And, the finances may not be such that you can buy a new, Church bus; or even get a raise next year. But, those won’t be the things that we’re all looking at, to determine if the church is doing great, or not. Instead, we’ll be looking at the spirit of the Church. And, we’ll be looking at the theological soundness of the church. And, we’ll be looking at the faithfulness of the church.
I want my Church to be Biblically sound, spiritually healthy, and faithful to God; whether we have big numbers, or not. How about you?