When I wrote The Purpose Driven Church, I predicted that church health – not church growth – would be the primary concern of the 21st Century church. I believe that prediction is proving itself true.
The New Testament says a lot about the health of the church. Consider just a few verses:
“As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing. …” (Ephesians 4:16b, NLT)
“The focus of my letter wasn’t on punishing the offender but on getting you to take responsibility for the health of the church.” (2 Corinthians 2:9, Msg)
“You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other. …” (James 3:18, Msg)
Church health is the key to church growth. All living things grow if they’re healthy. You don’t have to make them grow – it’s just natural for living organisms. As a parent, I didn’t have to force my three children to grow. They naturally grew up. As long as I removed the hindrances, such as poor nutrition or an unsafe environment, their growth was automatic.
If my children had not grown up, something would have been terribly wrong. I would have done whatever it took to discover the disease and correct it. I wouldn’t have remained passive, spouting clichés about faithfulness, or wanting “quality not quantity” in my children.
The same principle is true for the church. Since the church is a living organism, it’s natural for it to grow if it’s healthy. The church is a Body, not a business – an organism, not an organization. It’s alive. If a church is not growing, it is dying.
What then is the secret of church health?
In a word, it’s balance!
Your body has nine different systems (circulatory, respiratory, digestive, skeletal, etc.). When these systems are all in balance, it produces health. But when your body gets out of balance, we call that “disease.” Likewise when the Body of Christ becomes unbalanced, disease occurs. Health and growth can only occur when everything is brought into balance.
Our entire world is based on this principle of balance. Our planet was perfectly balanced by God, at just the right angle on its axis to support life. It rotates at a speed that minimizes vibration. If this planet were just a little closer to the sun, we’d burn up and, if it were just a few miles further away from the sun, we’d freeze to death.
Nature is a collection of ecosystems that live in balance with each other. We now know that even the tiniest variation in the ecosystem creates a chain reaction. God has set up a food chain with plants and animals in balance.
In architecture, structures must be balanced. If the stress isn’t balanced, a building will collapse or a bridge will fall. There must be equilibrium. If your life is not balanced, you might collapse, and if your congregation is not balanced, it might collapse.
As pastors and counselors we must realize that healing is the recovery of balance to the body, soul, and congregation.
Healthy, lasting church growth is multi-dimensional. I’ve written extensively on the fact that church health has five facets: every church needs to grow warmer through fellowship, deeper through discipleship, stronger through worship, broader through ministry, and larger through evangelism.
These five purposes of the church are commanded by Jesus in the Great Commandment and Great Commission, explained by Paul in Ephesians 4, described in Jesus’ prayer for the church in John 17, and modeled by the first church in Jerusalem.
In Acts 2:42-47 these five facets of health are mentioned: They fellowshipped, edified each other, worshipped, ministered, and evangelized. As a result, verse 47 (NIV) says, “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
The Five Dimensions of a Healthy Church:
- Churches grow warmer through fellowship.
- Churches grow deeper through discipleship.
- Churches grow stronger through worship.
- Churches grow broader through ministry.
- Churches grow larger through evangelism.
Church growth is the natural result of church health. But church health can only occur when our message is biblical and our mission is balanced. Each of the five New Testament purposes of the church must be in equilibrium with the others for health to occur.
Now this is important: Because we are imperfect beings, balance in a church does not occur naturally. In fact, we must continually correct imbalance! It’s human nature to overemphasize the aspect or purpose of the church we feel most passionate about.
Most evangelical churches already do the five purposes of the church – sort of.
But they don’t do them all equally well. One church may be strong in fellowship, yet weak in evangelism. Another may be strong in worship, yet weak in discipleship. Still another may be strong in evangelism, yet weak in ministry.
Why is this? It’s the natural tendency of leaders to emphasize what they feel strongly about and neglect whatever they feel less passionate about. Around the world you can find churches that have become the extension of their pastor’s giftedness. They focus only on what he cares about most.
Unless you set up a system and structure to intentionally balance the five purposes, your church will tend to overemphasize the purpose that best expresses the gifts and passion of its pastor.
Healthy churches are built on purpose! By focusing equally on all five of the New Testament purposes of the church, your church will develop the healthy balance that makes lasting growth possible.
If you really want to know how to grow a balanced, healthy purpose driven church, join me in Lake Forest on June 28-30 for PDC 16!
Great. The tension between church health and church growth is actually a great thing. We shouldn’t resolve it. We wrote more in this post titled “What does the Bible say about church growth?” http://churchfuel.com/bible-say-church-growth/
your church grow & health are lmpartful. thanks
I have been blessed by your “Purpose Driven Church ” book. Sir, how to I get ur permission to use the book in my Bible school project?
Hi!
Pastor Rick, I have been give a book that you wrote ( the purpose driven life) from a friend. I’ve never bother to look at for about nearly a year it has been on the shelf, in the draws just never bother to read it till about 6 months ago I happen to pick it up and sat down with a cuppa and read it. I’ve never felt so bless with this book I did find a lot of myself in it. Your teachings hit the heart of a person.
I find that you have another book The purpose Driven Church.
I’d love to have one.
Thank you.
I am blessed by your teachings.thy have helped me grow as a leader.i thank God for coming across your site.Thank you
this a powerfully anointed teaching. please send me this material. and many more
Totally bogus. I’m sorry but unhealthy churches grow. Unhealthy businesses, corporations and organizations can grow and do grow. Denying that is denying reality. I guess a booming Walmart is the pinnacle of emotional and spiritual health, eh? But then who really cares about what is actually true. The most important thing is convincing others what I need to be true.
I think you missed the point Glenn. Rick is emphasizing “focus”, i.e. the focus should be on church health and not church growth. Too many just want to grow for growth’s sake without taking into consideration if the church is truly fulfilling it’s Biblical purpose and mandate. Centering on the health of the Church will help to ensure this reality.
I am so excited of your teachings brother. Right now I am taking my theological studies and I would like to be studying what you have from the Lord, but —– can you help me on that ? Jesus called me to start or plant churches. I have planted few and they are weak or not health. Please help train me.
I would like to ask you to visit our large evangelical ground in Rwanda with a team minister to train, make seminars to, the pastors. and I need direct contact with you,better face to face when you will visit our and your country Rwanda in July,2016 thanks
it is wonderful i get the orientation to administer the ministry forward ,basing on the five dimensions of a healthy church, they shall help me in the journey of accomplishing my task of my ministry called Jesus’s great commission ministry
Rick: we’ve left out #6. Church discipline, in the spirit and context of Matt. 18:15-17. This is for Restoration.
I squirm at the thought because working with people is so messy. Corinthians days some of “us” are weak and dying because of sin…
When we fail to go to the one who is openly violating Scripture we let things become acceptable to the Body.
Just thinking…
Pastor Rick,
Greetings from CAR!
I pray that you come in Central African Republic (CAR) in the coming months in order to share your experiences about the health churches with the CAR Pastors.
Always together for the fulfillment of the Great Commission in this generation. Amen.
This is inspirational. I will do it my church in Kenya since I can not come to America
thank with all my heart the newsletters I receive them has been a blessing!.
Written by Rick Warren, by Esrei text him and my experience as a pastor and planter urban churches here in southern Brazil, I realized that:
CHARACTERISTICS OF CHURCHES NOT GROW
Emphasis exaggerated in secondary aspects of faith – Pharisee style. Legalism without holiness.
concentrated power in the institution and not in a person’s vision. Stuck in the past; institutional process that perpetuates.
Leaders are not defined by their strength to lead, but loyalty to the institution.
Inhibition to ask for money.
Emphasis on the welfare of members of the church (the church comes close to being a religious club).
Little place for prayer, for languages and for other spiritual gifts.
Decisions are made by people distant from the people.
The theory taught is not practiced.
Communicates very little; Sheepish church.
extremely formal government order
Liturgy away from people and their needs.
Emphasis strong leader in the preparation (spends a lot of time preparing – hence the negative of seminars – however, spends little time
CHARACTERISTICS OF CHURCHES GROWING
They are revived churches. They give much room for prayer for the new languages and other spiritual gifts.
It has a strong leader: vision; It has no difficulty in making decisions; It has extremely charismatic personality.
Churches marked by a quick, pragmatic and bold message.
Are churches with agility.
They are uninhibited churches to ask for money. Request with the following arguments: God is the owner of everything – we will refund what is it, we are only stewards; Tithing is an act of obedience and offerings is an act of faith; They say the taxpayer shall be blessed; show works; construction; and concrete projects where money is being spent; the taxpayer realizes transparency.
Church communicates enough (personal evangelism, crusades, leafleting, radio, internet, TV, press).
Forms of little formal government, more loose.
Churches marked by the capacity for renewal.
They are aggressive – and define the devil, the world and the flesh as enemies.
They work intensively on the “survey” of leaders and not in the “training” of them.
Usually not found new churches, but open congregations (satellite churches).
True Pastor Warren. We have need of quality in our churches today. Wonderful teaching, learnt a lot. God bless
Powerful, insightful, and anointed! I know this is the heart of God for His people – and you articulated this truth about the church beautifully. Thank you for your heart for God, the Church, and the seekers. Blessings!
Sounds good. I need a ministry related position, pastor, associate, assistant, or church planter. Staff pastor or something. I working myself into old age without really doing ministry! Please email me some help. PLEASE!
This is a great post. Where do i go to get more specific information for our church? Thanks and God Bless you.
This is so true. Since it is easier to evaluate growth (numerically) we default to that. It takes more time and is very subjective to evaluate church health so we shy away from that. The result is we believe bigger is healthier. Many non- Christ following groups attract big crowds but it has nothing to do with the Gospel or Jesus Christ. Strive for health and everything else will work out. Thanks for the reminder Rick!
I took over a failing company in ’98. I was armed only with one book as training to handle this turn-around, called The Purpose Driven Church, by Rick Warren. I met with management and said that this was the playbook to our recovery.
I had wanted to serve full-time in ministry and went to training at Saddleback Church designed around this book in ’95. I thought to myself, I wished I had known these concepts when I was in business. 3 years later, I would.
The company went on to huge success and has touched many lives in the process. Anyone who has been blessed by this company, including me, owes a debt of gratitude to Rick Warren. I doubt it would exist today without him.
I pray God richly bless Rick for his faithful service to Him and for impacting so many lives for Christ.
“The church is a Body, not a business – an organism, not an organization. It’s alive.” Absolutely this is so very true. My question then is this. Why have you invested so much time over your life being mentored by Peter Drucker who has made a name for himself by successfully injecting business philosophy directly into the church? I’m not criticizing here, I’m trying to understand your methodology.
I’ve read your book, ‘Purpose Driven Life’. It left a deep & profound impact upon my life. God bless you for that.