PROPOSAL FOR A MAJOR RESOURCE FOR PASTORS &
CHURCH LEADERS

John Mark Ministries exists to encourage pastors,
Christian leaders and their spouses. And many are discouraged.
Why? Our research suggests 40 different responses to that question.

An important one runs as follows: ‘The church is
not an encouraging community. It’s spiritually diseased in many
ways. And I’m feeling that I’m pushing it uphill in terms of suggesting
cures for the church’s illnesses…’

Is it possible to diagnose/measure the health of
any local church anywhere – in any culture? And then suggest a
prognosis and prescription for ‘cure’ of its spiritual ills? Church
Growth expert Dr Peter Wagner told me a couple of years back that
no one had yet published a definitive ‘medical model’ for the
church universal.

It would be a daunting task: a Western downtown city
‘first church’ is as unlike an Indian village church as any two
organizations can be…

Below are some preliminary suggestions for variables
that should be considered. We are offering a ‘Rikert-scale’ type
measuring instrument, where people who know the church well rank
these 100 variables along a graduated scale, by answering something
like: YES, ALWAYS / GENERALLY / SOMETIMES / RARELY / NEVER/NOT
AT ALL to a carefully-worded question.

Just one example: our research indicates that a healthy
church – of any size – sees at least 70% of regular corporate
worshippers attending small groups for ‘Faith Development’ (Bible
study, sharing, prayer and a mission goal) at least once a fortnight.
So the relevant question might be worded: ‘What percentage of
regular Sunday worshippers meet at least once a fortnight in a
small group for…’ Then we would give a numerical score for each
of the responses (say, 10,8,6,4,2). Now this would need to be
refined of course. For example: what if the representative leaders
gave wildly differing responses? That would also indicate a few
important things about how well they are in touch with what’s
happening – or how well the church kept records etc… By the
way, a church that sees nearly 100% in small groups may have other
problems: a constrictive sectarian mindset; an authoritarian leadership
style; or few new people coming (who haven’t yet connected to
a group).

Again, we’re saying these are universal factors.
They have been garnered from my ministries in over 1000 churches
in 30 countries and in all continents – and from wide reading
(and consulting/counseling with a pastor or church leader at least
once or twice every day). The list is not in its final form yet:
do you have any other suggestions?

John Mark Ministries needs a grant (of about $20,000
– one year’s salary – plus about $5000 for travel and research
costs) to complete this project. It’s strategic for the health
of our churches: will you join us to pray about funding? Thanks.

Shalom!

Rowland Croucher (‘servus servorum dei’; AMDG)

ACCOUNTABILITY: EVERYBODY SHOULD BE ANSWERABLE TO
SOMEBODY (and who’s accountable to whom in the organization should
be generally known – perhaps, in larger churches, in some sort
of church handbook).

‘ADMINISTRY’: GOOD ORGANIZATION IS LIKE GOOD DIGESTION
– when it’s good you don’t notice it!.

AESTHETICS: GOD IS THE ULTIMATE ARTIST! How appropriately
tasteful is the decor of your buildings?

ARCHITECTURE: BUILDINGS PREACH! They tell the community
what kind of God you believe in!.

AUDITS TELL US WHERE WE ARE! A church ‘audit’ is
best done by an outside consultant, who collects data from questionnaires,
interviews with the leaders and congregation etc.

AUTHORITY (WHO DECIDES WHAT) HAS FIVE SOURCES – GOD,
THE BISHOP, ELDERS, THE CONGREGATION, AND THE WANDERING PROPHET/APOSTLE.
A local church might not give these names to their leaders, but
the respective functions should be covered somehow.

BIBLE: IT’S GOD’S COMMUNICATION-OF-HIS-LOVE TO US,
BUT LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE WHICH IS NOT GOD IS A MEANS NOT AN END.
So a healthy church will have a ‘high’ view of Scripture without
resorting to ‘bibliolatry’.

BUREAUCRACY, THOUGH NECESSARY, SHOULD BE MINIMAL!
As a rough guide, leaders should spend more time in faith-development
contexts than in administrative ones: unless they are employed
as administrators on the church staff.

CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT THING: HEALTHY CHURCHES
ADAPT! How well church leaders moderate change and a church adapts
to necessary changes is a sure sign of a church’s health.

CHILDREN ARE BEST TAUGHT OUTSIDE SUNDAY SCHOOLS (at
least in Western cultures)! If a church has no children it has
no future. The best formative influence for children: watching
highly committed ‘big people’ worshipping a God they obviously
love very much! The church’s role in strengthening families is
crucial here.

‘CHURCH’ IS PEOPLE, NOT A PLACE. (The question might
be worded: ‘when I think of church I think of a community of people
not a building’).

CLERICALISM: ONE OF THE CHURCH’S GREATEST EVILS!
Clericalism is based on the notion that the ‘clergy’ have certain
prerogatives – in addition to pastoral leadership – from which
other ‘ministers’ are excluded.

COMMITMENT: YOU GET WHAT YOU EXPECT! In a healthy
church they rarely have problems recruiting trained people for
strategic ministries.

COMMITTEES CAN BE USEFUL SOMETIMES. Most of the best
Christian ministries commenced with a vision by one person. But
‘standing’ ‘research’ and ‘action’ task-groups are necessary too.

COMMUNITY WITHIN – A SENSE OF BELONGING. This variable
measures the degree to which members feel ‘These are my people:
I care about them and they care about me!’.

COMMUNITY WITHOUT – DO THEY KNOW YOUR CHURCH IS THERE?
Here we ask people in the surrounding community what they think
of when you mention the name of a given church. This research
tells us all sorts of things about the impact the church is making
in its neighbourhood.

COMPASSION IS DOING WHAT JESUS DID FOR ‘THE LOST,
THE LEAST, AND THE LAST ‘. Who’s hurting – inside and outside
the church – where the people of God can exercise ministries of
mercy?

‘CONFESSIONAL’ CHURCHES ARE MORE HEALTHY BECAUSE
THEY’RE MORE HONEST. For example, in healthy churches preachers
have a ‘we’ rather than a ‘you’ preaching style: including themselves
in need of God’s grace.

CONFLICT MAY BE GOOD FOR YOU! Healthy churches don’t
necessarily relish conflict, but they have secure ways of handling
it.

COUNSELING – HELPING PEOPLE HELP EACH OTHER. Healthy
churches run a ‘How to Help your Friend’ seminar/course regularly
for their people.

‘COVENANTAL’ CHURCHES TAKE RELATIONSHIPS SERIOUSLY
– ‘Covenental’ in contrast to ‘creedal’. That is, they’re dynamic
rather than static; basing their life together on relationships
rather than simply affirming doctrinal distinctives.

CREATIVITY IS WORKING WITH A CREATIVE GOD WHO MAKES
ALL THINGS NEW. Creativity may be expressed in all sorts of ways
– artisticly, in problem-solving, etc.

CULTURAL RELEVANCE – THE APOSTLES WERE SENSITIVE
TO IT, SO SHOULD WE BE! Healthy churches do not slavishly follow
cultural shifts, but recognize their importance if they are to
be relevant to the time/place where God has put them.

CULTURAL CRITIQUE – THE PROPHETS DID IT, SO SHOULD
WE! If Christians have a ‘my culture/country right or wrong’ mentality
they may have been seduced into believing that their culture is
in most/all respects God-ordained. In reality it may be demonic
in some ways.

DELEGATION: GIVE EVERYONE A SENSE OF IMPORTANCE.
Teach/train each minister/Christian well, and trust one another…

EAT TOGETHER SOMETIMES (FAMILIES DO THAT!)

ENCOURAGEMENT GIVES US THE COURAGE TO KEEP GOING!
A healthy church has many people like Barnabas: every time we
meet him in the New Testament he’s encouraging someone!

ENTHUSIASM (literally ‘being possessed by God’) is
very contagious. If the leaders don’t have it, generally the church
as a whole won’t either.

ETHICS / MORALS – HOW TO BEHAVE IN A PAGAN WORLD
(BUT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MACRO- AND MICRO- ISSUES!). Every
church should equip its members in deciding ‘Christianly’ in such
contentious areas as race, poverty, war, hunger, patriarchy, abortion
etc.

‘EUCHARISTIC’ COMMUNITIES ARE JOYFUL – that is, a
healthy church has a ‘high’ view of the sacraments; but both solemnity
and extravagant praise are regularly experienced.

EVANGELISM: GOOD NEWS IS FOR SHARING! How often/effectively
do people share their faith with others? How many people are added
regularly to the church membership through a decisive conversion
experience?

EVANGELICAL CHURCHES LIVE UNDER A HIGHER AUTHORITY.
Every healthy church, is, in some sense, ‘evangelical’: that is,
they live under the authority of the Word of God, rather than
accommodating their beliefs/thinking to the prevailing rationalities…

EXPECTANCY: THE CERTAIN CONVICTION THAT ‘GOD IS WITH
US’! When people come together for any purpose in a healthy church,
they expect God to change them!

FAITH IS TRUSTING GOD (PARTICULARLY WHEN WE’VE REASONED
EVERYTHING THROUGH AND STILL CAN’T FIND AN ANSWER)

FAMILY IS GOD’S DESIGN FOR MAKING HUMANS WHOLE! So
the church will be sensitive to family members’ needs to spend
quality time together: perhaps suggesting in pastors’/leaders’
‘ministry descriptions’ that they spend more evening-time at home
with their families than in church-work.

FINANCE: MONEY IS IMPORTANT (BUT NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT
THING). Healthy churches don’t usually need regular ‘stewardship
campaigns’ (unless for a major project); and give a regular proportion
(at least 10-20%) of their income to mission projects.

FORGIVENESS OILS THE MACHINERY OF RELATIONSHIPS:
In healthy churches people are taught what to do with resentments…

FORMATION IS MORE THAN INFORMATION – IT’S TRANSFORMATION.
Spiritual formation is the application of the Word of God by the
Spirit of God to the heart and mind of the child of God, so that
she or he becomes more and more like the Son of God.

FRIENDLINESS: USER-FRIENDLY CHURCHES SOON HAVE SPACE
PROBLEMS (THOUGH THEY MAY HAVE A ‘HANDSHAKE-FREE ZONE!’). True
Christian ‘friendliness’ is sensitive to different people’s desire
either to meet others, or to enjoy solitude/space from others
for a while…

FUN IS O.K. FOR HAPPY PEOPLE! Jesus enjoyed convivial
parties: so why shouldn’t his followers?

GOALS: IF YOU AIM AT A TARGET, YOU’RE MORE LIKELY
TO HIT IT! A church’s goals should be ‘owned’ by everyone: so
the process of formulating them will be consonent with the decision-making
mores of the particular culture. (For example, in some cultures
they will be arrived at by consensus after informal talking-sessions;
in many Western contexts they are formulated by congregations
who go away for a weekend retreat…) It’s best to have a small
number of major goals: enough (say four or five) to memorize for
that year.

GOD’S OTHER NAME IS ‘SURPRISE’! A healthy understanding
of who God is, is absolutely vital for a healthy church. The best
understanding: ‘God is like Jesus’.

GOODNESS IS THE DISCERNABLE VIRTUE OF CHRISTLIKE
PEOPLE! The apostle Peter says, literally, that we should be ‘passionately/
zealously committed to goodness’ (1 Peter 3:11). At the core of
healthy churches is a number of ‘good’ people!

GOSPEL: THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH!
The Christian gospel is good news: that we are made in God’s image,
loved by God, and in spite of our sinning are invited to turn
back to God, and through faith in Jesus Christ, follow our Lord
in a life of disciplined holiness, and thereby receive ‘eternal
life’. Healthy churches preach a ‘full gospel’, not an emasculated
one.

GROUPS (AT LEAST 70% OF REGULAR WORSHIPPERS SHOULD
BE IN ONE)

GROWTH: A BY-PRODUCT OF HEALTH (BUT GROWTH FOR GROWTH’S
SAKE IS THE IDEOLOGY OF THE CANCER-CELL!). Healthy organisms grow.
Healthy churches tend to see more people come back again! But
aiming for growth is to aim for the wrong thing, leading to triumphalism
and ego-centrism. Aim for health, and if God ‘gives the increase’
OK.

HEALING IS GOD’S NORMAL WILL, BUT DON’T EVER SEPARATE
A THEOLOGY OF HEALING FROM A THEOLOGY OF REDEMPTIVE SUFFERING!
Pentecostals/ charismatics have majored on healing rather than
redemptive suffering. The Catholic tradition has emphasized the
reverse. A healthy biblical approach will combine the two.

HOLINESS (‘CONVERSION’ NEVER STOPS, NEVER ENDS!).
Healthy Christians are being ‘converted’, changed, all the time:
and can express in words that process to their pastors/shepherds,
who are accountable to the ‘Chief Shepherd’ for the maturing in
faith, hope and love, of the people ‘in their charge’.

INTERDEPENDENCE WITH OTHERS: WHAT WE HAVE IN COMM0N
WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS IS MORE – MUCH MORE – SIGNIFICANT THAN WHAT
MAY DIVIDE US! So healthy churches are not ‘sectarian’.

INTERGENERATIONAL COMMUNICATION IS IMPORTANT FOR
BOTH YOUNG AND OLD

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD/HEAD OF THE CHURCH – IT’S HIS,
NOT OURS So prayer for the Lord’s guidance in all matters will
happen as a matter of course!

JUSTICE IS A CONCERN FOR ‘FAIRNESS’ – PARTICULARLY
FOR THE POWERLESS. According to the prophets and Jesus (Micah
6:8, Matthew 23:23, Luke 11:42) justice is the #1 pursuit of the
follower of a just God.

LEADERSHIP – SHOULD BE HONORED, AND IN RETURN SHOULD
INSPIRE CONFIDENCE. Our leadership model is that of Jesus: he
was a servant, an empowerer (training followers to become future
leaders) and an example…

LEAVERS FEEL BLESSED WHEN FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER
THEY MOVE TO ANOTHER CHURCH

LEGALISM IS TO BE ABHORRED (AS IT WAS BY JESUS!).
Legalism is the misuse of ‘law’ to depersonalize others who are
created in God’s image. The opposite error is ‘antinomianism’
– flouting/despising the law of God.

LIFESTYLE/LEISURE ISSUES: WHAT ARE THE BIBLICAL GUIDELINES
HERE?

LOVE, JOY, PEACE ETC. ARE CULTIVATED IN A HEALTHY
CHURCH! And the people are guided in how to ‘earth’ these virtues
between/among each other!

MARRIAGE: LET’S ENHANCE THEM, AND EXPLODE THE MANY
MODERN MYTHS (See my chapter ‘Ten Myths About Marriage’ in ‘The
Family: At Home in a Heartless World’, HarperCollins, 1995).

MARTYRS: WE WILL REMEMBER THEM. There have been more
Christian martyrs this century than all previous centuries combined.

MATURITY – THE AIM OF ALL MINISTRY. See Colossians
1:28-29.

MEETINGS ARE ENCOURAGING AND PRODUCTIVE! Church ‘business
meetings’ do not exist to give a forum for disgruntled people
to destroy the tender fabric of the fellowship. There should be
other, more constructive ways people can feed back criticisms
to the leader/s responsible (and when they do, these people should
feel they’re heard sympathetically).

MEMBERSHIP SHOULD BE MEANINGFUL. It is easier to
get on to some church rolls than into a local citizens’ club!
So a disciplined ‘catechumenate’ is required in healthy churches,
where prospective members are taught, thoroughly, the basic teachings
of the Faith. But when that is done, membership should be open
to all who are avowed followers of Christ (irrespective, for example,
of their disparate views on such issues as the amount of water
used in baptism!). A healthy church’s membership will also represent
a cross-section of people in their neighbouring community: unless
their ‘mission’ is intentionally aimed at a particular people-
group.

MENTORING / MODELING: Every Paul should have a Timothy/Titus;
every Timothy needs a Paul: and every Paul and Timothy should
have a Barnabas!

MINISTRY BELONGS TO THE WHOLE CHURCH COMMUNITY: Every
Christian is ‘ordained’ to ministry (at their baptism)…

‘MINISTRY DESCRIPTIONS’ OUGHT TO BE WRITTEN, FOR
EVERYONE: THEY CLARIFY GIFTS, ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, PERFORMANCE
EXPECTATIONS, AND ACCOUNTABILITY

MIRACLES ARE TO BE EXPECTED in healthy churches:
where God is doing things (sometimes difficult to explain rationally)
to make us whole in body, mind, emotions and spirit.

MISSION: WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? See Luke 4:18-19. Our
‘mission’, like that of Jesus, is ‘spiritual’, evangelistic, healing,
compassionate, and a mission of social justice.

MUSIC (IN A TV CULTURE) HAS TO BE EXCELLENT, AND
A MEANS TO WORSHIP RATHER THAN AN END-IN-ITSELF. People brought
up with TV (baby-boomers and younger) will not stay around in
a church where the music/singing are pathetic or exclusively old-fashioned!

ORDER AND STRUCTURE PROVIDE THE SCAFFOLDING FOR RENEWAL.
But they are means, not ends – and flexible, as changing circumstances
(or a better understanding of the instructions in the Bible) dictate…

ORTHODOXY IS NOT AS IMPORTANT AS ‘ORTHOPRAXIS’ (THE
DEMONS ARE ORTHODOX). How we behave is more important than what
we believe (though both should go together…).

PASTORAL CARE OUGHT TO BE DEVOTED, APPROPRIATE, AND
ADEQUATE! And done by the whole church to all its people (though
‘ordained’ pastors may have specialized leadership and training
roles).

‘PATRIARCHS’/’PERMISSION-WITHOLDERS’ SHOULD BE HONORED,
BUT THEY SHOULD ALSO KNOW THEIR PLACE (AND NEVER HAVE A POWER
OF VETO)! In small churches more than two generations old, powerful
people often tend to dominate the church and sometimes inhibit
progress…

PENITENCE MEANS SIN IS TAKEN SERIOUSLY! But, as with
Jesus, ‘Neither do I condemn you’ comes _before_ ‘Go and sin no
more!’ Acceptance precedes repentance (with the Pharisees it was
the other way around).

PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS HELP US DO OUR BEST! These
measuring tools should be available, formally or informally, to
everyone who does any ministry: and mature people invite such
constructive suggestions for improvement!

POLYTEMPORAL CHRISTIANS HAVE A PAST, A PRESENT, AND
A FUTURE! (BUT THEY LIVE IN THE ETERNAL NOW). If the church is
dominated by nostalgics (whose preoccupation is with the good
old times) or hippies (who only live in the present) or idealists
(who are dreamers of a more glorious future), that church has
a problem!

POWER AND EMPOWERMENT: Confident leaders avoid centralizing
power; they don’t have to ‘control’ everything: rather they disseminate
power and authority widely. In other words, as Jesus refused the
devil’s invitation to be power-hungry, so should Jesus’ followers…

PRAYER: ALONE WITH THE ALONE! In healthy churches
we teach one another how to pray (as John the Baptist and Jesus
and the apostles taught their people to pray).

PRAYER WITH OTHERS HAS MORE POWER THAN THE SUM OF
INDIVIDUALS PRAYING. Healthy congregations see people regularly
praying together (in contexts where there is a sense of ‘community’).

PREACHING OUGHT TO BE AUTHORITATIVE, BIBLICAL, RELEVANT,
LIFE-CHANGING – AND INTERESTING!

PROPHETS: THE KEY TO HEARING GOD’S VOICE! (Healthy
churches can name their prophets – as happened in the New Testament
churches. These people are commissioned by the church for their
timely ministry).

READERS ARE LEADERS ARE READERS! In literate communities,
the church has a well-stocked bookstall or bookshop. In less-literate
contexts there is still an emphasis on teaching/learning, using
other media.

RENEWAL IS AN ONGOING PROCESS! All living organisms
need renewing – and welcome it!

RETREATS HELP US TO LISTEN TO GOD! They should be
a regular part of the program for leaders and others: perhaps
once or twice a year, accompanied by special prayer and perhaps
fasting, to seek the mind of God…

RITES OF PASSAGE: Churches have a strategic role
when their people face significant life-experiences: birth, sickness,
marriage, death, etc.

SAINTS ARE NOT MERELY HONOURED; THEY ARE EMULATED!
The Catholic tradition honours saints: other Christian traditions
could learn some important lessons in the pursuit of the life
of holiness from some elements of this practice.

SEX – GUIDELINES WITHOUT BAD GUILT! A healthy church
will address such broad issues as ‘Sexuality and Spirituality’,
‘Romantic love versus realistic love’, ‘Enriching your Marriage’,
‘Sex and the Single Person’ etc. And also address specific issues,
like: ‘Should condoms be more readily available in high schools?’
‘What would Jesus say about the big questions relating to homosexuality?’

SIGNS AND WONDERS: GOD IS STILL ALIVE AND ACTIVE!
In healthy first-generation churches in much of the world, evangelism
(as happened in apostolic times) is accompanied by ‘signs and
wonders’. Second generation churches often settle down to a more
predictable ‘constitution-driven’ organizational pattern…

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION: AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME
(AGAIN!). Spiritual Direction is the classical spiritual discipline
where one helps another in the life of prayer – and the practice
of faith, hope and love. It is ‘discerning the spirits’ in the
life of one another; ‘reading the writing on the walls of the
soul’.

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES – THE ONLY WAY WE GROW! Spiritual
disciplines encouraged in healthy churches include contemplation,
solitude, silence, fasting, confession, journaling, etc.

SPIRITUAL GIFTS: THE WAY GOD MEETS HUMAN NEEDS! Every
genuine human need ought to be addressed ‘in church’ – where the
Spirit has empowered someone to do just that! (Notice: the need
is ‘addressed’ not necessarily ‘met’ or the problem ‘solved’!)

SPIRITUAL WARFARE: THE BATTLE STILL RAGES! (All wars
are lost, THE war goes on, wrote J.R.R Tolkien.) Healthy churches
ask: ‘If the devil has a strategy to destroy our church, what
might it be, and how can we engage the devil with the spiritual
weapons available to us, so that he won’t have the victory?’

SUFFERING CAN BE REDEMPTIVE! But there is no simple
answer to the difficult questions about people’s suffering. (Ask
for my chapter on Suffering).

TEACHING – WHEN YOU STOP LEARNING, YOU START DYING!
But, as Paulo Freire has taught us, the teaching process should
be an empowering experience, rather than simply ‘banking information
in people’s heads’.

TEAM MINISTRIES: EVERY CHURCH SHOULD HAVE THEM! Leadership
in healthy churches (as in the apostolic churches) is plural…

THEOLOGY HELPS US UNDERSTAND GOD: every Christian
should be a good theologian! So, as Elton Trueblood put it, every
church ought to be a ‘miniature theological seminary’! Pastor-teachers
are the ‘resident theologians’ (so the church must insist they
spend half their time alone, in study, reflection and prayer).

TRADITION – A GOOD SERVANT AND A BAD MASTER! Healthy
churches keep the best traditions, and, as with dirty clothing,
shed stale or irrelevant ones. And they will realize, as sociologist
Robert Merton expressed it, that ‘all institutions are inherently
degenerative’!

TRAINING: NECESSARY FOR EVERYONE’S MINISTERIAL EXCELLENCE!
In a healthy church, people know the Spiritual gifts available
to each of them, and seek/find training programs in the exercise
of those gifts.

UNITY-IN-DIVERSITY IS THE MATURE (AND BIBLICAL) WAY
TO CELEBRATE OUR DIFFERENCES! There are many ways to relate to
God-through-Christ, and we will honour the unique experiences
others have as they relate to our common Lord.

VISION: DREAM ABOUT WHAT GOD CAN DO WITH / THROUGH
/ IN YOUR CHURCH! Effective leaders know where they are intending
(under God) to lead the church, and impart a coherent vision –
without people will not be ‘harnessed to a grand cause’.

VOCATION IS WHAT WE DO WITH ALL OF LIFE! A surgeon
said: ‘After 50 years of church-attending, I cannot remember anything
happening on Sunday that helped me be a better doctor!’ In the
best churches, peoples’ ‘vocations’ are recognized: and each is
helped to honour the Lord and pursue excellence in our life’s
calling.

WIDOWS (AND OTHER SINGLE ADULTS), ORPHANS, THE LONELY,
THE ‘DIFFERENTLY ABLED’ (ETC.) ARE CARED FOR…

WORK – AVOIDING SLOTH OR WORKAHOLISM. That is, there
will be a resistance to an unhealthy dislike of, or an unhealthy
addiction to, work…

WORSHIP IS ABOUT ALL OF LIFE: So ‘in whatever we
do – whether we eat or drink – we will do everything for the glory
of God.’

WORSHIP IN A CORPORATE SENSE HAPPENS FOUR WAYS: TEMPLE,
SYNAGOGUE, HOME GROUP, AND FESTIVAL. That is, biblical worship
is liturgical, expository, relational, and charismatic. In healthy
churches they integrate all these four worship-styles. (Name one!)

WORSHIP – EVOKING WONDER, LOVE AND PRAISE! A key
test of the power of corporate worship is whether we are generally
disappointed when it has to stop!

WOMEN AND MEN ARE DIFFERENTLY GIFTED: so we will
not slavishly follow either a patriarchal or an egalitarian philosophy
of gender. We will (as F.F.Bruce suggested) look at the Scriptures
through the ‘window’ of Galatians 3:28: in Christ the sexist barriers
inhibiting women from exercising their God-given potention will
be broken down. In other words, when Barak (a male) is a weak
person, God will choose Deborah (a strong woman) to lead. (Some
of us would not have allowed God to do that!). But the speed with
which patriarchy is repented of will differ from culture to culture!

YOUTH ARE SPECIAL PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: They
need the faith- reinforcement of strong Christian peers. But they
should also be taught to live a life of disciplined service to
others. And they should be encouraged to learn from people who’ve
been ‘in the battle’ longer!

XENOPHILIA (LOVE OF STRANGERS) SAVES A CHURCH FROM
BECOMING A RELIGIOUS CLUB. Healthy churches are ‘welcoming’ churches!