This week I'm going to take a look at just a few of the signs of a healthy church. Don't necessarily expect the obvious, and don't be looking for any big secrets. What you're going to get is 35 years worth of experiences and observations.
The Volunteers
I have gone to church all of my life. I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home and later marry a Christian woman who also grew up in a similar atmosphere. With all of that in mind, one of the things I have witnessed in healthy vs. unhealthy churches are the volunteers.
This may seem a no-brainer, and it really is an easy concept to comprehend. Church leaders are all the time trying to gauge the health of their churches, and one of the easiest ways is through the volunteers.
In a healthy church, you have a lot of dynamics at work that make the church attractive to people. Folks who attend the healthy church are seeing people become Christians on a regular basis. People in this church are growing in their relationship with Jesus, and increasingly want to share this relationship with their friends. Each week, those who attend the healthy church can't wait to get there, don't want to leave, and can't wait to come back.
The people in this type of church also share another characteristic: they volunteer. In fact, they come out in droves to volunteer. Whether it's working with children, helping out around the place during services, or teaming up with outside projects, the healthy church sees a healthy number of volunteers who get the job done.
In contrast, the unhealthy church is almost the exact opposite. At this church, the people have grown bored or indifferent. They live in a rut that is defined by mediocrity. They may want to break out of the rut, but don't always know how, plus there is some comfort in mediocrity. The unhealthy church congregation also allows distractions to override any positive momentum, thereby discouraging anyone involved in the ministry of the church. Each week, those attending here go merely out of obligation (It's what you do on Sunday.), are more concerned about their personal interests, and are indifferent toward the entire experience.
And, to top it off, volunteers are hard to find...for anything. Children's classes tend to have unhappy workers who have been there for years, because no one else wants to do it. Work day projects around the church may have half of the able-bodied and available people show up. And, anything done outside of the normal service times rarely have volunteers.
The reasons for the abundance or lack of volunteers typically has one characteristic that follows each group: excitement level. With the abundant group, there is an excitement level about what the church is doing that almost makes people want to be a part of the action. With the scarce group, there is no "buy-in" of the leadership's ideas, and therefore no excitement. Summed up, nobody wants to be a part of mediocrity.
You cannot manufacture sustained excitement in a church. Manufactured excitement will eventually wear out and give way to mediocrity, because there was little buy-in to what was happening in the church. Genuine excitement comes from God working among the people of the church. It comes from the people seeing God do amazing, God-sized things. When people see that, mediocrity doesn't stand a chance. For your biblical reference, read the book of Acts. You'll see time and again what God-inspired excitement can do. From the moment the early believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, they were all ready to charge Hell with water pistols.
Finally, my discussion on volunteers wouldn't be complete without this video from North Point Church.
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