Marks of A Successful Church

Some determine the success of the church by the number of members and the number of people participating in the programs in the church. Others determine the success of the church by the number of programs offered by the church. In Ephesians 4:11-16 the Holy Spirit has defined spiritual success in the church and how that success comes about.

First of all Jesus gave gifts to the church for the spiritual welfare of the believers, Eph 4:11. The purpose of the gifts is "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ", vss. 12-13. All of this is spiritual growth and does not have anything to do with numbers.

The results of this spiritual growth is threefold. First, the believer would recognize false teaching and not follow such teaching, vs. 14. Secondly, believers begin "speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ", vs. 15. Thirdly, "when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. The verb "working" has the connatation "of supernatural activity" which means the Holy Spirit working in each believer, vs. 16.

The marks of a successful church is to have a pastor, or pastors, who faithfully teach the Scriptures and the believers encouraging each other and building each other up in the faith. The danger in the church today is success being measured by the number of programs and the number of people in each one. The church is not a corporate body but the body of our Lord Jesus Christ and should be nurtured by the instructions in Scripture.

As a believer I am compelled to ask myself, "How am I contributing to the spiritual growth of the church I attend?" As the church grows spiritually then the Lord will add to the church as He did in the book of Acts.