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The answer to that question depends on whom you ask. Most people think a successful church is measured in large numbers, big budgets, programs that meet their needs, and state-of-the-art facilities.
However, none of those “standards” are proof of success. In fact, each one of those standards could just as well be present in a dead church. Do you remember the church at Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6)? This was a church that had a good reputation and was alive and well in the eyes of the community, but in the eyes of God, they were dead (Revelation 3:1).
Apparently, God doesn’t see as we see (Isaiah 55:8-9), and he doesn’t measure success in the same way that we measure success. While there is nothing wrong with numbers, programs, big budgets, and large facilities, a church can be successful in the eyes of God without possessing a single one of these qualities.
What, then, is the measure of a successful church?
- Christians who humbly try to live out the Lordship of Jesus in their lives daily.
- Christians who love the truth supremely, who will not allow their own personal desires or situations to skew their perception of God’s revelation.
- Christians who are committed to moral living and are more concerned with godliness than fitting in with society.
- Christians who love peace more than they do a fight and who love the calmness of unity more than the rhetoric of a fuss.
- Christians who support the weak, restore the fallen, and reaffirm their love and commitment to those who have stumbled.
Now, these characteristics would make a successful church! And note: It’s not about size, big budgets, programs, or facilities. Rather, it’s about inward transformation and spirituality. And here’s the best news of all: we don’t have to have large numbers, multimillion-dollar budgets, or state-of-the-art facilities. The qualities that bring success and constitute greatness in God’s eyes are qualities that are within our reach.
Steve Higginbotham
Karns Church of Christ
Knoxville, TN