God’s Plan For A Healthy Church

If you are a true Christian, Christ declares you to be a valuable and needed part of your local church. You are an unrepeatable miracle! You are a specialized part. No one else can do what you can do as well as you can do it. You cannot be replaced with a substitute part, any more than a surgeon can replace a defective stomach with a pair of lungs. Christ wants you to do in His Body exactly what He’s made you to do because you, as an individual, really do count.

[Unfortunately, many Christians seem to have lost their sense of identity as to what role they play in the Body of Christ. Like someone suffering from amnesia, they are asking themselves, “Who am I as a Christian, and why am I here? Just how do I fit into the family of God? In the midst of all the people and programs, do I, as an individual, really count?” Some people have the funny idea that when they place their tithes in the offering plate, that they are paying the staff to do the work of the ministry for them. No, that’s not so. Our job as staff is to equip you to do your work in the ministry well.]

One of the reasons why God has you here in this local church is that He wants you to grow to become more mature through the process of serving others. God is using this local church to grow baby Christians into mature Christians. That’s why we’re here. We are growing baby Christians into mature Christians.

Babies are cute, babies are wonderful, babies are beautiful, but nobody wants to remain a baby forever. It wouldn’t be healthy. That’s why God’s plan for a healthy church is to grow baby Christians into mature Christians. God stimulates us to grow through the process of giving each one of us a ministry, a ministry that forces us to learn and stretch and grow up. It’s a good plan. Our Heavenly Father thought it up. It’s God’s healthy plan for a healthy church.

So, which practical step of growth will you choose to take today? Maybe you will decide to always link truth with love in communication. Maybe you will decide to get more closely connected to others in the Body through fellowship. Maybe you will decide to do your part to serve in a ministry. Whatever God is leading you to do, take that step toward your own spiritual growth today. (DALE JOHNSEN)