Communal Disciplines (7)

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…  Ephesians 4.11-13

Many members, one body
Local churches are comprised of members, disciples of Jesus Christ who covenant together to be His Body through prayer, worship, fellowship, ministry, and mission in their local community. Christ has called His followers to make disciples, and this requires both that each of us improve our own walk with and work for the Lord, and that we encourage and assist our fellow disciples in improving theirs (Heb. 10.24).

Every church will manifest a diversity of gifts, expressed through a wide range of callings, with which the members of the Body of Christ are sent out to into their community to bring near the Kingdom of God and to glorify Him in all their relationships, roles, and responsibilities.

We have been exploring the kind of communal disciplines necessary for local churches to fulfill their calling and promise, corporate prayer, worship, ministry, fellowship, and mission being the primary disciplines we must learn, practice, and master.

But we need to make sure we’re all “on the same page” about the end we seek in taking up such disciplines as a community. Called to follow Christ and to further the Kingdom and glory of God, we can succeed in neither of these unless we do so through the local church. Thus, guiding all our discipleship and ministries must be a common commitment to the agenda which our Lord Jesus outlined when He declared, “I will build My Church” (Matt. 16.18).

We must discipline ourselves, in other words, to envision and work for a healthy, growing local church in all we do.

Healthy churches
I suspect that very few churches these days would describe themselves as “fit” or in “great shape.” This is simply to admit that our churches are not healthy. They’re not strong in unity or thriving in good works of ministry, they’re not furthering the work of the Kingdom, and they’re not winning many people to Jesus Christ. Most churches are struggling to keep and maintain the members they have, meet the requirements of their budgets, and keep the problems and “issues” to a manageable level.

Most churches, in other words, are on ecclesiastical life support, holding out and holding on, hoping for some miracle cure to revive and renew them.

But a church can’t grow toward health if it has a poor understanding and little vision for what that means. Perhaps, when the think of a “healthy” church, most church members think in terms of lots of attenders, plenty of activities and programs, lots of happy members, and no financial worries. Isn’t this what every congregation would love to know?

But none of these ideas about what constitutes a healthy church have any Biblical warrant whatsoever. And yet we pursue them tirelessly. Is this because we have no other, better concept to guide our thinking and work?

Paul tells us that all the saints of a local church are to be equipped for works of ministry, so that all may come together in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God – we’ve talked about this earlier – and to the full measure of the stature of Christ, to maturity as an expression of His Body. A healthy, growing church, thus, finds all the members working together to realize the vision of unity and maturity that Paul spells out in our text, so that all our disciplined efforts work together to cause “growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4.16).

But we must first embrace Paul’s vision of a healthy, growing church, then resolve together to bring all our efforts to bear on building Christ’s church according to this vision, as a sign and outpost of the Kingdom of God.

In a healthy, growing church all the members are becoming equipped with the spiritual, relational, and vocational disciplines that will enable and prepare them for works of ministry in all their relationships, roles, and responsibilities. They will strive together for a church that works hard to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Out of that unity will grow a maturity of discernment, teaching and witnessing and mutual encouragement, the use and development of all spiritual gifts, and a community defined by true prayer, worship, fellowship, ministry, and mission, making increase of itself in love.

Jesus is building His Church, and Paul tells us what a built-up church should look like. We must embrace Jesus’ agenda and take up Paul’s blueprint so that all our labors in the Lord will work together, in a disciplined and fruitful manner, to make our churches the Kingdom signs and outposts Jesus Christ intends they should be.

Next steps: How do the leaders of your church determine the state of your church’s overall health? What do they do to address areas of weakness in the health of your church? Talk with a few of your church leaders about these questions.

T. M. Moore

This week’s study, Communal Disciplines, is part 6 of a 7-part series on The Disciplined Life, and is available as a free download by clicking here. We have prepared a special worksheet to help you begin getting your disciplines in proper shape for seeking the Kingdom. Write to T. M. at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for your free PDF of the “Disciplined Life Worksheet.”

A rightly-disciplined life requires a Kingdom vision, and that vision is centered on Jesus Christ exalted. T. M. has prepared a series of meditations on the glorious vision of Christ, based on Scripture and insights from the Celtic Christian tradition. Order your copy of Be Thou My Vision by clicking here.

Sign up for ViewPoint Leaders Training, free and online, and start your own ViewPoint discussion group.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.