Healthy Church

As a church of Jesus Christ, we are committed to Him and His purposes above all else. We have come to understand that pursuing God means pursuing His Son Jesus, and that pursuing Jesus means hearing, believing and obeying His Word. Each member of the leadership team and of the church has his or her own preferences and desires when it comes to what we do and how we do it, but we must be committed to our Master's preferences and desires before anyone else's. His Word must be our sole source of understanding what His preferences and desires are. Agreeing on this, the leaders who gathered for our first monthly leadership meeting of 2011 discussed the concept of a healthy church. We agreed together that being a healthy church is a primary goal, and that being a growing church is a secondary goal. We didn't decide this because growth is unimportant or unnecessary, but because good health is the foundational source of good growth. Here are a few key considerations we dealt with together:

• "A healthy church will necessarily grow; a growing church will not necessarily be healthy."
• "Optimum health is part (proper) consumption and part (proper) exertion."
• "Health and sickness aren't always discernible with the naked eye; some diseases and ailments are only seen when we look deeper."

I plan to expand on these considerations in my next few blogs, but for now, let us agree all over again that we must purposefully, intentionally and with great determination pursue optimum health as a congregation. With a growing understanding of the vision Christ has for us, and a growing understanding of where we are right now as a church, we can work together to become as healthy as our Master intends for us to be! He will teach and lead as we learn and follow. Amen.