In a book on pastoral counseling, the author, Howard Stone, suggests using as part of the counseling experience an approach called “exceptions.” When there is a problem with a person’s life they may need to think of exceptions – the times when the problem did not or does not exist.
A prominent problem with many churches (maybe NOT yours) is declining enrollment. Fewer people seem to be attending mainstream churches. Even many of the successful mega-churches have encountered a plateau, where their growth suddenly levels off.
If you sense your church may not be all that it could be, you might try imagining an exception. When was the church strong and vibrant? Did it look like the church described in today’s passage?
These six verses in Acts 2 are the verses on which this spiritual check-up is based. Look over what is being described. The criteria for a healthy church are throughout. What are the signs of a healthy church presented here? What is the end result as described in verse 47?
Over my lifetime I have seen a church grow, plateau, decline, grow again, and decline again. I am sure over your own lifetime you have witnessed similar events. The times of growth were marked by an excitement, whether excitement over a fresh, new pastor or the Holy Spirit breathing new life in ministry and outreach.
Growth all by itself is not an indicator of a healthy church full of spiritually healthy people. A church may grow for all the wrong reasons. But a church that can live out what was being lived in Acts 2 will grow. When we as Christians devote ourselves to hearing and understanding God’s message, to genuine and caring fellowship among ourselves, and to sincere prayer the church will be given a new spiritual vitality.
When we can give with a glad heart, when we can commit to regular and frequent fellowship – a fellowship marked by genuine love and companionship, a fellowship intent on giving God praise – the Lord will indeed add to our numbers just as he did with that first church.
If your church is not experiencing healthy growth, think of the exception. When did it grow? What would it take to make it grow again?
DAILY CHALLENGE: Give your church a check-up in your own mind. Which of the criteria presented in Acts 2 needs the most work? What can you do to help change that? (“Nothing” is not an acceptable answer)
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