Attributes of an Effective Church

Recently, I have given serious thought to characteristics that seem to be present in an effective church; those that cause it to be great at living out the Great Commission. Following are some thoughts that might stimulate your thinking as it has mine.

Regardless of their theological and experiential backgrounds, those who take the commands of Christ seriously will soon come to a point of realizing that on their own, they cannot effectively fulfill them. It is only when a church realizes how impotent that it really is and becomes corporately broken before the Father, that it will realize the bankruptcy of human effort and achievement. It is then that it will begin to receive the power to be effective that only the Holy Spirit can provide.

To write a history of the effectiveness of the early church is to write a history of the moving of the Holy Spirit in that little body of believers. In fact, over the years, many have referred to the Book of Acts as “The Acts of the Holy Spirit.” What a stark contrast there is between what the early disciples were before and what they became after they were filled with the Holy Spirit! Certainly our devices and strategisms of the twenty-first century have not caused us to be more effective than they were in those powerful times. Like they were their times of desperation after the commissioning of our Lord and before the coming of the Holy Spirit in power, so are we today. Times, needs, and opportunities are far greater than we have experienced in our generation. We are in a time when we need, like Jehoshaphat, to set ourselves to seek the Lord. “And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah” (2 Chronicles 20:3).

I have never seen a church that was humbled and broken before God that did not rise up out of their despair to go on in the freshness of His moving. Such, I believe, were the early church.

It is in the light of the model of the early church and its powerful successes that I want to offer the following attributes that were so powerfully evident in who they were, what they did, and what they offered those that surrounded them:

1. They presented a COMPELLING REASON for the people around them to attach themselves to them, first through accepting Christ, then through baptism, and ultimately drawn by and committed to the dynamic of their fellowship. “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:42; 47)

Every church is distinctive in what it offers the community surrounding it. It is a mistake for any given church to mimic another church that has proven to be successful in its ministry. As a local church submits to Christ as the Head, He in turn works in that body to develop in it certain and particular attributes. With the development of its own personal identity, a church will offer to the people of its community a compelling reason to be a part of that church. We can’t help but be reminded of what the disciples asked Jesus, “Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

2. The disciples presented a COMMANDING PRESENCE all that they came in contact with. I don’t think we can underplay the importance of the favor that the Father places on His servants. A prime example of that would be how He raised up Joshua from his position as a servant to take the place of Moses: “And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel (gave him a commanding presence), that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee” (Joshua 3:7).

The early disciples confounded the rulers of the Jews when brought on trial presenting a commanding presence to them that they were intimidated by and couldn’t refute: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it” (Acts 4:13-14). What a contrast! Just weeks before, the disciples had cowered in the darkness; fearful of those who crucified Jesus. On the Day of Pentecost, Simon Peter, transformed from a spiritual pigmy into a royal giant, stuck his fingers in the face of those who were gathered, roaring: “You crucified the Lord of Glory!

Every church should present a commanding presence to the community around it. Too often we are intimidated and unsure of ourselves when actually we should have the” boldness of Peter and John. People should take note of us that we have been with Jesus!

3. The offered a CONVINCING MESSAGE. I love, in my imagination, to stand on the periphery of the crowd listening to Simon Peter preach his first great message after the birth of the church. The crowd, some of which had been calling for Barabbas to be released and Jesus to be crucified stood, transfixed by the sight, sounds, and message of salvation preached so powerfully by Peter. “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? This was a convincing message.

4. They were a COMMITTED FELLOWSHIP. A keystone in the list of priorities of the newly developing church was the fellowship that they experienced. This particular kind of fellowship is known as the “koinonia.” They fellowship the disciples enjoyed with each other was a far cry from the disturbing events that occurred on the night before Jesus was crucified: “And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest” (Luke 22:24).

With this and other events that seemed to surely to divide and destroy the fledgling body, they were brought back to their knees, “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren” (Acts 1:14).

A dominating characteristic of their fellowship was reiterated many times in the course of those early days. We should take note: “These all continued with one accord.” These precise words were used repeatedly through Acts to illustrate the kind of fellowship the disciples had. In a discourse in Philippians, Paul phrased it well: “Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Philippians 2:2), in other words, be a committed fellowship.

5. All of this together produced CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE that Jesus was indeed Lord and Savior. Too often we get the cart before the horse, trying to convince others of their need for Jesus when we don’t have things together in our own lives and in the fellowship of the church. People require reality, truthfulness, and consistency before they will hear and heed our message. There is much work to be done in the average church if it is to manifest the proper attributes to the on-looking public. Peter said it well: “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart” (1 Peter 1:22).

History will not think well of us if we do not rise to the occasion that these days present. Most of us have not seen such opportunity for us to example Christ as is presented us today. It seems to me that the public in general is demanding a manifestation of these power attributes by every church of every community. The churches that are the most overtly successful in manifesting these and other attributes will be the ones that our Lord can trust with the greater things of His Kingdom.

People are looking for a church where their needs will be met. We, indeed, must present them with convincing arguments as exemplified by our faith and fidelity, thus powerfully drawing them to our churches.

Jeff

• Jefferson H. and Norma R. Floyd, CO-directors • Jubilee International • P. O. Box 572 • Noblesville, IN 46061