Mark Dever in his book, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, lists nine principles that are essential to the life of every healthy congregation. These marks present a good framework for examining the biblical principles that the church must possess today. Each of these is foundational and not one should be lacking in a biblical church. I will use this as my outline and draw on different scriptures and resources that fill out these biblical marks.
1 – The Proclamation of the Word of God
The first and preeminent goal in a biblical philosophy of ministry is the proclamation of the word of God. It alone, says the Apostle Paul, “…is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness…” (1 Tim. 3:16) God has chosen to reveal Himself in the pages of the Bible. The Psalmist called it “a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119). Psalm 19:7-9 says,
“The Law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
The statutes of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.”
In Nehemiah 8, Ezra the scribe, who had set his heart to study, practice, and to teach the law rises up at the request of the people and reads from the Torah. So, in verse five, it says that “Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.” Then in verse eight, it says that “…they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and [Ezra] gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.” Here then, is the heart of not only why God’s people gather together but also the essence and savor of preaching itself – the reading and explanation of the word of God. Likewise, Acts 2:41-42 shows that this is the primary activity of the early Church saying, that “…those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
The Word of God (and the proofs can go on endlessly) clearly shows that it is the pure and perfect, stainless and sterling, infallible and inerrant, bedrock of the Church of Christ. The Church is “built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, Jesus Chirst Himself being the chief cornerstone (Eph. 2:20).” In other words, doctrine – or truth, resides at the heart of the Church. With anything less than this focus on the plain, unadulterated teaching of God’s word, the Church turns aside after lies and merely pursues winds of opinion. Paul says in Col. 1:25 that “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God (NAS).”
The Bible, as the only complete source of truth and doctrine, is the only source of power and authority. To exposit this truth, is the only means of how the Church can hear her Lord speak. The preacher, as the steward of this essential resource, is commanded to preach it and nothing else. Human philosophies, ideologies, and opinions of himself or others are simply of men, and if anyone would substitute the speculations of finite persons for the infallible truth of God’s word, he perhaps considers his own thinking as essential to the life of the Church instead. However, he is in fact stopping up the truths of God with his own thoughts, and consequently he does damage to the very church for which he claims to care. John MacArthur writes,
“And so preaching the Word must be the very heart of our ministry philosophy. Any other philosophy replaces the voice of God with human wisdom. Philosophy, politics, humor, psychology, homespun advice, and human opinion can never accomplish what the Word of God does. Those things may be interesting, informative, entertaining, and sometimes even helpful – but they are not spiritually transforming, and they are not the business of the church. The preacher’s task is not to be a conduit for human wisdom; he is God’s voice to speak to the congregation. No human message comes with the stamp of divine authority – only the Word of God.”
MacArthur, John F. Ashamed of the Gospel. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1993.
The word of God stands alone. God is the center of worship, adoration, and praise; He speaks to His people through the pages of the Bible through the mouth of His preacher. Mark Dever gives this simple definition:
“Expositional preaching is not simply producing a verbal commentary on some passage of Scripture. Rather, expositional preaching is that preaching which takes for the point of a sermon the point of a particular passage of Scripture. That’s it. The preacher opens the Word and unfolds it for the people of God.”
Dever, Mark. Nine Marks of a Healthy Chruch. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2004.
This is ultimately the beginning and end of any ministry. Everything revolves around this principle. Any biblical philosophy of ministry must begin on this point – the Bible.
2 – Sound Theology
The second essential element of any ministry must be sound Theology. Theology is the truth about God that comes from a proper understanding of the Bible. This is the result or end of exposition – the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God produces or gives wisdom, as seen in Proverbs. The knowledge of God is the foundation for any understanding of the world in which people live and find their place. Creation, God’s sovereignty, His wrath, love, and goodness is all found here. Man is what he was created to be and also what he has become in reference to this. These concepts are avenues for theology. Theology is therefore foundational and necessary for a healthy church.
In Psalm 5, David prayed that God would hear his cry and listen to him as he pours his heart out. He says, “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You.” He also says in verses eleven through twelve,
“But let all those rejoice who put their
trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because
You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
For You, O Lord, will bless the
righteous;
With favor You will surround him as
with a shield.”
The Psalm establishes a basis for life that is actually based itself on a relationship with God and a knowledge of Him and His world. The Psalmist lives in a perspective in which God is sovereign and in control. This is the basis for his trust, and for prayer, and for his whole existence as an individual Coram Deo, “in the presence of God.”
This is God’s world and “of Him and through Him and to Him are all things (Rom. 11:36).” A proper understanding of God’s word shows that He is in control of all things, and all things were created for specific purposes and ends. This affects how we do evangelism, how we handle the pressures and personal conflicts of life, how we view sanctification and so forth. Dever writes,
“We must understand God by His revelation of Himself, not by our own hunches, not by our own wishes, not by the way we like to think of God….
If we are to be a healthy church in such times, we must be especially careful to pray for leaders in the church to have a biblical grasp of and an experiential trust in the sovereignty of God. Sound doctrine, in its full, biblical glory, marks a healthy church.”
Dever, Mark. Nine Marks of a Healthy Chruch. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2004.
3 – The Gospel
Along with theology comes an understanding of the gospel and its centrality. A biblical church will be one that has a solid grasp on what the gospel actually is. If a person were to ask the regular church-goer today to give a definition of the gospel, he would probably encounter one of two things, bewilderment or a personal testimony. Many now say that the church is to minister to the felt needs of the lost, offering them “fulfillment in Christ.” They teach that the gospel is this – being fulfilled and happy. They tell people that Jesus wants to come in to their lives and make them fulfilled, happy people, and as long as they suffer from low self-esteem, or any other kind of unfulfillment, they cannot be happy. This is false and a different Gospel. Gary Gilly writes,
“The Bible is God-centered. Psychology is man-centred. The Bible teaches that our purpose in life is to glorify God. Therefore, everything else is subject to that purpose. Psychology, being man-centred, has as its highest goal the happiness of the individual. This is the foundation for the currant emphasis on felt need. If mankind’s greatest goal is his own happiness, than all other things in life, including God become means to secure that happiness. Psychology teaches that happiness cannot be obtained if one is lonely, lacking in self-esteem, unfulfilled, etc. Therefore, whatever can satisfy these so-called felt needs is a positive thing…[thus] to offer God or salvation as the means whereby our felt needs are satisfied is a perversion of biblical teaching at best, and more likely a false Gospel.”
Gilley, Gary. This Little Church Went to Market. 2nd ed. Webster, New York: Evangelical Press, 2005.
4 – Conversion
With the clarity of the gospel preached and taught, comes conversion. John MacArthur has rightly said that evangelism starts first within the congregation to which the pastor ministers. That is ground zero. Those people are more apt to hear and appreciate the truths of the scripture than most. But they are also more apt to become calloused for the same reason. clarity in biblical ministry and the truths of the Bible will draw out genuine conversions among the congregants.
5 – Evangelism
Genuine depth in ministry has consequences in how a person would do evangelism. The market-driven church, the contemporary church, says that what is needed is entertainment, upbeat music, a positive image, short sermons geared to make people feel better, and whatever other means appeals to the highest number. However, none of this is justifiable from a biblical perspective. The Bible says that the gospel is an offense and a stumbling block to those who would call themselves the wise and the intellectuals of this age (1 Cor.1:20-25). The message confronts human pride and instead of saying that “You are so valuable that God sent Jesus to die on a cross for you” or “God wants to make you fulfilled and successful in your business and lifestyle,” it says that all your righteousness is as filthy rags, you are dead in your trespasses and sins and you need to repent and turn to God for the grace of new and eternal life that only comes through faith in and surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was crucified for your sins, buried and raised again on the third day according to the scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4).
The modern church has turned instead to worldly and worthless devices found in pop-psychology, yet psychology and the Bible are incompatible. While psychology works from the premise that people are basically good, the Bible teaches that all men are completely sinful and in rebellion against God. This forms the basis for the doctrines of Romans 5, which say that Christians are those who have been reconciled to God through the sacrifice of Christ (v.11). Peace with God is obtained through faith in the person of Christ. Conversion is a gift of God whereby His chosen are called, regenerated, justified, and sanctified to live a new life before God.
6 – Church Membership
This is the basis for the Church. It is the fellowship of those who have been delivered from darkness into light, from sin to righteousness, from lies to truth for the purpose of glorifying God. Church is not for the community – to bring in outsiders. Therefore, membership should be strictly kept for those who are truly Christians.
7 – Church Discipline
This also gives a basis for Church discipline based on such passages as Matthew 18 and 1 Corinthians 5 that establish the proper way and circumstance under which this is to be administered. Discipline is for the purging of the body of Christ and the restoration of the one being disciplined. There is no room to fulfill this biblical mandate when the church is only a place for the entertainment of unbelievers, trying to draw them into the body.
8 – Discipleship
Along with these truths follows the practical application of biblical truth in daily life. Where there is exposition, sound theology, an understanding of the gospel, a good framework for evangelism as well as membership, and church discipline is being carried out effectively, then there is a Biblical consistency that produces overall growth and discipleship. Discipleship is essential in the life of any body as the more mature must encourage and exhort those who are younger in the faith training them in an understanding of the Scriptures.
9 – Leadership
Leadership completes the cycle as it is the role that is to hold these things together. Leadership is responsible for teaching, administration, and discipleship. Their lives must manifest true character since they are those who uphold the word of God:
“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” – 1 Timothy 3: 2-7
A leader in the church must not only teach sound doctrine but have his life in accordance with it.
The essential framework of any biblical philosophy of ministry must be one that is grounded in the word of God. Bible exposition is the foundation for any good ministry because from it flows all the resources for knowing and glorifying God. The contemporary church is falling at this point as they look to psychology, politics, and the world’s definitions of success and relevancy. Consequently, in turning to the wisdom of the world in order to be relevant, the church has actually sacrificed the very thing that makes it relevant – the word of God. The church needs to return to that authority which is sufficient and complete. This must be done so that the church can find its power and real effectiveness in the lives of people.
Leave a Reply