How much accountability does the church have for changing lives that in turn
change the world?
Certainly a church is not just a business, but some businesses exercise careful
self-analyses that reveal how effective they are at what they do. Companies
that survive and thrive in the competitive world of business know they must
continually monitor their costs per unit, expenses, employee satisfaction, customer
satisfaction, percentage of profit and the bottom line.
How much accountability does the church have for changing lives that in turn
change the world?
Certainly a church is not just a business, but some businesses exercise careful
self-analyses that reveal how effective they are at what they do. Companies
that survive and thrive in the competitive world of business know they must
continually monitor their costs per unit, expenses, employee satisfaction, customer
satisfaction, percentage of profit and the bottom line. If businesses do not
practice careful monitoring of how well they are performing, they probably will
be beaten into non-existence by companies that do.
Think for a minute about what would happen if a church entered a careful self-analysis
of how well it is doing what Christ established it to do.
There are many approaches a church could take.
A church could try to determine how effectively members lives are transformed.
For instance, is there a significant difference between church attenders and
non-churchgoers on the frequency of divorce? Is there a difference between church
attenders and non-churchgoers on the frequency of living together out of wedlock,
abortion and marital infidelity, honesty, kindness and a loving attitude? Is
there a difference in the way people who attend church regularly spend their
money compared to those who do not claim Christian values?
Closely related to changed lives of church attenders would be how effective
the changed members are at changing their world. What impact have they made
on government, on the welfare of people in their communities, education, and
the values of society?
Certainly a church giving itself a careful examination in light of the Scriptures
would determine how it does at reaching lost people. Statistically, how many
members does it take to bring one person into a saving relationship with Jesus
Christ? If a church fails to reach a significant number of lost people, that
reflects on the job the church does overall in discipling its people.
How well has the church done at educating its members about the Bible, church
history, doctrine and ethics? Could the average church attender pass a basic
examination on the knowledge of each field?
How well does the church lead its attenders to engage in meaningful worship?
Better yet, has the church taught to those who attend the nature of meaningful
worship? Does the time of worship focus people upon God, and are those who gather
for worship transformed to be more like Christ, even by the tiniest degree?
Such efforts at self-examination would be difficult because the church often
deals in abstractions that refuse to be nailed down. But what would happen if
a church tried to determine its effectiveness, and they set about to improve
the efforts that fall short of acceptability?
The difficulty would also arise because in the case of the church, we see the
producers and the consumers as one in the same. Church members run the organization
that is responsible for changing them. Unfortunately, the lesson many churches
have learned from the world of business is this: If things are not going well,
fire the leader. Most churches seem unwilling to change even on the smallest
tradition, and are willing to remain ineffective to protect the way things have
always been done.
The New Testament epistles always call for churches and church members to evaluate
themselves in light of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The writers of
the epistles, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, also exhorted, cajoled,
urged and frequently demanded that churches and church members evaluate themselves,
and refuse to settle for halfhearted, mediocre, lukewarm efforts.
Most churches do not have the courage to undergo such evaluations, but it could
be very revealing and beneficial if they did.