The landscape of Church ministry has tremendously changed over the last fifty years, especially in the west. This reality of Church losing members is no longer news to us all now.

There are a ton of theories out there people claim can help reverse the situation.

This article isn’t another one of the theories, but a reflection drawn on the bible about what God’s Church should be.

It comes out of my reflection on what Church should be, which I also shared in worship. It is the second in the series, Three Important Truths To Know About The Church.

You can listen to the full audio sermon below:

Let me point out that, in spite of the decline we’ve heard of so much, there are also Churches that are growing.

In most Christian bookstores, either online or a physical store, you should be able to get a copy of one or two books that share stories about what makes these Churches thrive while others are dying.

There are two fundamental, and biblical, principles all these vital Churches share in common.

The church is Christ’s Body with many Members

To help us in our reflection, let’s take a look at 1 Corinthians 12: 12-13, 27-31. I’d encourage you to read the entire chapter however to get a better sense of what I share with you in this article.

If you focus on verses 12, 23 through 25, you discover the following.

All believers are members of the Body of Christ

• You may have lots of people, as members, but you need to make sure about one thing: Is Jesus Christ their personal Lord and Savior?
• It’s a question they have to answer on their own and allow their answer to shape their everyday living.

All members are individually unique and indispensable

• Don’t expect your Church members to have the same personality.
• Everyone in your Church should appreciate the other and embrace them as they are.
• The Church’s business isn’t about fixing people’s personalities, but leading each other to the cross where personal transformation begins.

All members of the Body of Christ require the same level of care

• What you do for one, do it also for the other member. Don’t allow classes in your Church. No member of your Church should feel under or overprivileged.
• God, our Father, sees us all as God’s children, brothers and sisters in Christ.

God has gifted all members of the Church

• Everyone in Church is here for a reason. The primary role of vital Churches is to help every single member discover their calling and equip them to fulfill it.
• Vital Churches have the majority of their members involved in some ministry.
• There’s high expectation for every new member to hear God’s calling so that they find their place in ministry through their Church.
• Vital Churches train and resource their members so that they find out about what God wants them to do and the ways they should fulfill their mission through their Church.

The church is Christ’s Body with Jesus the Head

Read first this scripture:

And he (Jesus) is the head of the body, the Church … Colossians 1: 18. ESV.

Jesus is the head of the Church. He’s the head of His body.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”The pope, bishops, superintendents, pastors, elders, deacons or any leader in your Church (or denomination) should never replace Jesus Christ to become the head of Christ’s Church! ” quote=”The pope, bishops, superintendents, pastors, elders, deacons or any leader in your Church (or denomination) should never replace Jesus Christ to become the head of Christ’s Church! ” theme=”style2″]

All the above are leaders God has called to lead Christ’s Church. However, they’re all members of Christ’s body, just as you are, but with a different calling than what God has put in your life.

There are two crucial (and biblical) reasons why we need Jesus Christ as the head of His Church.

Before talking about them, let me also say that a local Church without Jesus as the head may still look like Christ’s Church. However, it is a community of people with the shape of Christ’s Body, but void of Jesus Christ Himself.

In other words, it’s like a human body without a head!

Can you imagine anybody associating with a human being with no head? That’s like something, which only takes place in movies.

In real life, it’s impossible, and there’s no life for the human body without a head.

That applies to Christ’s Church too. If Jesus isn’t the head, it’s impossible to be the Church Jesus came to establish here on earth.

He’s the only builder of His Church (read Matthew 16: 18). And, that is so because the Church is Jesus’ Body.

When Jesus is the head of the Church two things happen:

• Every member of Christ’s Body, the Church, is alive.
• Every single member has clarity about who God made him/her be.
• Every member has the resources and gifting to accomplish what God has called him or her to do on a daily basis.

In summary

Any local Church can thrive if every single member is willing first to answer this question: is Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior? Then, all members, collectively, should be able to answer the question: is Jesus Christ the head of our Church? Those two question will eventually help you start working on the two fundamental and biblical things vital Churches share in common.