Diagnosing Your Spiritual Health

 In the field of medicine, there are two very broad umbrella categories under which everything is categorized: Diagnostic Health Care and Preventive Health Care. Diagnostic care is what you receive when you have symptoms or risk factors and your doctor seeks to diagnose them—when they identify the root cause and prescribe a solution. Preventive care is given to you when you're symptom free and believe you are healthy—the basic care that you get when you have no reason to believe you are sick.
 
     In last week’s article entitled “How’s Your Spiritual Health?” I pointed out that the average church in America is not healthy. I also pointed out that our actions and attitudes, even after a year filled with unprecedented challenges, still suggest that we think we are okay. We are only seeking preventive care for our spiritual health needs. What I hear from most pastors is something like this: “Yes, things are difficult, but it is because we are living in a very unhealthy culture—one filled with physical health care problems, political strife, economic disparity, and racial tensions. And yes there are unhealthy churches, but not ours.”
 
     One of the reasons for our attitude is that the spiritual health decline we’ve experienced has been very slow. In fact, it has been so gradual and taken place over such a long period of time that we are almost completely unaware of it. Although I could provide all kinds of statistics as proof of the decline, even in the face of those statistics, many would remain unconvinced that “our church” is unhealthy.
 
     I am living proof of how oblivious we can be to gradual health declines. Last year at some insistence from those who “say” they love me, I took a hearing test. This wasn’t just the “Can you hear the beep?” kind of test. They made me repeat words they were saying. I wasn’t totally convinced I had a problem. The test indicated that I wasn’t hearing exactly what they were saying, BUT I’m sure I was hearing what they “should have been saying!” Setting aside all my rationalizations, I had to admit that I needed hearing aids. They were ordered, and when they arrived they were synced to my telephone, and I left the doctor’s office. I did notice some immediate changes. And as I headed down the road, I heard some “new” sounds emanating from my car. My first thought was, “Wow! I’ve got to get that fixed.” One noise that startled me was a clicking sound I heard every time I turned a corner. What I was hearing for the first time in a long-time was the sound of my turn signal. The next morning I had a similar experience as I sat down at my desk and began to reply to my e-mails. I thought I had a nice quiet keyboard. It turns out that I actually have a very loud keystroke.    
 
     Today we have nice soundproof rooms with electronic testing tools to determine if we have hearing loss and then pinpoint the specific frequencies where that loss is occurring. What would happen if we had technology capable of diagnosing the root cause of our spiritual health problems? Would the average church even use them? Over twenty years ago, I was trained and certified to use one of the simplest and best church health diagnostic tools available. I promoted it and encouraged pastors to take advantage of it, but over the years only a handful have used it.
 
      So in lieu of recommending any existing diagnostic tools, let me suggest some self-evaluation questions you can ask to determine the health of your church. Last week I stated that the number one problem we have in the American church is the lack of mature leaders. So, one way to know if you are a healthy church is by asking yourself, “Do we have enough spiritually mature leaders to do all that God is asking us to do in our church? If the answer is yes, then you are a spiritually healthy church.
 
     If you answered no, then your church has some spiritual health issues. Let me suggest some diagnostic follow-up questions:

• “What is your definition of a mature disciple of Christ?” Sometimes we don’t have a clear or Biblical definition in mind. Since making disciples is THE focus of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20), it is imperative that your church has a simple, widely communicated, and Biblically based definition. If you don’t know what your goal is, how are you going to accomplish it?
• “Is the lack of mature leadership a new problem?” There are cycles in the life of every church. Sometimes we hit a season where we are sending leaders out faster than we are developing them. You cannot out give God, so if you are continuing to faithfully equip those He has sent you (Eph. 4:11-16), you will be okay.
• “How long has it been a problem for your church?” If it has been a recent occurrence—reread the previous bullet point. If it has been a problem for some time, then go immediately to my next question.
• “What have you been doing to address the issue?” Take a few minutes and think about what your church has been doing to become more effective disciple-makers. Like my hearing loss happened over time, sometimes we gradually lose focus, and we make church about a lot of good things and then we wake up one Sunday morning and realize we are not doing the most important thing—making disciples. 

     All of us have heard and probably used the phrase, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.” With my hearing loss issue, I could have chosen to NOT go to an audiologist. After I went I could have chosen to NOT heed his advice. After I bought my hearing aids I could have chosen to NOT wear them regularly because it took a lot of effort to adjust to them. But I was willing to change, and I can hear better, and people who love me tell me that I am hearing them better.
 
      If your only answer to my last diagnostic question above was, “We have been praying that the Lord of the Harvest would send us laborers for our harvest field,” then I hope you can hear me saying with love and as much grace as I can express in written words, “You have ceased to be a church, and you have become part of the mission field.” The first step in making a change is acknowledging your need for change! Stay tuned as I continue to discuss spiritual health issues.

Yours in Christ,
Mark R. Elliott, DoM