A Good Church

A Good Church

“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”  Revelation 3:22

This verse appears at the end of John’s messages to the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2-3. In fact, it is repeated at the end of each of the seven messages. In these brief messages Christ both commends and criticizes the churches, and as I was reading them recently it got me thinking about characteristics of a good church. From Revelation and other scriptures, we can see that good churches share at least these three characteristics.

A good church has a strong and effective witness. It is a testifying church, proclaiming the good news that through Christ’s death and resurrection there is redemption for all who call on Him. When Peter and John were told to stop testifying, they kindly replied, “we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20).

A good church should also have a sense of mission. It should be a sending church, not just a club for its members. We should be steadily pursuing Christ’s great commission to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:15b).

A third characteristic of a good church is a commitment to service. It should be a giving church. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” (James 1:27a).

Are you pursuing these three qualities within your Christian fellowship? If you don’t already attend one, try to find a church that has all three of these qualities.