Good But Not Great

What makes a church great? Clichés come to my mind…I hate clichés…they are so…cliché-ish! People and organizations can hide behind clever clichés. So really, what is it that makes a church great? What differentiates a great church from a good church, or an average church? There are many stylistic things that make churches different – things like music, dress, and preaching style, but they are not the things that make a church great. Here are some things that come to my mind…keep in mind this is a blog and not a thesis…

Leadership. How a church is structured, the system of government makes a difference. Are leaders permitted to do what they do best? Or are there countless meetings and red tape? The cliché here would be…everything rises and falls on leadership.

Vision. Where is the church headed? Do they exist to perpetuate and live in the past? Is there a clear direction that everyone knows and articulates? Is the church unified or is there a power struggle at work? Branding is something that gets overlooked here. Is it centralized and consistent throughout all the ministries? The cliché here could be…if you don’t aim at something you won’t hit it.

Spirit. Not the Holy Spirit though we will get to Him, but the church’s spirit. A friend of mine recently visited a church (they had a new building so you would think they had it going on) and no one…not ONE person acknowledged them or said hello. That ticks me off! You know what I’m talking about here…it’s the intangibles. Some churches are warm, some are cold. Forgiven people should be friendly…inviting…caring…accepting…hospitable…gracious. Get the point? The cliché here…people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Anointing. Jesus said that he would build his church and the gates of hell couldn’t stop it. He promised us that he would never abandon us. He said that he would send another comforter to us…The Holy Spirit. What kind of atmosphere do we have for God to work on Sunday? Sin hinders God’s blessing. Unconfessed and habitual sin in leadership will quench the Holy Spirit. Failure to pray and invitation to speak to our hearts will stifle effectiveness. The cliché here…When pride walks on the stage God walks off!

I believe Fellowship is a good church that is on its way to becoming great! Maybe that is a great church…who knows. Being great for God is a pursuit not a destination. Making excellence and authenticity part of our culture is a week to week thing. Our leadership can get better...I can get better...I must get better. Our vision, to lead people to Jesus by redefing church, can get sharper. Our spirit is awesome but it must continue to be outward focused. The pull is always internal here and sometimes I feel like I'm the only one that gets it. Sunday could be the last chance for someone to find Jesus! I can't say enough how huge this is! Desperation. Are we depending on the Holy Spirit to do something only he can do? Am I trying to impress or influence? Living dangerously…taking faith risks has to be part of our DNA. The larger we get the more we have to protect and the more we stand to lose. Buy you can't stop doing the things that got us to this point! God didn’t put us here to survive but to thrive…did I just make up a new cliché?