There are many churches in this modern age, and many groups that call themselves churches, but aren’t. Churches vary widely in beliefs and practices, and it can be confusing to know which churches are true and which are false, which are strong and which are weak, and which to join. Most people are attracted to or repelled from churches primarily on the basis of the friendliness of the congregation and the appeal of the music. These are not insignificant factors, but they are not primary. Other major factors people consider are the culture of the church, the likability of the pastor, the depth of the sermons, programs for children, location, time of service, etc. These also are important issues, but they are not primary either. When people tell you about a “strong church,” almost always what they mean is that it is a church that they like – and it may not have the qualities of a truly mature church. Here are the primary qualities of a mature church, and some other issues to consider.
Presence of Christ
The church is the Body of Christ, so the overriding truth about the church is that Christ is present there. This may seem glaringly obvious, and in fact, is Christ not present everywhere? Of course Christ, being fully God, is omnipresent, but in some mysterious way, Jesus’ presence is stronger in some places than in others. Christ declared that He would be present when Christians gather, and Christ is present in the church in some way not true for the beach or forest, no matter how strong the divine presence might feel in nature.
Christ is head of the church, the bridegroom of His bride, and Christ is present in the church more potently than in any other place. Sometimes you may feel the presence of Christ, and other times you may not, but that does not change the fact of His presence. Sometimes those feelings might come from the music, sometimes from the sermon, sometimes from the Lord’s Supper, sometimes from the embrace of a dear brother or sister. Sometimes you go to church and feel nothing. But nothing has changed. Christ is there, He is always there, He will never leave the church, and He will always embrace you.
Christ particularly reveals Himself in the means of grace: scripture, prayer, and sacraments. When the church reads and preaches the scripture, Christ speaks in a way not true of other occasions. When the church prays, Christ comes uniquely near to us. When the church performs the sacraments, Christ is present, acting through the pastor. The primary characteristic of a strong church is that the means of grace are prominent and handled well.
God speaks to us most clearly in scripture, and it has been the custom of the church from the beginning to read several portions of scripture in worship. Usually two or three scriptures are read, one each from the Old Testament, an Epistle, and a Gospel- a paragraph or two of each, whatever makes sense. God also speaks to us when an authorized man (ordained minister) preaches a sermon from the scripture; in other words, an expository sermon. The sermon should focus on Christ and His salvation, which can be done using any text since all of scripture is about Christ. Christian sermons are not exhortations to a better or more moral life, or a lecture on the meaning of the text – although moral teaching and textual meaning are components of a sermon. Christian sermons are about Christ: His love for us, the dangers of sin, the salvation Christ accomplished for us, the assurance of that salvation, the equipping of the Spirit, etc. A sermon should be substantial enough to provide spiritual nourishment for the people, yet not so long as to be tedious. Some churches value a sermon by its length, but long does not equal strong. Also, the sermon is only part of Lord’s Day worship. Some churches focus so much on the sermon that they neglect the other elements of the service. Scripture is the means by which God speaks to us.
We speak to God in prayer, and He is present to listen to us. Some churches seem to think that prayer is less important than preaching, but it is foolish to attempt to rank the means of grace. Prayer should occupy a prominent place in Lord’s Day worship, and also in other parts of church life. Jesus instructed us to say the Lord’s Prayer, so that should be part of every service. The church is one of the three foundational institutions of society, so the church has the responsibility to pray for the state and for families. Jesus is present and eager to hear us as we bring our needs to Him in prayer.
God reveals Himself in the sacraments. In baptism Jesus welcomes us into His Kingdom and He receives children as well as adults – so it is important to baptize infants as well as new believers. Jesus offers Himself to us in the Lord’s Supper, in which He enters and fills us when we eat the bread and drink the wine. It is important to receive the Lord’s Supper every week, or as often as it is offered. We meet Jesus personally in the sacraments.
Christ is present through the means of grace, and any body which worships with scripture, prayer, and the sacraments may be a church. Any group which neglects either of these is not a church. The people may be believers, and some may be Christians. They may serve and instruct each other, and that is commendable. But without all the means of grace, that group will not be a church. But a body of Christians who practice the means of grace as Christ instructed may be called a church.
Faith and Love
The use of the means of grace is sufficient evidence that a body may be a church, but it is not sufficient to establish that it is a church. A true church will be populated with people who believe in Christ. Without living faith the body is dead and the means of grace are impotent. Now, in any church there may be unbelievers. Christ predicted that, and He warned us not to attempt to root them out. (Matthew 13:24-30) Some (or even a lot) of unbelievers present in a congregation do not make a church not a church. Neither does a false pastor invalidate the ministry of a church (the Donatist controversy). But if there are no believers in the clergy and congregation and no faith is present anywhere, there is no church. Such a condition is unlikely to persist long. What is more common are churches with weak faith. Weak faith is a problem, but Jesus makes clear that it is the object of faith, not its strength, which is critical. A church full of doubters who nevertheless read the scripture, pray, and celebrate the Lord’s Supper is most definitely a place where Christ is. However, a mature church will be populated by people who have a strong faith.
People who believe in Christ (i.e. trust Him) do what He says – and Jesus affirmed the first and second commandments to love God and neighbor. Love is the most important characteristic of Christians, and a mature church is one in which love is prominent. Without love a church is “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Now the difficulty with love is that it is not quantifiable. Nevertheless, one can sense the love of a church by the energy of its worship, the quality of its prayers, how well it welcomes strangers, its care for the poor, etc. This requires wisdom. Loud singing does not mean deeper worship, and Jesus warned against prayers that sound impressive, but are insincere. Weak Christians and unbelievers sometimes provide impressive care for poor and strangers. These evidences of love are culturally expressed and must be culturally understood. It is easy to confuse features of culture and personality with spiritual strength and weakness. But with some time and effort one can notice genuine Christian love for God and man in a congregation.
A mature church is a body in which Christ is present in scripture, prayer, and sacraments; the members have a living faith in Christ; and love is abundant. Following are some additional marks of maturity.
Maturity
A mature church will be characterized by moral strength. Any healthy congregation will have children and new believers who are young in their faith, but a strong church will exhibit and promote mature moral standards. However, they will do it without compromising the gospel. Christians are justified and adopted by God, thus there is no condemnation in Christ. It is wicked for Christians to condemn each other, and it is also wicked to tolerate sin. A strong church will teach and model mature moral behavior in such a way that the weak are encouraged and made strong, not criticized or neglected. Moral standards vary from culture to culture and even community to community. It is fruitless and harmful to construct a detailed moral code for all people everywhere. The Ten Commandments show us the moral framework, and the Spirit guides us in holy living. A strong church will not nit pick on particulars of a culture, but neither will it tolerate obvious violations of the Ten Commandments. Paul’s letters provide good examples of what does and does not constitute Christian moral imperatives.
A mature church will embrace and teach sound doctrine. Some doctrines are more difficult and are disputed, but every strong church will embrace the core doctrines of the scripture. These core Christian doctrines are presented in the three ecumenical creeds: the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. A body which does not believe and teach these doctrines is not a church at all. A strong church will be diligent to shape its teaching and ministry in that framework and incorporate one of these ecumenical creeds in its worship service.
Many churches strenuously emphasize particular doctrines, sometimes unique to themselves. This is not a sign of strength. One’s opinion about church government or the mode of baptism is nowhere as important as the divinity of Christ or His substitutionary death for our sins. As we study the scripture, we draw conclusions about its meaning and how to apply its teaching – and being sinful men limited in understanding, we will not all understand things the same way. A mature church will hold tenaciously and teach energetically the fundamental doctrines contained in the ecumenical creeds, and teach clearly but less emphatically secondary doctrines as she understands them. No church that belittles doctrine can legitimately claim to be a mature church, yet doctrinal conviction is no occasion for hostility toward other Christians.
A mature church will have mature leaders. Different churches understand the particulars of church leadership differently, but there are a few universals. The apostles were the foundational leaders, and their writings are normative for the church. Since the time of the apostles Christ has appointed men known in scripture as pastors, teachers, evangelists, overseers, elders, and deacons to lead the church. Different functions are in view, but all are men appointed by Christ through the church to lead the church. All are subordinate to Christ and are charged with caring for the people and guarding the gospel.
Scripture provides a high standard for leaders in the church. Christ equips pastors and others to lead the church with strength and humility. Paul instructed timid Timothy to be strong, for the Spirit in us is strong. Jesus expected brash Peter to learn humility, for his Master is humble. Some leaders will be naturally strong like Peter, and must never lord it over others. Some leaders will be naturally weak like Timothy, and must never act cowardly. All leaders must learn to lead with strength and humility in the power of the Holy Spirit. A mature church will have mature leaders.
No leader is perfect, and with power comes the temptation to abuse that power. A mature church will have clear, strong accountability structures to prevent the pastor or anyone else from abusing their authority.
Churches are governed differently, and while this is less important than the character and skill of the leaders, it is not a trivial matter. All churches seek to derive their model of church government from scripture, but with different results. There are three broad categories of church government: episcopal, presbyterian, and congregational. Episcopal churches empower a bishop to lead and make decisions in a defined area, and grant significant discretion to pastors. Presbyterian churches are led by groups of elders at the local, regional, and national level. Congregational churches are independent of any larger body. Each model claims brilliant successes and is subject to devastating critique. Sin corrupts everyone, no matter how government is set up.
Three controlling issues in church government are execution of ministry, adjudicating disputes, and accountability. Ministry is best executed by a single figure. This principle is built into the episcopal system, but the other systems find ways to empower men for action when need arises. Disputes are best adjudicated by committees. This function is built into the presbyterian system, but other systems find ways to assemble groups to study important issues. Any government needs accountability structures. These exist in different ways in the episcopal and presbyterian systems. Accountability is weakest in the congregational (independent) system. However, in order for accountability to be effective, it must be practiced! Historically this has been a catastrophic failure in all forms of church government.
The special temptation when one man rules is to lord it over people. The special temptation when a group rules is to degenerate into arguments and to do little ministry. No form of church government is perfect. Godly men will lead well in any situation, and ungodly men will hurt the church in any situation. The primary issue in leadership is not the way the church is organized, but the character of the leaders.
Culture
The first order issues for the maturity of a church are 1) the presence of Christ in scripture, prayer, and sacraments, 2) living faith in Christ, 3) love for God and neighbor, 4) moral strength, 5) sound doctrine, and 6) godly leaders. These are the essential elements of a mature church. Anything else is secondary. You may encounter a church where the music is unbearable, the preaching is boring, and the people are annoying. But if the essentials are there, Christ is present and you will meet Him – whether you feel His presence or not.
However, God has made us culture-building creatures. All individuals and all cultures are unique. All have their own music, art, customs, habits, and above all language – and we worship best in our own culture. It’s where we fit, where things seem normal and understandable. God knows this. He made us that way! So it is not surprising that churches worship in a wide variety of ways which fit the culture of the people.
When we say culture, people think of foreign lands with people who speak a different language. But the most common and challenging culture differences we encounter are not the huge ones of other lands, but the small differences of our friends and neighbors – and even within our family. The reason why people on the same block go to different churches is often not doctrinal difference, but cultural difference. Some people find contemporary music shallow and upsetting, so they go to a church which sings “traditional” hymns. Some find traditional hymns boring and go to a church which sings contemporary songs. Some people find it natural to worship with country or jazz music, and a student once told me that hard rock music enables him to encounter Jesus best. And language. Some people listen best when the pastor uses refined academic English, and others listen best when the pastor speaks with a Western drawl.
Some people think this is a shameful prioritizing of petty preferences over loving Christian unity. Such people insist that we all worship together. But if there is a homogenized worship service, some people will never feel at home with Jesus, or if it is a “blended” service everyone may feel out of place. The bottom line is that God made us different, and we know God differently – just as all marriages are different. Cultural differences are not a problem. They are a feature of God’s creation. The issue is what we do with culture differences.
First, culture must never, ever be a primary factor in church. Our unity is in Christ, not in music, language, food, or anything else. This means that we can truly worship Christ and meet Him in any true church. It will be harder to worship in some churches than others, but not impossible. The church is where we meet Christ, and that is always the primary issue. It is far better to worship with a mature church in an awkward culture than to worship with a troubled church in one’s own culture.
Second, culture is always a factor in church. We are culture-making creatures. Everything we do is an expression and a contribution to our culture, including worship. To deny this is to misunderstand and insult the image of God in us. Each church should worship in the culture of its members. This pleases God, and it should please us, too.
Third, culture must never exclude people. If someone visits a church wearing strange clothing, or weird hair, or from another ethnic group, he must be warmly embraced. It may seem very strange for an Anglo to worship in a Korean church, but it would be shameful to make him feel unwelcome because he is not Korean. Love for others is the New Commandment and is always the first priority for Christian people.
A mature church will embody the culture of its members, but in a way that everyone is welcome to participate and is embraced by the body.
Personality
Closely related to culture is personality. Just as each ethnic and social group develops its own culture, so each individual is a unique personality. Some of us are loud and outgoing, some of us are quiet and shy. Some are energetic and some are cautious. None of these are sin issues. These are expressions of the different ways God has made us, and to be critical of personalities is to judge God. Like culture, the issue is what we do with our personalities.
The fundamentals apply to all people regardless of personality and culture. We are made in God’s image and are called to love Him and other people. Those called by God into His Kingdom are also granted gifts and are called to use them for the good of everyone. But the gifts, like the personalities, are of enormous variety. Apparently God likes brash, aggressive people, for He made them. Apparently God like quiet, cautious people, for He made those, too. And apparently God wants all sorts of people in His Kingdom, for He saves all sorts of people. And when those people gather in a church, that church will reflect the personalities of the people in it. This is not a problem. It is not a problem that there are small, quiet churches and large energetic churches. Small churches are not a failure, and large churches do not compromise the faith. The issue is what they do with their faith.
Each person and each church is called to love God first and neighbor second. They will do it in amazingly different ways. The danger and warning sign is when a church grows lazy and does not love God and neighbor. If a church is small because it is callous about the lost and unwelcoming to visitors, the problem is not its size or its personality, but its faith. If a church is large because it lusts for prominence in society, the problem is not its size, but its faith. A mature church will have a particular personality, but earnestly love God and man in ways consistent with that personality.
Service
Christ is at work in the church to develop each member to maturity and to mature the church as a whole. Christ does this by employing members with diverse gifts in serving the whole body. And Christ executes this plan through leaders who equip and encourage the members in service. A mature church has leaders that are constantly alert to the gifts of their members and seek ways to cultivate and employ those gifts to serve the whole church. Opportunities for service will be evident, and all gifts will be welcomed and used.
Tradition
A mature church will embrace the tradition of the church. Protestants generally have a toxic attitude toward tradition. They have been burned by the unhealthy traditions of the Roman church, and think that Jesus opposed tradition. This latter point is easily dismissed. Jesus strenuously opposed tradition that nullified commands of scripture, but otherwise His whole life was an observance of the traditions of the faith. Those who follow Jesus most closely will embrace the tradition of the church.
First, following Jesus entails embracing tradition. Jesus was not a revolutionary. Jesus came to fulfill the scripture, not to destroy it. The revolutionary spirit is anti-Christ. A mature church will embrace tradition.
Second, tradition is the repository of 2,000 years of wisdom. Now, not all tradition is healthy in our age, as in Jesus’ day. But overall we profit more than we suffer by learning from the godly men and women of the past. Rejection or dismissal of tradition is sinfully arrogant. Do we think that we know better than the most brilliant and godly men and women of the past 2,000 years? We will need to make adaptations for the modern era, but not overthrow tradition entirely.
Third, despising tradition is breaking the Fifth Commandment. As the Westminster Larger Catechism observes, the fifth commandment encompasses all our superiors, not just our biological fathers. No generation can successfully replicate the habits of the previous one, nor should it try, but neither may it reject the wisdom of the previous generation. We are called to honor our fathers in family and faith by learning from them and applying their godly wisdom in our generation.
Fourth, following Jesus’ example we always take scripture as our ultimate authority. Scripture always trumps tradition. The Reformers never rejected tradition and often quoted the church fathers, but they always evaluated the tradition by the scripture. This is the true Protestant, Evangelical attitude toward tradition.
In the turmoil of the Reformation and the horrible wars that followed, attitudes between Roman and Protestant churches hardened. In the process of extricating themselves from a deadly power and false religion, Protestants lost much of value in the tradition of the church. It is time to re-evaluate that tradition and humbly submit ourselves to the godly wisdom of the ages. A mature church will not mindlessly imitate the past, but neither will it reject the past.
Form of Worship
One of the most profound traditions of the church is the form of Lord’s Day worship. The Spirit has been at work in the church for 2,000 years leading it to a form of worship which is doctrinally sound and pastorally healthy. Evangelical churches, especially the newer ones, worship in ways that appeal to their audience. This is unhealthy in that it makes worship man-centered rather than God-centered, and it limits its appeal to a narrow slice of humanity which inhabits a very short time period. The church in Germany and England reformed its doctrine and worship while retaining the healthy form of worship developed in the previous 1500 years. This is an example of a wise and godly treatment of tradition that other churches would do well to follow.
In modern times spontaneity has emerged as one of the top values in the life of the church. Scripture does not address spontaneity as sinful, but it warns against unthoughtful speech and counsels care and order in our work. Paul specifically opposed chaos in worship. Even if a church does not worship in the liturgical tradition, scripture demands that worship be orderly. Lord’s Day worship which is spontaneous may be fun, but it is not godly and is not Christian. A mature church will worship in an orderly manner.
Approach to God
Modern people are allergic to anything which is dull and boring. We are entertained all day by amusements on YouTube and TicToc, and we will not waste our time on boring services. We expect excitement, and we will not worship any other way.
If worship is merely a human community event, each group can choose how it wishes to operate. However if worship is the church assembling before the throne of God, we cannot choose how to appear. God tells us how to appear before Him. God’s attitude toward us determines how we approach Him
Some churches emphasize God’s anger toward sin, and begin worship with confession of our sin so that we may approach God with a clean conscience. Their worship is tightly regulated so not to offend a holy God. Some churches emphasize God’s love for all people, and welcome everyone to worship regardless of their faith or the condition of their lives. Their worship is careless, with the conviction that God loves them whatever they do. Both of these approaches to God contain some truth, but both are badly distorted.
God loves His children, and delights to welcome them into His presence. God is a loving Father. He loves His children, even in all their immaturity and silliness. But He loves them enough to require them to grow up, and in His love He stops them from doing hurtful things. Jesus is a loving Bridegroom. He loves His bride, even when she is immature and silly. But He loves her enough to stop her from doing hurtful things. God is “our Father, who is in heaven,” and is also “a consuming fire.”
Worship must never be cold or dull. That is a rejection of God’s love. Worship must never be foolish or flippant. That is disrespectful. A mature church will worship joyfully and reverently.
Signs of Immaturity
Scripture includes signs of immaturity among God’s people. Paul’s letters address some issues at length. Chapters two and three of The Revelation to Saint Paul contain six signs of an immature church and warnings to repent. Beware of a church in which you see coldness, idolatry, sexual immorality, false teachers, deadness, and lukewarmness. These were true churches. They were weak and immature, but Christ was present in them. But Christ warned them that He would leave if they persisted in their sin. These are some marks of an immature church.
Beware of a church in chaos. If the leadership is inept, if activities are disorganized, and especially if worship is chaotic, this is a weak and immature church.
Beware of a church with bad leaders: harsh and demanding, unwilling to accept responsibility and address problems, fearful of losing control, fearful of the world, careless of theology, lazy, men who allow women to seize control, women who take roles not theirs.
Beware of a church with weak accountability structures. The more gifted and effective the pastor, the stronger must be the checks to prevent him from abusing his power. Never join a church in which authority is concentrated in one man.
Beware of a church which is childish and lazy. Our destiny as individuals and as a church is to grow and mature. This does not mean to be preoccupied with work or to be serious all the time. Christ was not like that, and our destiny is to be like Christ. Christ is making us productive, joyful, worshipful, loving, and like Him is all aspects. A mature church will begin to exhibit these characteristics and be striving toward them. A mature church will expect, train, and encourage its members to study the Bible carefully, pray diligently, serve energetically, make good use of their gifts – doing this in faith, motivating by the gospel, not putting pressure on people.
Finding a Mature Church
No church is perfect. A mature church is striving to be faithful to Christ and to conform to His word, but the best churches are composed of sinful people who are in the process of sanctification. Immature churches may simply be young and composed of young Christians. We should hope that they are on a path to maturity. The truly unhealthy churches are those which persist in immaturity even when they become aware of their failings. A church with defective theology, bad leaders, uncaring community, and weak worship is one to be avoided.
There are groups which claim to be churches, but are not. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons are two examples. We should clearly, emphatically, and publicly announce that these are false churches and warn people to avoid them. Christ is not present in them, and no one in them will be saved. Even so, Christ charged us to pray even for our enemies, so hatefulness is not a Christian response to false teachers.
If we are called to pray for our enemies, even more should we acknowledge Christ in true churches. Some churches are so compromised that no one should participate in them, but neither should we treat them with hostility. Christ is present in a true church, and we would be opposing Christ if we were to be hostile toward other churches. We should receive compromised churches as true brothers, pray for them, and offer any assistance that might help them to return to strong faith. We should not approve of their failings or approve of anyone participating in them.
No church will excel in all aspects, and any church will have disappointing areas of weakness. It is foolish and harmful to look for a perfect church. In seeking a church to join, one should look first for the presence of Christ in scripture, prayer, and sacraments; living faith in Christ; love for God and neighbor; moral strength; sound doctrine; and godly leaders. Important but secondary issues are opportunities for service, a healthy respect for tradition, and a mature approach in worship. Then one may consider how well he fits in the culture and personality of a church.
Ultimately, one should be led by the Spirit as He speaks in the scripture when choosing a church to join. Some people may led to join an immature church in order to help it grow. This can be a good choice for mature Chrisitans as long as the church wants to grow. If an immature church is content in its weakness, it is foolish and useless to try to change it unless you are called to be the pastor. Most Christians will thrive in mature churches and should seek one that fits their culture and personality.
C. David Green
Pentecost 2025
David Green 