4 Differences Between Healthy and Unhealthy Churches

My dad was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 55 years old.

His diagnosis was jarring. The most difficult thing to get my head around was that my dad was not old; he didn’t appear sick, he wasn’t weak. The weekend prior to being hospitalized he was pushing my girls’ strollers around a local fair. No signs of illness.

When I reflect on that season, I am often struck by how healthy my dad appeared on the outside while being so devastatingly ill on the inside. Many of the signs of the cancer in his bloodstream were unnoticed, blown off or pushed through. The differences between sick and healthy were subtle.

This idea does not just apply to physical health, but can be observed in our churches, as well. I have worked with several strong churches and ministry leaders over the years. My church fights daily to keep a healthy culture. I have learned the differences between a healthy church and an unhealthy church can be so slight, yet so deadly. Ministries can appear healthy to those around them while harboring conditions that rob them of effectiveness. Here are four differences that exist between healthy and unhealthy churches. Read More