7 QUALITIES OF A DYNAMIC CHURCH

"And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest" - (Matt 9:35-38 KJV).

This is not just another article, but it is letter written from a heart deeply concerned about every Pastor seeking to establish a dynamic New-testament church. If your heart is burning with a passion to see the body of Christ in your local area or under your leadership blossom for God's glory, then, prayerfully consider these kingdom principles; understand them and get them into your DNA and the DNA of your church members. Now set yourself up for a powerful transformation and a life changing experience. I will be drawing on all 7 qualities of a dynamic church from the above scripture quotations but it will be up to you to make them take on material expression. God bless and God's best as you apply these principles in your church and ministry.

QUALITY I: GET THE CHURCH OUTSIDE THE FOUR WALLS

"And Jesus went about all the cities and villages."

Remember what Pastor Sunday use to say that ministry is not what we do inside the four walls of the church but what we do outside of it. Use a saltshaker for an example, the true impact and relevance of salt is when it is poured out, not kept in. You only leave it in to temporary preserve it but its true power works outside of it. Likewise, the true effect of your local church will work outside of its four walls not on the inside.

Often, we think conferences or seminars or special church events will draw people to the church but am sure it hasn’t worked for you because it never works that way. We expect people to come to us instead of going to where they are. Jesus went out to meet the people and not have the people come to Him. He told us to "GO INTO ALL THE WORLD" and not the other way around. "If you want to get fish, then, you must go to the sea." Remember that Jesus said that we needed to pray that He would send forth laborers into His harvest field.

The original Greek language for "send forth" means to force and thrust-out. Get the people involved in the life of the community. Your church should be seen as the heart and soul of your city and not just another church on the block. In order to do this effectively, you must change an old-traditional concept that so many pastors are unwilling to let go of. The concept that everyone in your local church is to serve your God given vision is erroneous. Why?

Because each child of God has a God-given vision for his or her life and it is your responsibility as their Pastor, to train and release them to carryout their God-given assignments outside the four walls of the church. What will gain by keeping all the salt within the saltshaker? Nothing! I am aware of churches that has a large follower-ship but have no relevance outside of its four walls and that are still farther away from fulfilling the Great Commission. While they are having a great party inside their respective denominations, the devil is having a field day in the nation as a whole.

The gospel they preach has not transformed their cities or the nation. There are still high levels of unemployment, and crime, and lawlessness, and a complete deterioration of value-systems within its political, educational, judicial, and socio-economic structures. The heart beat of God for the 21st century church is to understand the Great Commission. The Pastor is sent to serve the people, not the other way around. I know this is a hard pill for some to swallow but most of us treat the church of the Lord Jesus Christ just like a corporation where the Pastor is the CEO and your children are the heirs to it. God gave each child of His a vision, which needs to be develop and used primarily for Christ and His Kingdom. You exist to serve their vision, so that they can carryout the work of the ministry. But ministry is not what you do inside the four walls but outside the four walls. Ministry lies in understanding the Great Commission and the Great Commission is known as the discipleship of nations.

Discipleship of nations has to do with displacing the value-systems of this world and replacing them with the value-systems of the kingdom of God. These value-systems are the 7 structures upon which every society is built and they must be replaced with those of the kingdom of God.

QUALITY II: YOUR LOCAL CHURCH MUST HAVE EYES FOR PEOPLE

"But when he SAW the multitudes."

Life is about God and His people. Until, People mean as much to you as they mean to God, you will not be build a dynamic church. What is the value of one soul to God? What price tag have you set on a human soul?

The Pastor is to take on the eyes of God and see all humanity through those eyes. See through the eyes of love. Love only sees the need. Love is neither prejudiced nor judgmental. Most Pastors are looking for people they will use to achieve their selfish ambitions but truly have no heart for the people. You are never to ignore the "least of these." The eyes of love always see the best in the worst. It sees what they could be through the eyes of faith. This is why Jesus called them sheep and not goats.

QUALITY III: YOUR LOCAL CHURCH MUST HAVE COMPASSION FOR PEOPLE

"He was moved with compassion."

Compassion is not feeling sorry or pity for people but is always accompanied by actions (Luke 10:30-37).

When Jesus went into the cities and villages, He brought with Him, gifts of mercy and justice. "Healing every sickness and disease among the people." As the salt of the earth and the light of the world, we are to look for meaningful ways to bring the healing touch of Jesus to our communities. Often, we limit sicknesses and diseases to physical conditions of the body, but it includes, Political diseases, social diseases, educational diseases, economic diseases, relational diseases, financial diseases and the structural diseases of a nation’s life. In-fact, anything that affects mankind negatively is a disease. Your eyes need to see the condition and plight of humanity but your heart needs to get personally involved.

"So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us" (1Thess 2:8 KJV).

 
Pastors must not only give the word, but they must give their hearts to the people also. They must be willing to spend and to be spent for the people (2 Cor 12:15).

People must know that you really care about them. They must feel it, sense it, and know it. There is a principle that I like to draw out here, from Mark 1: 41; "And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean."

Jesus was moved in His heart but He touched the leper first, and then, healed him. Your local church must be an asset to the community and not a liability. It must reach with acts of mercy and justice without any strings attached. Do it, not to grow the church, but to show the love of Christ. Until, your church becomes an asset to the community, it will remain irrelevant.

QUALITY IV: BUILD A CHURCH FULL OF SHEPHERDS
 

"Because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd."

Shepherds are leaders who take responsibility for lives. " I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep" (John 10:11-12 KJV).

These kinds of shepherds are selfless and sacrificial. They know that the condition of the sheep depends on the shepherds and they are willing to put their lives in harms way for the sheep (Phil 2:17, 20-21, 30).

Train your people to understand that they are shepherds of the city and that they are to take responsibility for their entire communities. They are to understand that they were born for a people and they are to commit theirs lives to serving humanity. With the eyes of faith, see every member as a savior (Obadiah 1:21). These saviors are to reign as kings in their respective area of influence. They must understand kingdom responsibility and lay down their lives for it.

QUALITY V: BUILD A HOUSE OF PRAYER

"PRAY TO THE LORD OF THE HARVEST" God's house is a house of prayer for all people and, therefore, your local church must be a praying church.

Prayer is the force that causes your ministry to move at the speed of spirit. Its spiritual fortitude lies in its power and stamina to pray. The best ideas without the power to realize them are all futile. The power of a church lies in its prayer life. Your prayer-life is your lifeline. Don't just raise a selected few to pray but raise the entire church to pray. When your prayer meetings are as large as your Sunday services, know you are doing a good job. Prayer is not an option; it is the vital prerequisite o the health of your church. The body of Christ should return to the primitive tradition of praying and fasting as a way of life. Effectiveness in the kingdom is impossible without a praying church.

QUALITY VI: BUILD A HOUSE OF SERVANTS

"THAT HE WILL SEND FORTH LABORERS INTO HIS HARVEST" The culture of the kingdom is that of service. Service is the key to bridging the gap between the church and the community. To accomplish this, your church members must take on the character of servant-hood. Their leadership abilities must be defined by service and not by titles.

"If any man desire to be the first, the same shall be the last of all, and the servant of all" (Mark 9:35 KJV).

As Pastors, we are to create a kingdom of servants and a kingdom culture of selfless and sacrificial people who live to serve the kingdom first. They must understand that "we live to serve and serve to live." Did you know that the washing of feet was a job reserved for slaves? And yet, Jesus set that up as a standard for the kingdom. This beatitude of Christ's humility must permeate every cellular structure of your entire membership and must be reflected in the very life of the church. Teach your leaders and especially your key leaders to serve the people. But you as the head pastor must be the chief servant. I have been to churches where the Pastors function with such an air of self-importance. They are unapproachable and inaccessible to the people. They want you to believe that your calling is to serve their own ego. That they are superior and you are inferior and, therefore, they deserve to be treated like kings, almost entitled to be served. It is dangerous for your members to treat you as though you are infallible. Your duty as a Pastor is to treat and celebrate the "least of the brethren" as kings. (1 Cor 12:22-24) However, once this culture is built, then, go out and serve the people in the community. Serving the people with the love of Jesus Christ will open the door to reach their hearts with the gospel. Our greatness in this life is in serving humanity. It is in the difference we bring to other people's lives. Teach your people to use their lives and abilities to serve the community by enhancing the overall life of that community. Make the church an asset to your community and watch God's favor come over your people.


QUALITY VII: BUILD A HARVEST HOUSE

"Pray to the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his harvest."
This is a powerful statement Jesus made and if understood, it would shake the kingdom of darkness to its core. The word, "Lord," means "Owner" and, therefore, it means that the Lord Jesus is the true owner of the harvest. This should change how we pray about harvesting souls and nations for Christ. Jesus is the rightful heir to every single soul on the planet, because He died for the whole world. His shed blood is the price for all humanity and that means; all humanity potentially belongs to Him. So, when we pray and labor in the harvest field, we should, through the eyes of faith, based on the finished work of the cross, see every soul in the hands of Jesus. Remember, He owns the harvest not Satan. See your entire neighborhood, community, and state in His hands. Again, He not only owns the harvest, but He owns the harvest field. The field is the world and Jesus bought the world (Matt 13:38,44).

The world is divided into nations and nations are built on seven structures, namely: Government/Politics, Business/Economy, Arts/Entertainment, Mass media, Education, Religion and Family. However, these structures are built on the value-systems of this world, under the rule of the spirit of this world. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ must transform both the man and his environment. The rule of Christ comes into a man's soul by displacing Satan's rule and value-systems and replacing them with Christ and His value-system. On the same principle, the rule of Christ must come into all seven structures of a nation's life, by displacing Satanic and worldly value-systems and replacing it with the value-systems of the kingdom of God. This displacing and replacing of value-systems is known as "the Discipleship of Nations."

This is precisely what Jesus meant by the Great Commission. Just winning souls could be compared to fishing with a fishing pole, where one fish is caught at a time. However, the discipleship of nations could be compared to fishing with nets. In Luke 5, Jesus told Peter to let down the nets and bring in a draught. The nets represent kingdom systems and kingdom structures set into the systems of this world, just as nets are set into the sea. Dear Pastor, transforming your city to bring in a net breaking and boat-sinking miracle harvest would require more than just soul-winning. It would require the wisdom of God in setting up a strategic structure to fulfilling the Great Commission.

Finally, you should notice that the harvest is dependent on two factors, namely: 1) Those who pray and, 2) Those who labor. Satan does not determine the harvest, and strongholds do not determine it, either. It is solely based on those who pray and those who work. Those who pray should pray that the owner of the harvest should thrust out the workers and the workers should go in to harvest the field for Christ.