Six Signals of a Strong Church

How can we spot a strong church? How do you know if a church is good or not? What signals should we look for to avoid unhealthy churches? 

Most people looking for a new church search for a pastor they like, a nice building in a convenient location, good music (however they define that), or people who are their kind of people (whatever that means). To many people, these are what determine if the church is good. And most of it is completely subjective—matters of personal taste or style. And the most important things aren’t even on this list. 

I’ve worked over 15 years in a number of churches of all shapes and sizes around the country, and spent the last few years intensely reading and studying what dozens of authors and, most importantly, the Bible has to say about what makes a good church. And through it all, I’ve come up with a list of six signals of a strong church.

None of the signals are the music of the size of a church. Strong churches come in all styles and sizes. But each signal is based on biblical principles. And this list is neither exhaustive nor infallible. You could probably argue for more or less. However, I believe these six signals are good indicators of a strong church that is healthy, honors God, and helps people.

1. Sound Doctrine

What does the church believe? This is the first signal to look for because it is the most important. Theology is the foundation on which a church is built. 

Actions are birthed by beliefs. Therefore, if a church holds false beliefs, its actions will follow. False churches stem from false doctrine.

Jesus taught that his teaching is our foundation. He says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (Matt 7:24-27).

Churches must build on the foundation of all we are taught in God’s Word. We must study the Bible to know what it teaches about God and us. Theology is not just an academic pursuit for intellectuals. All believers must know and follow the truth. Sound doctrine is the anchor keeping the church moored to God in the chaos of the storms around us. Without it, churches are adrift at sea. 

This is why Paul commands the church to “teach what accords with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). We must know and teach the truth. In addition, we must guard and defend the truth. In his qualification for church elders, Paul writes, “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9). A critical role of the church is to fight off the disease of false doctrines that infect people’s thinking. 

Paul also commands, “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (2 Tim 1:13-14). He echoes the same command in 1 Timothy 6:20 to “guard the deposit entrusted to you.”

Therefore, a strong church is built on a foundation of sound doctrine. They will love the Bible, know it, revere it, and defend it from false teachings. Strong churches hold steadfastly to the anchor of God’s Word. 

2. Godly Leaders

Who is leading the church? Leadership makes or breaks a church. Church leaders exert an enormous influence on church people. Therefore, if a church is to hold and live according to sound doctrine, that responsibility begins with the leaders. We need qualified, godly leaders to teach and defend sound doctrine in our churches.

The Bible is filled with incredible stories of godly leaders who brought the nation of Israel back to following the Lord. And it is also filled with stories of ungodly leaders who led the people astray. 

In most churches, a pastor is the leader. Surprisingly, the word “pastor” does not appear often in Scripture. It is not in the ESV or NKJV translations and is only used once in the NASB, NIV, and CSB (Eph 4:11). The Greek word translated “pastor” in some Bibles, poimen (ποιμήν), literally means shepherd. Also, the leadership role of a pastor is the same as that of an elder and overseer. The Greek word for “elders” is presbyteros (πρεσβύτερος). It means old or older men and is often used for male leaders of the church. The Greek word for “overseer” is episkopos (ἐπίσκοπος), which means “one who has the responsibility of safeguarding or seeing to it that something is done in the correct way.” We see variations of all three in 1 Peter 5:1-2. 

“I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (1 Pet 5:1-4 ESV). 

Church elders are commanded to oversee and shepherd the flock of the chief shepherd (Jesus). Each name describes one aspect of their role in the church. So, we could define pastors as mature believers who oversee the church’s operation and shepherd its people for the glory of Jesus Christ.

These leaders must uphold the qualifications of elders in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, being above reproach, and having proven themselves over years of faithfulness by faithfully leading their family. 

So I would look for a church whose leadership fits these qualifications, because if it doesn’t, I would be concerned that they would also compromise other teachings of Scripture (violating the first signal of sound doctrine).

We need more godly leaders in our churches. As history has proven, the whole church can go bad when a leader is bad. Strong churches have godly leaders. These qualified men have integrity in their personal lives, in handling church finances, and in decision-making. It is a high calling, but a church will only be as strong as those who lead it.

3. Compelling Mission

Why does the church exist? Do churches exist only to teach positive morals, help the poor, and provide a loving community for people? No. These may all be good things that churches do, but they are not the main thing. It is easy to drift toward good things and miss the greatest thing. So, as the saying goes, the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. 

The church exists for a singular mission, and we don’t get to decide what it is. Christ, the head of the church (Eph 5:23; Col 1:18), has already given us our orders. According to Jesus, our mission is the Great Commission. 

Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:18-20). 

The church’s mission is to make disciples. Why are we supposed to make disciples? First, because Jesus has all authority and has commanded us to do it. That should be reason enough. However, we also make disciples because people are lost in their sins and need to hear the Gospel to be saved by faith (Rom 10:17). As Mark’s rendition of the Great Commission says, we must “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:15-16). 

How are we supposed to make disciples? First, baptize them, and then teach them to obey Christ’s commands (Matt 28:19-20). 

In the Bible, baptism always follows conversion. This implies that we must preach the gospel so they might believe in Christ. Baptism is the initiation of new believers into the church. 

Next, our task is to help believers mature as disciples of Christ by teaching them. Church leaders are responsible “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:12–13). 

Strong churches have a Great Commission mission. They keep the mission front and center. The call to make disciples of all nations is a compelling mission worthy of giving our lives to. This mission will motivate people in the church to sacrifice, serve, and seek the lost so that they can preach the gospel to them. 

A compelling mission unifies the church and motivates people to join the cause. People want something greater than themselves to give their lives to, and there is no greater cause than this. Life and death—heaven and hell—are at stake.

4. Biblical Preaching

What does the church teach? Jesus based all his teaching on his authority as the Word of God (John 1:1) and on God’s Word. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

The Bible is the inspired Word of God. Therefore, it carries divine authority and power, unlike any other book. Furthermore, the Bible is sufficient for everything we need to teach, correct, train, and grow to spiritual maturity. Therefore, preaching the Word is one of the most important things a church does.

Preaching is like the rudder on a ship. It steers the entire church. What we preach is what we will believe. What we believe is what we will do.

Biblical preaching by godly leaders teaches sound doctrine and keeps us focused on our mission of making disciples. However, many churches have drifted from biblical preaching in favor of being more relevant. When pastors begin to believe the lie that it is all on them to save people, they might pick a verse here and there to fit the point they want to make, that they think people will like to hear, but they miss the true meaning of the text. They rely on their wit and winsomeness but miss the power of the Word.

Paul sets this example for us, writing, “My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor 2:4-5). The hope for people to change from spiritual death to life is not a charismatic personality, a genius intellect, or a celebrity-like persona. The hope of preaching rests in the power of God through his Word alone.

You and I cannot change a person’s heart. Only God can do that. Preaching the Word has a supernatural element that we cannot forget. The Spirit of God works through the Word of God to raise the dead to life.

All preachers must remember the charge of 2 Timothy 4:2 to “Preach the word,” because “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Tim 4:3-4). There are many false preachers today who will say whatever pleases itching ears. 

Strong churches are dedicated to biblical preaching. So I would look for a church that serves healthy portions of the Bible, where Scripture informs the focus of every point of the sermon, not anything else.

5. Unified Strategy

How does the church plan to accomplish its mission? If we have a clear mission—a destination where we are going—there may be many ways people try to reach the destination. Before long, they will start pulling in seventeen different directions, all trying to reach the same goal. This is a recipe for division and failure. 

Let’s say, for example, I want to get a group of people from my home city of Phoenix to New York City. There are a lot of ways I could do that. Some might want to get there as fast as possible and take a plane. Some might want to save money and drive. Some might think they would like to see a few other destinations on the way and drive a more scenic route. Others may want to be more social and take a bus. I guess you could walk or ride a bike there too. We all have the same destination in mind, but won’t be working together and may spend a lot more time, energy, and resources than necessary and even leave a lot of people behind if we all take a different route.

Strong churches have a unified strategy. The strategy is how you will accomplish the mission. Strong churches know where they are going and how they will work together to get there. Everyone knows the clear and simple strategy, and everyone executes it. Anything that does not fit the strategy is left aside. 

Many churches are simply doing too much without concentrated focus. It is like the difference between a laser and a lightbulb. Both emit beams of light, but only one is concentrated enough to cut steel. While we may think that more programs and ministries create more opportunities for people to hear about Jesus, we can forget to count the cost. All programs are costly. They demand money, time, and energy from people. I am not aware of a single church with infinite resources. We can be more targeted and effective with a unified strategy, pointing all our resources in one direction.

Unity of purpose is, most importantly, biblical. Paul writes, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Phil 1:27). Later he says, “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” (Phil 2:2). Furthermore, Jesus prayed that the church would be united because it would bring God glory (John 17:20-23). Unity of mind and purpose glorifies God because we can accomplish more for his kingdom united than we ever could alone. 

A church that does too much is still a church, but we will be most effective when we focus on a unified strategy to accomplish our God-given mission of making disciples. Synergy is a powerful thing. A unified strategy builds momentum and excitement in a church when we realize we are better together.

6. Loving Community

How do people in the church treat one another? The defining characteristic of Christianity is love. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35). 

Love is the identifying mark of a Christian. After all, we serve the God of love. As John says, “God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:16). Furthermore, Jesus sums up all the commands of the Old Testament as, first, love God and, second, love your neighbor (Mark 12:29-31). Christians exist to love God and love people. An unloving Christian is a contradiction. Therefore, strong churches are loving communities.

There are a lot of ways that this might show up in a church.

Loving churches take church membership seriously. In Ephesians 5, the Bible says, “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body” (5:29-30). Church membership is being a part of the body of Christ. We love and serve one another because we are part of the same body.

Pastors of strong churches also take their shepherding responsibility seriously. They love the members of their church by caring for them. They visit them, call them, counsel them, pray for them, serve them, and generally care for their people, setting the example for the church. But pastors should not be the only ones caring for people. 

The people in a strong church care for one another. They help one another in times of need. This is modeled in Acts 2, as members of the early church sold things they owned to give money to members in need. People in a loving community are generous with their time, money, and abilities. Although never perfectly, each person is valued, loved, and cared for to the best of our ability. Each person has a role to play using their gifts to serve the body (Rom 12:4-6).

Hospitality is a biblical command. Romans 12:13 says, “seek to show hospitality.” Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers” (Heb 13:2). And 1 Peter 4:9-11 says, “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another… in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”

Strong churches are loving communities because God gets the glory when we love one another.

Strong Church Conclusion

If you are looking for a strong church, don’t look at the same superficial or subjective things that everyone else looks for. Look for these six signals of a strong church: (1) sound doctrine, (2) godly leaders, (3) compelling mission, (4) biblical preaching, (5) unified strategy, and (6) loving community. 

Based on my biblical convictions, this is the type of church I want to build as a pastor and the kind of church I would encourage my family and friends to attend.