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Assessing the Local Church

The church is of God.  But a local congregation of Christians may be judged as biblical or heretical, strong or weak by the degree of faithfulness to the church’s central purpose.  Only from the Scriptures can fitting implications for churchly functions be drawn.  And only from personal introspection can members be sure that the local assembly is faithful to its purpose.

In many respects, the church is a complex assemblage.  The New Testament employs many “images” to describe it and show its nature.  The exercise below has been designed to help one determine the status of the local church.

To perform the assessment, print this sheet and mark on it in keeping with these instructions:

Assuming the New Testament portrays the church as the list below suggests, mark in each column the number (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) that, in your opinion, matches the statement most closely.

1—Strongly Agree   2—Mildly Agree   3—Mildly Disagree   4—Strong Disagree   5—I am Uncertain

Column 1     I believe the congregation of which I am a member manifests itself as—
Column 2     I believe the leaders (elders, preacher) demonstrate that they believe the church to be—
Column 3     I believe church programs and activities promote the idea that the church is—
Column 4     I am willing to work toward building the church as—

Standard	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4
1.  The people of God
2.  A healing community
3.  A chosen race
4.  A holy nation, sanctified people
5.  A teaching community
6.  The remnant
7.  The elect ones
8.  A disciple-making community
9.  A holy temple
10. A priesthood
11. An aroma unto God
12. The new creation
13. The kingdom of God
14. Fighters against Satan
15. God’s glory
16. Light
17. A community in the Holy Spirit
18. A community of love
19. The justified
20. Disciples
21. Confessors
22. Slaves, servants
23. The family of God, sons of God
24. A brotherhood
25. A body of life, a growing body
26. A spiritual body
27. The body of Christ
28. The fullness of Christ
29. The bride of Christ
30. A people in exile
31. A believing community
32. A proclaiming community
33. A worshiping community
34. A community of compassion
35. An encouraging community

Once you have completed your assessment, analyze the responses.  Examine those items in each column that received the highest and lowest marks.  What you do with your findings is left to you for action.