How can we as churches strengthen our witness in the world?   For years in the CRCA we have been encouraging churches to GROW:  "To grow healthy churches which nurture and equip their members...."   But this begs the question:  what aspect of increased church health will nurture and equip their members, by God's grace grow the church numerically, plant new churches, and increase their gospel impact throughout Australia and beyond?

Almost 50 years ago Pastor Ray C. Stedman alerted the church to a major roadblock to effective witness in the world.   What he says might surprise you?   He wrote:   "The present-day church has managed to do away with koinonia (fellowship) almost completely, reducing the witness of the church to proclamation (kerygma) alone.   It has thus succeeded in doing two things simultaneously:  removing the major safeguard to the health of the church from within, and greatly weakening its effective witness before the world without.  It is little wonder, therefore, that the church has fallen on evil days and is regarded as irrelevant and useless by so many in the world."  (Body Life: Regal Books, 1972)  

What Stedman suggests is that proclamation of the Word of God is not enough if we desire to see our churches become healthy from within and be effective in witness from without.   Our Reformed churches are well known for their high standards in Word proclamation.   Our Bible colleges and denominational oversight are well placed to raise up good, in not great, preachers.  But if we are to be effective in our witness we need to also raise the profile of fellowship in our churches, what Stedman refers to, from the Greek word for fellowship:   koinonia.   This is the word used by Luke in Acts when he tells us that the early church was "devoted ... to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship [koinonia]...." (2:42)   Stedman suggests that the body life, the fellowship of the church is what will safeguard the health of the church from within and help it become effective in its witness to those outside the church.

Recently I saw this play out in the life of a church.  This is a church that I have coached for many years assisting them to become healthier and more effective in their witness.   Some years ago the church health diagnosis was not good revealing many areas of church life that was struggling.  Attendance numbers were declining.  There were even questions about long term viability.   But the most recent church health survey saw double digit church health growth in five key areas:  leadership, structures, worship, outreach, and loving relationships.   I was curious, as curious as a medical doctor would be if she noticed her patient turn their health around in such a dramatic way.   What did they do different?   So I asked them to tell me some stories that would give me some reasons behind their increased health.   And they kept coming back to me with the same story over and over again.   Over the past couple of years they put on a fun day for their community -- just to let their neighbours know about their church.   Since the church is relatively small, this meant that all hands were on deck.   Everybody in the church got involved in putting on this fun day.  In order to put on this fun day, what in effect happened was the church got their hands together, talked with one another, planned ahead together, set up together, put down together, and just hung out together.   Yes, a few people from the community started to show interest in this church, and even a few started to regularly attend.   The people of this church thought they were just putting on an event for their community, but in so doing, their fellowship with one another as they put on this event increased their overall church health and they became more effective in their witness.

In decades of serving churches and coaching leaders I have seen this repeated time and time again.    Churches increase their overall church health when people hang out with each other, work together, and just fellowship with each other.  You see this happen every time a church embarks on a church building program.   All hands are on deck and there are months, if not years, of coming together for a single purpose -- to build a church or extend its walls.   These are often the healthiest times in the life of a church.   Once the building is done, and people fall out of fellowship again with each other, the health also decreases.

Proclamation of God's Word is important and essential for churches to be healthy and effective.   But it is not enough.   Christ followers also need to be devoted to the fellowship - to koinonia.  Even a quick read of some or all the "one another" passages in the New Testament will convince you about the importance of fellowship.   Or just read Acts 2:42-47 and ask yourself, how is your church fellowship like and unlike the fellowship here?  How can you help your church be more like this?   A healthy fellowship will safeguard overall church health and strengthen effective outreach to the lost.  Healthy church life is dependent on the body life! 

59 "One Another" Passages in NT