Let’s be honest: nice churches won’t survive what’s coming.
Sentimental faith, vague truth, cultural acceptance, and comfortable gatherings may soothe for a season—but they won’t stand in a world that increasingly resents and rejects the gospel. What will endure? What will thrive? Only a church that is truly holy, truly loving, truly alive—formed by God’s design, filled with His Spirit, and fearless in His mission. A church like that isn’t wishful thinking. It’s exactly what this moment demands.
In a time when Christian faith is dismissed, biblical truth contested, and many congregations shrinking or splintering, thoughtful believers are asking: What kind of church will not only survive but flourish—with joy, courage, and clarity—in these uncertain times?
This isn’t an academic question. It’s deeply personal. Every elder, every volunteer, every church member who cares about the future must ask: What is God calling His Church to be, right now? Our culture is confused about the most basic things—what it means to be human, what marriage is, what truth is—even what a church is for. And many congregations, unsure of their purpose, are quietly drifting into irrelevance: either by blending into the culture or retreating inward in fear.
Data over the last two decades shows rising rates of church closures and shrinking congregations. But all is not gloom. Recent studies report surprising signs of spiritual awakening—especially among Gen Z. Having endured the numbing isolation of the pandemic, many young people are looking for real community, deep purpose, and lasting truth. In a twist no one predicted, the generation most saturated in the manipulated digital “reality” of TikTok and Instagram are increasingly the ones hungering most for the messy but solid reality of an analog community, the kind found only in Christ and His Church.
Thus, amid the cultural confusion, a great opportunity awaits. For those willing to do the hard, joyful work of renewal, there is a way to thrive—not merely to endure, but to shine—as a holy, loving, vibrant witness to the life of God in the world.
It’s like building a house on the beach during hurricane season. Fancy shutters, clever gadgets, and expensive patio furniture mean very little when the storm is raging. When the winds come, you want deep pilings driven into the bedrock. Pretty can’t withstand the storm. But anchored will.
What does a church like that look like? How does true spiritual health reveal itself in the life and heart of its people? What does holiness feel like in its life and witness? That is the vision the people of God are called to recover.
God’s Greatest Glory is His Redemptive People in the World
The church is not a spiritual club, a brand, a vendor of spiritual goods, or a spiritual wellness center. It is something far more profound: God’s Spirit-formed people—redeemed image-bearers living holy lives, sent into the world to embody His kingdom.1
Why does the Church exist at all? Because God’s redeeming mission in the world isn’t finished yet. In Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God broke into history to heal, restore, and renew what sin and death have ruined. But that mission continues—through us. We are the extension of Jesus’ mission, carrying on what He began: announcing good news, healing the broken, and setting captives free. It’s about restoring the image of God in us.
A church that forgets this calling shrinks into something small and sad—either self-preserving or self-entertaining. But a healthy church is launched into the deep, like a rescue boat that leaves the dock to meet the storm.
So what happens when a church remembers who it is and why it exists? What does true spiritual health look like?
Seven Marks of a Healthy, Thriving Church
1. Rooted in God’s Design
A healthy church boldly teaches that every human being is made in God’s image—not as self-invented creatures shaped by feelings or desires, but as persons designed by the Creator. Our identity is received, not constructed. As Dr. Everett Piper quipped, “We are made in the image of God, not the image of dog.” We are to be ruled by the shared character of the Creator, not the animal instincts of evolution.
This is why the church holds fast to God’s design for humanity, marriage, and sexuality—not because we are scared or narrow-minded, but because this is where human flourishing happens. A healthy church restores this design like cleaning layers of grime off a priceless painting until beauty shines through.
2. A Community of Personal Transformation
A thriving church does not merely affirm people in their brokenness—it calls and equips them to be made new in Christ, to be transformed. Jesus is Lord—not libido (Piper again), not self-expression, not our desires or feelings. In a healthy church, chains break. Wounds begin to heal. Addictions lose their power. The image of God is restored—not perfectly yet, but truly. It’s like going to the gym and actually getting stronger—not just wearing the outfit and taking selfies.
3. Marked by Holiness that Expresses True Love
Holiness and love are the lifeblood of the Bible. Holiness is love rightly ordered—thinking as God thinks, loving as God loves, living as God designed. It’s the image of God being fully restored in us so that we reflect his nature and character.
Holiness saves love from its cultural distortion. True love isn’t lazy affirmation of whatever someone feels. That’s not love—it’s abandonment. Real love seeks the good of the other, even when it wounds or offends, because it aligns with God’s truth. A healthy church models this bold, gracious way of loving: speaking truth, offering grace, guarding dignity, and refusing to abandon people to lies that destroy.
4. On Mission with God’s Kingdom
The church does not exist for itself. It is not here to meet its own needs, pursue its comfort, or preserve its traditions. It exists to extend Jesus’ redeeming mission in the world. That means feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, defending the vulnerable, confronts the evildoer, and proclaims the gospel boldly—not for survival or popularity, but for love. The Church carries on what Christ began, by His Spirit, until He returns.
5. Shaped by a Christlike, Spirit-Filled Culture
You can feel the difference in a healthy church—not because of the music style or the coffee, but in its atmosphere of grace and truth. Joy, forgiveness, conviction, patience, humility—the Spirit’s presence is real and people are regularly being changed. No one pretends perfection. No one excuses sin. But all are drawn toward Jesus. And all are safe to be unfinished in His hands. It’s like breathing fresh air after being stuck in a dank basement.
6. Every Member Equipped and Serving
In a healthy church, everyone matters. Everyone has a role. Ministry is not the job of the pastor, paid staff, or a few dedicated volunteers; it’s the work of the whole body. When only the pastor or staff “do ministry,” the church is like a football team where only the quarterback touches the ball while the other players sit and watch from the sidelines. In a healthy church, the whole team is on the field, using their Spirit-given gifts for the good of the whole.
7. Courageous and Willing to Change for God’s Glory
A faithful church never changes the gospel—but is willing to change methods, habits, and structures for the sake of the mission. It’s unselfishly willing to lose something in order to adapt for the sake of the mission. It’s like Grandma finally moving her favorite chair because the family’s outgrown the room. Change isn’t easy—but necessary for life in the church to flourish. A healthy church rises when the whole body—pastors, teachers, volunteers, prayer warriors, givers, encouragers—moves in step with Christ.
A Church Worth Becoming
If you’ve ever looked around your church and thought, “There has to be more than this,” you’re right. God’s vision is bigger: a people remade in His image, holy in love and truth, alive with His Spirit, and continuing Jesus’ mission in the world. This isn’t fantasy. It’s what Christ died and rose to create. And it’s what the world, beneath its confusion and hunger, longs to see.
The world is broken. The gospel is glorious. The Church, when truly alive, is the most beautiful, hopeful force on earth. The world is longing—whether it knows it or not—for the holy, beautiful, alive Church of Jesus Christ.
So let’s not settle.
Let’s become this Church. Together.
- Ayars, M., C. Bounds, C. Friedeman, Holiness: A Biblical, Historical, and Systematic Theology. IVP Academic (2023).