Accrediting the Local Church
Some years ago I was associated with a seminary that refused to seek accreditation. The deeply held conviction of the leader was that only the Church can accredit the work of a seminary; secular outsiders should have no say because they are not the beneficiaries of the work of the seminary. Not entirely a bad argument! Users are the best evaluators.
With this current effort of elevating our accreditation, and now that I am also serving as a pastor, I have been wondering what it would be like if each local church had to endure a formal evaluation every decade. By outsiders! What if a group of experts came to evaluate the ministry, finances, curriculum, personnel, facilities and results of the work of your church and mine? Of course, these categories would be the easy ones. They are “Normal Stuff .” We would show them our up-to-date mission statement, our adequate personnel and resources, and convince them that our church is doing what it says it is doing. But we could still be falling short. The work of the Church is not Normal Stuff.
What are the marks by which a church should be evaluated? Shouldn’t they include some “Super Stuff “? If we were to assess a local church for heavenly accreditation, here are questions I think the Lord would want us to explore:
• Who is the real CEO? Is it Jesus, or is there another head of the church?
• Is there evidence of actions and attitudes which only God can bring about? Is there a touch of His presence? Of His power?
• Do we His people come to church ready for God to speak to us and act through us? Are there any God-carriers in our congregation?
• Will visitors and especially unbelievers be confused by anything they don’t understand and can’t explain, is everything “normal”?
• Can group dynamics, psychological conditioning, or other social factors adequately explain our meeting? Does money float the program?
• Do the worshippers seem to be isolated and individual, or are they aware of the rest of the Church militant and triumphant? Are the departed saints and angels singing with us?
• Are congregants having life-changing experiences with God in our midst?
This kind of thinking can be a bit threatening, especially if you are a church leader. If none of the Super Stuff is there, what can we do about it? We can only invite God and create a welcoming ambiance; if He chooses not to show up, maybe something’s wrong, because God delights to be with His people. In my opinion, the issue starts with expectation. We must expect that God wants to be present and experienced. If we expect nothing, that is what we will get.
If we do expect to meet with God, that will change our entire outlook on how we prepare. We will cleanse our inner sanctuaries. We will put no rules or limitations upon Him. We will not insist on a worship style that suits my fancies. We will make sure He has plenty of time to talk, not just listen. And we will make sure He has plenty of time to act, not just talk. Often we don’t know whether God showed up because we don’t give Him a chance to do or say anything. We jam our programs with so much horizontal stuff that the vertical can’t get through.
Well, these are just some of my musings about assessing the local church. Of the seven potential outcomes by an accrediting visit, we surely would not want the last two: Show Cause (why you should stay in business) or Close up.
