A healthy church practices proactive care of its membership and urges members and leaders to repent when they have sinned or fallen away. Many churches either shirk the responsibility of discipline or go to the other extreme, becoming punitive rather than compassionate in their discipline. The way a church practices discipline gives you a glimpse of how they carry out their responsibility to shepherd the flock (1 Pet 3).

So, you’re looking for a church.  

I hope you’ve prayerfully considered why you’ve left your former church (I’ve written about the ten reasons to leave a church here). You’ve already watched a service online, read the church’s doctrinal statement, and visited the church. What comes next?

You will, of course, want to understand the church’s doctrine and affiliation. If you have kids, you will definitely ask, “Are the children’s and students’ ministries biblically grounded, safe, and engaging?” You might want to know about their outreach strategy.

What if I told you that while these issues are important, there might be a different set of questions that might more effectively reveal the health of a church?

As a pastor, I have the blessing of knowing other local pastors as acquaintances, friends, and partners. In fact, in the next two weeks I’ll attend retreats with two different groups of pastors. There are many wise and godly pastors. There are also plenty of pastors who aren’t healthy. A cursory look at the outside of their churches is unlikely to reveal which one is which.

The spiritual health of your pastor matters. Unhealthy leaders leave a wake of hurt behind them. Healthy leaders beget healthy organizations. So, I would encourage you to consider asking your future pastor a very different set of questions. The heartbeat of these questions is to reveal health, not to trap. It’s not to be judgmental. Every church is being sanctified. Every pastor knows there are areas his church needs to grow.

If I were looking for a church today, here are some strange but telling questions I would ask the pastor.

1. Other than yours, what other faithful local churches would you recommend I consider?
   A healthy church ought to be able to look outside of itself to other local churches, see God at work, and rejoice. No single church ought to be elevated to the capital C Church.
2. How are you partnering (formally or informally) with other local churches?
   A healthy church is engaged in advancing the gospel with other local churches. This might not show up in formal programs; in fact, informal partnerships may be more impactful. The answer to this question should point to how the church is putting into action its belief that God’s Kingdom work is bigger than just their congregation.

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