Biblical Success in a Small-Town Church (Part 2/4): Good Works

This is the second installment of a four-part series on biblical success in the small-town church. How do you measure success for a church? Or maybe another appropriate way of asking that question is, how do you measure the health of a church? A helpful way of thinking about this question is asking what Jesus envisioned along the lines of the commission to His disciples (Mt. 28:19-20). What kind of disciples would He have them be? Is success all about membership size, the amount of church revenue, or making people happy? My thesis is that biblical success for the small-town church involves evangelism, good works, discipleship, and training.

You can find my first post on evangelism here.

Good Works
Some Christians love 'em, some hate 'em. With that aside, I've become convinced that good works and evangelism are like two sides of the same coin. If we are wanting to proclaim God's grace in Christ toward the world, does it not follow that we should perhaps show them some grace? In Matthew 5:16 Jesus says, "...let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." I'm not giving a full exposition on that statement, but it goes without saying that good works ought to be visible in the life of a disciple of Jesus. If you're not convinced, just read Paul's short letter to Titus (3 chapters). Pay careful attention to how many times Paul emphasizes to Titus that Jesus' disciples should be marked by their good works. Here are some excerpts below:

"They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work." 1:16

"Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity... " 2:7

"...our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." 2:13-14

"Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work..." 3:1

"[H]e saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy..." 3:4 (While this verse does not talk about the exhortation to do good works it does use the same Greek word for work, ergon; and the emphasis is that despite the good works we're commanded to do - we're to do them because of the salvation we receive, not in any regards for it).

"The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people." 3:8 (The "trustworthy saying" is not what Paul says in v.8, but rather in verses 4-7; the idea is that we devote ourselves to good works in light of the salvation we have received.)

"And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful." 3:14 (If our last words ever mean anything, this statement is Paul's last statement before he writes his closing statement in verse 15).

You might say, Why are you talking about good works? Jesus doesn't even talk about that in His commission. While it might not have been said, it's still a mark of a disciple of Jesus as seen in Titus and elsewhere in Scripture. If faith without works is dead faith (James 2:17), then I don't want that kind of faith. Rather, when God transforms a heart, we should be able to know it by the fruit that spiritual transformation generates. Besides, good works oftentimes can give you a hearing with the Gospel. For all of these reasons, I believe good works should be considered a marker of success for the local church and/or pastor.

We feel that as a local church we've done a good job at being consistent in being devoted to good works towards each other and within our community. As we (the elders and deacons) have tried to self-evaluate, however, the areas we've felt are lacking are evangelism and training. Have others seen how the Gospel has impacted our "work" towards other people? They should be able to clearly see that our works are not done out of a desire to "be good people", but are a desire to love others with grace in the same way that Christ loved us - and in order to share His love with them. Within your sphere of influence, are you willing and ready to lend a hand to those in need? Is this desire rooted in God's grace to you in Christ, or do you feel the need to earn God's grace?

There has been a history of churches being so "community-oriented" and devoted to good works to the neglect of evangelism that the the term 'good works' has had a negative reception in some churches. While it's true that we need to communicate the Gospel - that God took on the wrath against all of mankind's sinfulness through the death of Jesus, and that Jesus was raised to life so that we might have a living hope - our lives should not be deplete of good works. In fact, good works should be an extension or an overflow of the Gospel message that is transforming us and that we long to share with others.