Diagnosing The State of the Church

Diagnosis is the process of "a careful examination and analysis of the facts in an attempt to understand or explain something". Simply put it is getting to and understanding the facts. This is a critical process in every walk of life. Health issues, financial decisions, work-related items, personal decisions, and others, must undergo careful and meticulous diagnosis. It could not be more critical than in church life.

Tom tells Stan that he has a problem reading the fine print in the contract. Stan immediately hands Tom his glasses telling him how much they had helped him. In spite of Stan's good intentions, Stan's glasses did not help Tom even though they had greatly helped Stan.

Likewise, Bill tells Jim that he is worried that his church is not growing. That it had either plateaued or declined. Jim proceeds to tell Bill what he had initiated recently that had precipitated a growth spurt in Jim's church. Bill runs home to his church, meets with his leaders and launches out into the program that Jim had shared with him. Dismal results where seen in Bills' church doing exactly the same thing Jim had successfully done.

None would argue the value of Tom having his eyes properly evaluated by an optometrist and a personal prescription given to him to correct his problem. Why should it be any different with a church? The well meaning, "tips", quick fixes, and flippant suggestions are not sufficient to generate lasting and continual church growth. As a matter of fact, it could be extremely harmful!

Why Should a Church do a Careful Diagnosis?

(1) This process is undertaken to discover the strengths and weaknesses of the local church. Every church, no matter how successful has weaknesses that proper analysis will bring to light. It is referred to as a churches' "minimum factor". Isolating the weakest area and applying the proper remedy will elevate and improve the proficiency in its weakest area thus leading to better church health.