09 The Schwarzenegger Effect

So we can talk about what community is. How important is it? How large is it? But one of the most important things we've got to ask ourselves is how healthy is it? And the health of a community is not determined simply by the size of it.

Just like with the church, you can have really unhealthy large churches and really healthy small churches. But we as leaders constantly need to ask ourselves the question. Is this group healthy? Where can it be better? And how can I change? Now, Andrew often tells the story of Arnold Schwarzenegger, when he was still an aspiring bodybuilder and he moved to America because he wanted to be world champion.

He went to a trainer and he had the biggest biceps in the world at the time. He went to the trainer, he said, "Train me! I want to be world champion!" And the trainer, the first thing he said is, "Show me your legs."

And Arnold dropped his pants and showed him these scrawny legs. He said, "You'll never be world champion with scrawny legs." "So, I'll only train you if you commit not to working on your biceps, but commit to working on your legs." And the picture there is for many of us, what we are strong on we like to display to the world.

And our weaknesses we like to hide. But as community leaders, we need, both in who we are as people and what it is we're leading, we need to be willing to reveal our weaknesses to the world. And we need to do that in order to become healthier and better proportioned and to move forward.

Signs of a Healthy Community

So what are the signs of a healthy community? Well, it's quite easy actually to do that. Just as, if I go to a doctor and I say, "Tell me doctor, am I healthy?" there's certain things he's going to do. He's going to check my blood pressure.

He's going to check my cholesterol. There's certain markers he has. And overall, he'll say you're healthy or you're unhealthy. And this is what you need to do to become healthier. And one of the things the Lord has done, He's given us a checklist for health.

And we find it, you may be surprised to hear, in Acts 2:42-47. And I want to encourage you, as you lead a congregation, a community, kids church, whatever it is you may be leading, even a family, audit yourself regularly.

Don't say that they must look at the three things you are doing really well. But also audit yourself and say, what are the areas in which I can do better? And one of the key aspects of a really good audit is you call in an outside perspective.

Why Community Leaders Need Outside Perspectives

So as community leaders, I want to say this, that community does not belong to you. The people do not belong to you. Again, we can cover that in more detail in another section. But as a community leader, you have a delegated authority from the elders.

Whose leader is delegated from Jesus Christ. We are all just under shepherds. And so as a community leader, you need to be constantly inviting outside perspectives. People to come in and audit your leadership style, your character, your group, and the strengths and weaknesses within the people in your group to help you become a better leader.

And not just elders. Get other community leaders in. Somebody who's a really good community leader. Ask them to come in and watch and observe and tell you what you're doing well and what you can do better. But when we look at Acts 2:42-47—and I know we know this, but there's an exercise I've done with elders and leaders across the world, and it's simply this.

Acts 2 Checklist for Community Health

Take that list, score yourself on each of those, how well are we doing out of 10? Honestly. And then not focus on where you've got nines and eights, but where you've got threes and fours. And the list is this. Are you devoted? And devoted isn't just how much I love something, but the original Greek word there speaks of moving forward under pressure.

Or moving forward despite resistance. So one, are you leading people forward? Are they more like Jesus? Are they more mature? Are they more equipped than they were a year ago or six months ago? Is there the apostles' teaching? By that I don't mean do you do regular Bible study, but the apostolic teaching that you've heard, is it being applied?

Are people living according to the values that have been set forward by the apostles? Are they living? And have they caught the same vision? Breaking bread? Are people eating together? Are they doing communion together? Are they having the Lord's Supper? Fellowship? Is there a real sense of fellowship?

And I don't mean a clique. The term fellowship in Scripture has a couple of concepts. One is partnership. We've come together for a purpose. The other is when it talks about hospitality in Scripture, it basically means loving strangers or loving foreigners. Even heathens, the Bible says, can love people that love them.

But we need to love our enemies, we need to love strangers. So, Breaking Bread. Fellowship. Is there prayer? Not just prayer meetings. In the early days of JoshGen, we were criticized for not having prayer meetings. And Andrew's response was, we don't have prayer meetings because we're always praying.

But are there times of prayer? Are the people equipped to pray? Are people praying with their families? And then, signs and wonders. Are signs and wonders being done amongst you? Are people being set free of the demonic? Or is that something that is only perceived to happen in meetings where there's some deliverance expert there.

Are people being prayed for, for healing and to be set free? Meeting daily together. Are your community members stuck into a Sunday, Wednesday mentality? Or are they opening their lives and their homes to one another on a daily basis? Selling their possessions they gave to everybody as they had need.

Is there a sense of generosity, provision, and genuinely practically looking after each other in your community? We have funds available in JoshGen to look after the poor, but it shouldn't be a central responsibility first and foremost. The first responsibility is within community. The Bible says, "if you see your brother in need."

Then, only when the capacity of the community to look after its members is exhausted, should we go beyond that. Otherwise, we become this soulless system of charity, rather than family looking after one another. And then, "And daily the Lord added to them those who were being saved."

Salvations as a Sign of Spiritual Health

Are we seeing salvations? I was leading a congregation a few years back and after about a period of two months, I realized we hadn't seen any salvations in the meeting. And I said, we've got an area of ill health. It's not that I need a salvation in every meeting, but over a period of time, when not seeing people saved, then something's wrong.

If a healthy couple are intimate regularly and never fall pregnant, the question at some point is going to be, something's wrong, because healthy things reproduce. As a community leader, I would ask you to look at that list regularly, and audit yourself honestly. And recognize areas that were weak.

And if you are able to strengthen the areas that are weak, then do it. If you're not able to strengthen the areas that are weak, ask for help. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength. And Paul, the apostle, even understood this when he said to the Romans, for example, "How I long to come to you to add what is lacking."

And the Lord has made us a body with many parts. So if you're not seeing people saved, find somebody who's really gifted in evangelism and pull them in to impart something. If you're not seeing prophecy in your community, get somebody who's very prophetic to come in and do training.

We've got countless resources available, both in terms of people, videos, manuals, audio, make use of them because you are not Jesus. You are not perfect. You have your limitations and you can only bring certain facets and certain gifts to the party. What a beautiful thing it is that we're a team and that we can call on so many things that can add to where we're lacking.

Becoming a Healthier Body of Christ

So audit yourself. Ask yourself, honestly, are we healthy? And even if the answer is "yes, we are healthy," ask yourself, how can we become even healthier? Because it's not about numbers and it's not about survival. It's about helping one another grow in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And each individual becoming a healthier expression of that. And the only way the group will become healthy is if the individuals become healthy. And actually the only way the individuals will become healthy is if they're part of a community that is healthy. So let us be a people who are committed not to numbers.

Although numbers are important because numbers are a sign of growth and a sign of health and a sign of the Lord's favor. But let's be community leaders who are absolutely committed to being more like Jesus and growing a healthy expression of the body of Christ.