Churches with a healthy commitment to the Bible are made up of church members with a healthy commitment to the Bible. Healthy church members do not only have a high view of the Bible but a high value of it as well. The former is a matter of orthodoxy, the latter of orthopraxy. The first can be evidenced in what we say, the second only in how we live.

Those church members who truly value the Word of God immerse themselves in it daily. They pray with the Psalmist, “Give me life through your word” (Psalm 119:25) as they seek its meaning and study its precepts. But they do not stop there. They live their lives according to the Word. They keep it (v.33), obey it (v.34), practice it (v.56) and do not forget it (v.61).

Healthy churches help their members engage in daily reading of and obedience to the Word of God.

Perhaps you have been in small group “Bible studies” where more weekly gathering time was spent making announcements and reminiscing fellowship events than actually studying the Bible. Surely fellowship and communication are important. But small groups that make up the missional backbone of a healthy local church are those who maximize their time together to engage, discuss and live out the written Word of God.

Healthy churches assist their small groups in selecting study aids and/or lesson guides that unveil the magnificent truths of God’s Word. Small group times have elements of connection and collaboration, but their bread and butter is in the systematic study and application of biblical truth. In healthy churches, small groups do not simply have a high view of Scripture. They have a high value of it as well. And there, in the healthy church, church leadership is careful and strategic about the steady diet of God’s Word that is being consumed in small groups.

While engaging music, meaningful fellowship and worshipful giving are all important elements of the weekly worship gathering, both focused prayer and the expositional preaching of the Bible are absolutely essential. The Holy Spirit works in the hearts and minds of those gathered to explain and apply biblical truth that is faithfully exposed from the pulpit. Churches who gather with prayerful expectation to hear from God in his Word are those whose weekly services are marked by the manifest presence of God.

Unhealthy churches often devalue God’s Word in their weekly gatherings by leaving too little time for the sermon, idolizing the man behind the pulpit or censoring the clear message of the Word so as not to upset those who attend. A church that in any way devalues the Word of God in their gatherings is a church that is out of touch with the God who has gathered them.

The pulpit, in the regular weekly gathering, is the primary platform for biblical teaching. The pastor primarily leads the church from the pulpit. He primarily shepherds them from the pulpit. He primarily oversees them from the pulpit. Healthy churches have both a high view and a high value of Scripture as it is faithfully and consistently proclaimed in their weekly gatherings.

For a church to be healthy, it must embrace the inspiration, authority, inerrancy and sufficiency of God’s written Word. Without this unwavering devotion to the Bible, a church will not produce disciples who are “complete, equipped for every good work.” Healthy churches are devoted to the Word of God.