ATTRIBUTES OF A GOOD CHURCH

While there are a thousand and a one numbers of women out there not all of them can be said to be in the Nigerian language a standard wife material. Same thing will go for the church of God. Despite being the church of God, not many of them can to a notable standard be said to be a good one. Speaking of which it will be important to say there are basis of measurement, the basis of which will be briefly exploited in this post.

PHYSICAL CARE

While this may 'appear' a little off point, the fundamental duty of a good church of God as many may not agree will be her attendance to the physical needs of her members. The very duty to oneself. In as much as the church has a prime duty, a kind of which we shall talk about later, it does as well has a duty to herself and to her members in terms of their physical needs. This attribute abundantly expressed by Christ himself in the miracles of the loaves and later expressed in the early church was what kept the church from both internal and external reproach. A good church above anything will always place the welfare of her members above anything as the pioneer of her faith did. A community that cannot take physical care of itself cannot be said to be of any benefit to its inhabitant. A church that cannot satisfy the physical needs of her members has failed in the very fundamentals of brotherhood, such a church cannot be said to be a good church, fellowship as the case may be. It's like having a country that cannot despite her proclaimed abundance take a good care of her citizens. The church of God lay a scrupulous claim to an unreachable depth of abundance in Christ, any church therefore that cannot exploit this acclaimed abundance to the satisfaction of her members is nowhere near the good radar.

SPIRITUAL CARE 

Of equal importance with physical care will be spiritual care, the very nourishing to the ultimate. If a church must be good she must ensure the spiritual perfection of her members. This perfection must be evidently expressed and readily perceived in their morals, actions, and words. The already defined, explained, and listed characters of a spirit dominated life must become a lifestyle. A good church must be able to create more time for effective bible study as against the norm of numerous festivities. More time for bible study as against the norms of night vigils. A person is a christain so he cannot in his daily living fail himself while alongside failing God. This without mincing words cannot be done in a church that treasure hours of dancing above sound teachings. This cannot be done in a fellowship that trade spirituality for hypocrisy. It cannot be achieved in a church that mistakes holiness for self-righteousness. A church that focuses more on the number of buttocks filling the seats in rows of Sunday services rather than the up building to perfection of existing sheep cannot in any good faith be said to be a good church. Apart from meeting the physical demands of the thousands Christ as well was able to meet their spiritual needs. He helped in their spiritual up building and was sure to commit it into capable hands before ascension. Not only did the Apostles believe it will be unfair to sideline the church spiritual needs for physical needs, they were as well of the opinion it would be inappropriate to do so. That, is a good church.

SOCIAL SERVICES 

A good church must be able to in function and purpose be of good use to the society that accommodates her. While there exist a solemn duty to oneself and God, there exist as well a duty to the society. A good church must therefore in a many good ways be able to point to things she has done to ease the pains of the society. She must, out of the abundance weaned from the society gives back to the same society. A church that cannot do this is nothing short of an ingrate, a commercial pest and a social parasite. The church of God is not raised to be that. To show that God is good we prove that God is good. To prove that God is good we make the world if not all conducive a better place for all to live in. This is done by aiding the society. This is done by giving scholarships to the sons and daughters of the less privileged. This is done by building more schools, running youth empowerment programs, and building social amenities. This is done by teaching our youths to make exploitations. The missionaries understood this fundamental need and so they built for us schools most of our leading societal figures today went to.

The Church exist to honour God, and God exists to make everything good. Of course a thousand and one ways can be listed to define a good church, a good church anyone will agree is best defined in the three facets of duty: duty to God, duty to oneself, and duty to the society. If a church must honour God, she must be sure to score high in these area of needs. Attending to the physical needs of her members so the Church can be above reproach, taking spiritual care of her members so they can be the light they are meant to be, and aiding the society in every way she can so people can see a reason to believe in the trueness of God. It won't speak well raising a multi-million dollars building as a church while having members who couldn't afford a three square meal per day. As much, unpleasant it will be to have a christain convicted for murder. Likewise a christain for robbery.

Originally Written by Olusanya Olaleye