Good Church

Here’s another quote from Everyday Church by Chester and Timmis:

We often talk of a “good church.” When people move to a new area, we may commend a local church as a “good church,” but what criteria do we use to make such an assessment? Preaching? Youth work? Music? For Peter a good church is characterized by love, compassion, forgiveness, generosity, service, and grace (1 Pet. 4: 7– 12). The preaching may be eloquent and biblical, but if that is the primary characteristic, then the church is merely a good preaching center. The music may be stirring and skilled , but if that is the primary characteristic, then the church is merely a good worship center. A good church is a church in which the believers share their lives together as an alternative and authentic society. Such a church will be well-resourced because no one holds what he has or who he is with a clenched fist. Just as a flower unfolds before the warmth and light of the sun, so our hands open as they are exposed to the grace of God in Christ. Grace produces grace , which is why a gospel community can only be a community of openhanded, undeserved generosity. (Emphasis mine)