In The Great Giveaway, David Fitch recommends asking a series of questions to really check the spiritual vitality of a faith community:
Towards a Disciple in the community:
– When was the last time someone spoke a hard truth in your life?
– When was the last time you confessed sin to someone you felt safe with in this community?
– When was the last time you prayed with someone over an issue of needs or discernment in this body?
-When was the last time someone in this body visited you in the hospital or brought over a meal when you were sick?
– When was the last time a homeless person was brought into this congregation and made whole?
Towards the general culture of the church:
– Are we seeing evidence of his salvation in our midst?
– How many marriages have been saved?
– How much sexual abuse has been ended?
– What is the number of times people have come to another’s aid in the congregation financially?
– How many people in the church have invited a stranger to the gospel over for dinner?
– How many people in the curch have reached out to a poor person with the gospel?
– Is the level of greed, social victimizing, sexual abuse, depression, divorce better, the same as, or worse than the outside the church?
Joe Skillen 