During many open-heart surgeries, the surgeon intentionally stops the heart. For a period of time, a heart-lung machine takes over the work of circulating oxygen-rich blood throughout the body while the surgeon carefully repairs what has become damaged.
The goal, however, is never for the machine to replace the heart. The goal is to restore the heart so it can once again do what it was created to do.
Perhaps that provides a picture of where many churches find themselves today.
Across our nation, churches long for renewal. We launch new initiatives, restructure ministries, improve technology, update strategies, and redesign programs. While each of these may have value, none of them can become the source of the church’s life. They are simply tools. The hope of the church has never been found in better methods, but in Christ Himself.
The question, then, is not, “How do we create a new church?” The better question is, “How do we become the church Jesus designed us to be?”
The heartbeat of the church is the glory of God seen in a people who love God, love one another, and make disciples among all nations.
Throughout Scripture, whenever God renewed His people, He consistently called them back to His purposes. Renewal was never simply about restoring activity; it was about restoring obedience. The same remains true today.
Jesus made the mission of His church unmistakably clear in Matthew 28:18–20. Before He ascended, He commissioned His followers to make disciples among all nations. This was not one ministry among many—it was the defining mission of the church.
Somewhere along the way, many churches subtly shifted their focus. We became experts at gathering people but less intentional about sending them. We measured faithfulness by attendance instead of disciple-making, activity instead of obedience, and comfort instead of mission.
Yet the church was never designed merely to gather.
Like the human heart, the church was created to live through two continual rhythms. The heart receives oxygen-rich blood and immediately sends it throughout the body. If either rhythm stops, life is threatened.
The church functions in much the same way.
We gather to receive God’s Word, worship Christ, pray together, encourage one another, and be equipped for ministry. Then we scatter into our neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, apartment communities, coffee shops, and cities to live the story of Jesus. We gather to be formed, and we go to be faithful.
When the church only gathers, it begins to stagnate. When it only goes without abiding in Christ, it becomes exhausted. Healthy churches continually gather and continually go.
This is the picture Paul gives us in Ephesians 4:11–16. Christ gives leaders to equip His people for the work of ministry so that the whole body grows into maturity. Every believer has a role. Every member contributes. As each part faithfully does its work, the church is built up in love.
This challenges one of our greatest assumptions about renewal.
We often assume mission is the result of a healthy church. We imagine that once a church becomes strong enough, organized enough, or spiritually mature enough, it will naturally engage its community and make disciples.
The New Testament presents a different pattern. Mission is not merely the result of a healthy church. Mission is one of God’s primary means of making His church healthy.
As believers pray together, engage their neighbors, share the gospel, make disciples, and form spiritual families, God shapes them. He deepens their dependence on the Holy Spirit. He strengthens their unity. He matures their faith. As they join God’s mission, God renews His people.
Renewal, then, is not primarily about becoming busier.
It is about becoming faithful.
Faithful churches pursue the glory of God. They love Him wholeheartedly. They love one another sacrificially. They intentionally engage the people around them, make disciples in the rhythms of everyday life, and raise up others to do the same. These are not simply effective ministry strategies. They are the ordinary means God has consistently used to accomplish His extraordinary work.
The mission of the church is not separate from the renewal of the church.
It is one of God’s primary instruments of renewal.
Just as a surgeon restores the heart so it can once again fulfill its intended purpose, Christ renews His church by restoring it to the mission He gave it from the beginning. As we return to His mission, He renews His people.
Perhaps the renewal we long for is not waiting on a new program, a better strategy, or another ministry model.
Perhaps it is waiting for the church to once again beat with the heart of Jesus.
Gary Morgan (Pastor at Story Church – Nashville, TN)
Church Planting Strategist
Nashville Baptist Association