The universal church has always had problems. Even before its formation, Jesus already foretold that the body of Christ would experience trials and challenges along the way.
In John 16:33, Jesus said, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
Jesus here was not talking to a group of rebellious non-believers. He was talking to men and women who would later on be the pillar of the early church. From the beginning, God knew the churches would face issues, but that doesn't mean we are stuck with them. Jesus promised that through Him, we can overcome.
Problems are not only expected, but they help build us up by filtering out character, ideas and sometimes even visions, but God does call us to actively address them to avoid hurting people and corrupting the gospel. Here are problems that can be crippling to church and member growth and how Jesus gives us the answer to them.
Leaving Christ out as the centre. In all we do in ministry, Jesus is to be the centre and foundation. When we leave Him out and prioritise other things such as buildings, experiences, doctrine and other things, we put ourselves in grave danger of destroying the church. We are to keep Christ the priority, motivation and source of everything that we do.
No empowering leadership. One thing that made Paul's ministry so effective was the empowering culture that he had. He urged the young pastor Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2, "and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." It can often cripple believers when we do not empower them to take the lead in ministry and in their personal lives.
No acknowledgment of the move of the Spirit. Hurt people will hurt other people and that can be a crippling problem in the church. But God promises that through His Spirit, there is healing - not just physical, but even emotional. When we open people up to the healing power of the Holy Spirit, people will be empowered to love one another as well. That means making sure our church points people to God and not a person, and makes disciples of Jesus, not a human being.
Too much weird acknowledgment of the Spirit. While the move of the Holy Spirit is important to church growth and church health, an unhealthy and over-zealous view of signs and wonders can do more crippling than building up. Over-spiritualising the things we do in ministry can be harmful to church relationships in that it puts too much emphasis on experiences and not enough on relationships. Also, we all know that the fruit of the Spirit is love (Galatians 5:22-23), and that the Holy Spirit will only always cause unity and not division in the church.
