Hebrews 4:12-13

Only the truth of God’s Word, taught by the Holy Spirit (John 14:26) is able to continually do a deep work in the heart of man (Hebrews 4:12-13)

Hebrews 4:12-13: 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

In a State of the Church meeting* held on October 13th, church leaders received insights on the general condition of the churches in Singapore as they emerge from the pandemic.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13)

Two aspects of the survey caught my attention. The first is the mental health of the church in general during the pandemic. The mental health of pastors and staff is not insignificant and requires close attention (see table 12 of the survey). Please pray for them. The second concerns the priorities of the church leaders following their perceptions of church growth (table 14 and 13 respectively). What the survey is saying is that moving forward church leaders will be prioritising on evangelism, outreach and recruitment of staff. Whereas the teaching of God’s Word, spiritual development and member care will be their least priorities. I wonder if this is the right strategy for the churches to undertake. Allow me to explain.

The key to evangelism is to intentionally make disciples. To intentionally reach out to the lost, God’s people must know and teach the Word of God (Matthew 28:20). To reach out without a good grasp of God’s Spirit-inspired Word can be disastrous. It is like putting the cart before the horse or building a house without ensuring its foundation is strong. As a result, the church runs the danger of producing shallow Christians instead of deep, committed ones. Only the truth of God’s Word, taught by the Holy Spirit (John 14:26) is able to continually do a deep work in the heart of man (Hebrews 4:12-13).

Please, pray for our church leaders. Pray that they will not be majoring on the minor, and overlook the priorities of knowing and teaching God’s Word and the spiritual growth of believers. Pray that they will do the right thing in God’s sight.

* The State of the Church survey was the collective work of Salt and Light publication, Biblical Graduate School of Theology, Singapore Bible College and Trinity Theological College. The survey covered a total of 144 Singapore churches and 105,000 Christians. For more details please visit https://saltandlight.sg/sotc2022/.