A sign of a healthy church is it rejects the idea of divine neglect.
Short summary of Isaiah
The book of Isaiah is a message of judgment and hope to the people of Israel. Isaiah predicts that God will use the empires around them to judge Jerusalem if they continued their rebellion against the covenant with God (which he knew they would). They oppressed the poor, practiced idolatry and made political alliances with evil nations like Egypt and Babylon (which represent the world and its system in the Old Testament).
His prophecy comes to pass at the end of chapter 39 as Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and its temple and carried away the Israelites into exile in Babylon.
But Isaiah also provides a message of hope that God would one day fulfill his covenant promises to establish His Kingdom on earth through a king from David’s line.
Isaiah says that Jerusalem’s impending collapse at the hands of the other nations would be like a purifying fire that would result in a New Jerusalem full of those that have turned back to God. Israel will be chopped down like a tree with its stump scorched and burned. But God says this stump is a “holy seed” for the future.
Out of this stump would “sprout” a new king named Immanuel, or “God with us.” This new king is the holy seed that will be empowered by God’s Spirit to rule over the New Jerusalem, His New Kingdom that will bring peace and harmony.
For Isaiah, divine judgment is never the final word. When God enacts his judgment, it’s always accompanied by His mercy. He does this with the hope that His people will respond to Him and be who He has set them apart to be.
So when the people are told the Babylonian exile is over, this was how God hoped they’d respond. Instead, they said “The Lord doesn’t pay attention to our trouble, he ignores our cause” (Isaiah 40:27). Instead of allowing what they went through to motivate a response of obedience to God, they lose faith in Him and His power.
But then God responds. He says that the exile to Babylon was not divine neglect. It was judgment for sin. He also said that He raised up Persia to conquer Babylon so the exile would end (Isaiah 13:17).
But Israel doesn’t listen. Ultimately, truly being the people of God would require a servant who will trust God in the midst of the ultimate trouble (and feelings of divine neglect) – being rejected, beaten and killed by his own people.
Those who respond to the servant become servants themselves and “the seed” of those who will inherit God’s Kingdom.
How it connects to a church
God’s people constantly go through trouble. Whether it’s divinely orchestrated, consequences of bad choices, or simply a result of being in a dangerous and fallen world (or any combination of those), we can’t escape it in this lifetime. One thing is for sure, bad things are going to happen to everyone on the planet.
And when they do, we have intense emotions that cause all sorts of thoughts to pass through our minds. Get into a bad situation for long enough, it’s inevitable that even the most faithful will start to deal with doubts while feeling like God has abandoned them.
The book of Isaiah offers a timeless encouraging example to us that God isn’t neglectful.
What it means for a healthy church
A healthy church’s trust in God strengthens as trouble intensifies. It consistently acts like God is paying attention in the midst of it. Trouble, while not enjoyable, is seen as a purifying fire. It has the motivation to work through whatever it is with perseverance, and it results in more fully expressing God’s image in the world through increased faith and obedience.
As it works through trouble, it’s always watching and listening for what God is up to. In this way, a healthy church becomes “a seed” containing God’s life that dies and puts forth fruit into the world.
Michael Fleming
Mike Fleming is the creator of Finding Healthy Church. Over 20 years ago, he was sparked by the frustration of failing to experience what the biblical story claimed a healthy church was like. He caught a vision and passion for seeing local churches be what they were designed by God to be. He shares what he's learning along the way so the health of local churches around the world are improved. He’s currently working on an eye-opening book that will help better understand what it means for a church to be healthy.