Distinct Characteristics of Hope Bible Church

All true churches hold certain features, beliefs, and practices in common. We all believe in the right gospel, honoring Christ, worshiping God, teaching the Bible, praying, witnessing, gathering together, and loving each other. It is a joy that the Holy Spirit has created this common life in every true local church.

However, it is also true that denominations and fellowships of churches take on distinct characteristics and beliefs. Indeed, local churches have unique features to them, either good or bad. Any survey of the New Testament churches, including the seven churches of Revelation, indicate the presence of distinct characteristics. The same is true of our church - Hope Bible Church (HBC).

In the weeks to come I hope to survey the distinct characteristics we have as a local church. My aim in doing so is threefold:

1. First, to help us all understand our church better, from the leaders down to the newest members.
2. Second, to help us articulate what our church is about to others who show interest in our church.
3. Third, to help us embrace the mission and vision of our church — along with our fellow GAMA churches. We need to know our church, be able to articulate our church, and understand how God is using our church to impact our region.

The idea of drawing up a list of marks of an effective church is hardly new. Others have endeavored to come up with a cogent list of the most necessary or virtuous characteristics a local church must demonstrate.

Dr. John MacArthur in his influential book The Master’s Plan for His Church, goes through a long list of godly and effective attributes for a local church. He writes extensively of the need for: Godly Leaders, Functional Goals and Objectives, Discipleship, An Emphasis on Penetrating the Community, Active Church Members, Concern for One Another, Devotion to the Family, Bible Teaching and Preaching, A Willingness to Change, Great Faith, Sacrifice, and Worship.

Pastor Mark Dever’s church Capitol Hill Baptist became famous for its "9 Marks of a Healthy Church” booklet. His 9marks are: Expositional Preaching, Biblical Theology, A Biblical Understanding of the Good News, A Biblical Understanding of Conversion, A Biblical Understanding of Evangelism, A Biblical Understanding of Church Membership, Biblical Church Discipline, A Concern for Promoting Christian Discipleship and Growth, and Biblical Church Leadership.

Pastor George Lawson of our daughter church Baltimore Bible Church wrote out a larger number of characteristics. Here is a sample of his list: The Sufficiency of Scripture, The Glory of God, A Qualified Leadership, A Holiness of Life, A Love for the Saints, A Heart of Evangelism, Lordship Salvation, Centrality of the Local church, Doctrinally Driven Solas of the Reformation, Global Mission Mindedness, Discipleship for All.

In this series I want to pinpoint the distinctive characteristics of HBC. There are certain things we hold in common with all other gospel preaching churches in the Baltimore/Washington corridor. But we are different in some important ways. What makes us different? Is it good that we have these distinct features or are we setting ourselves up for elitism? Do you hold a conviction about the importance of these features, or do you hold them as a mere preference?

These are features, practices, and beliefs of HBC that are unfortunately harder to find even in gospel preaching churches. Their absence elsewhere is the reason many have chosen to attend and join HBC. They also help to define our mission to build up other churches. They explain why we want to be an equipping church of other churches. They articulate a Biblical philosophy of ministry as we understand it.

They also tell a lot about why the Lord motivated me to go to The Master’s Seminary and then return home to plant a church in the first place. They explain why we have a fellowship of churches called Grace Advance Mid-Atlantic (GAMA). They are deeply embedded in my beliefs and convictions. They get to the heart of what our church is really about and what we are looking to accomplish in the years going forward.

Each of the following are uncommon in local churches today, yet valuable to the faith of the saints. They are practices that have been dropped, forgotten or devalued. You can find some churches who practice each of the following, but not many. When you put these distinctive features together, it is unlikely you will find any churches holding to them all except in The Master’s Seminary Movement (as I like to call it) or in GAMA churches. Some of these church practices you might find in less than 2% of churches. Others maybe in the 5 to 10% or 15-25 % category. I don’t know for sure, but I have been evaluating churches in this area for some 35 years. I have been a pastor here for about 23 years. I have not seen these features in abundance in other churches. So we want to restore them to as many churches as the Lord directs us to help.

Please understand that coming up with this list does not mean we are a better church or better Christians than others. Many churches have strong testimonies in one, two or more areas, and they have practiced them with uncommon devotion to the Lord. Some churches are filled with compassion. Others excel in organization and efficiency. Some have heavenly music ministries and some have great scholars who bless their congregations. Sacrificial love is something we are still learning, and some churches with lesser Bible teaching have excelled with acts of faith more than us. We have much to learn even as we desire to boost our fellow churches with what the Lord has taught us.

Next time we will explain our overall distinctive model we call “The Word Driven Dynamic Body Model.”