A healthy church preaches the whole truth even when it’s unpopular, calls people to repent and believe, and centers everything on God’s grace. It also has leaders who shepherd and protect the flock and who handle money with integrity. In Acts 20, Paul gives a farewell speech to the elders of the church in Ephesus. Reviewing his own ministry and warning them about the future, he describes these five marks of a healthy church that still help believers today.
Setting the Scene in Acts 20:1-38
Acts 19 ended with a riot in Ephesus over the goddess Artemis (Acts 19:1-41). When the uproar ended, Paul left for Macedonia and Greece, encouraging the churches he had planted. He spent three months in Greece, most likely in Corinth, where many scholars believe he wrote his letter to the Romans. A plot against him forced him to change his travel plans, and he went back north through Macedonia with a group of men from several churches. They were likely carrying the offering Gentile churches had collected for poor believers in Jerusalem (Romans 15:25-27). At Philippi, Luke’s “we” returns, so he rejoined the team there.
Back in Acts 2, we saw the marks of the first church, a growing community devoted to teaching, fellowship, prayer, and generosity (Acts 2:42-47). For a topical overview, see How Do You Grow a Church? Acts 20 takes place more than twenty years later, during Paul’s third missionary journey, and adds five more marks.
A Long Sermon and a Fallen Young Man
In Troas, the believers gathered on the first day of the week to break bread. This is one of the earliest references to Christians meeting on Sunday, the day of Jesus’ resurrection. Paul talked until midnight because he was leaving the next day.
Acts 20:9-10 Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!”
Eutychus, whose name means “fortunate,” fell from a third-story window. Luke, a physician, says he was picked up dead. Paul threw his arms around him, just as Elijah and Elisha did when God raised children through them (1 Kings 17:21; 2 Kings 4:34). Then Paul went back upstairs, broke bread, and kept talking until daylight. The church was comforted, and the young man went home alive.
Preaching That Tells the Truth
Paul was hurrying to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost, so he sailed past Ephesus. At Miletus, about 30 miles south, he sent for the Ephesian elders. This is the only speech in Acts that Paul gives to Christian leaders, and it sounds a lot like his letters.
Acts 20:18-21 When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.”
The first mark of a healthy church is preaching that tells the truth even when it’s unpopular. Paul never held back anything that was helpful. Later he warned Timothy that a time would come when people would look for teachers who tell them what they want to hear.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
Many churches today feel pressure to soften what the Bible says about sin, sexuality, judgment, and the uniqueness of Jesus. A healthy church loves people enough to tell them the truth, gently and humbly, but without shrinking back.
Preaching That Calls for a Response
The second mark is preaching that invites a response. Paul summarized his message to Jews and Greeks alike: they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in the Lord Jesus. Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of direction. Faith is trusting Jesus as Lord. This has been the gospel invitation from the beginning, from Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2:38) to Paul in Athens (Acts 17:30). A church that only offers inspiration or self-help, without ever calling people to repent and believe, is missing the heart of the gospel.
Preaching Centered on Grace
The third mark is preaching that elevates the power behind the gospel: grace.
Acts 20:24-27 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.”
Paul’s life mission was testifying to the good news of God’s grace. Nearly every religion teaches some form of earning God’s favor, weighing good deeds against bad. The gospel is the opposite. Salvation is a gift we can’t earn and can’t boast about (Ephesians 2:8-9). Paul ended his message by entrusting the elders to God and to “the word of his grace,” which can build them up (Acts 20:32). Churches can slowly drift into legalism, adding rules and requirements to the gospel. Healthy churches keep coming back to grace.
Notice also verse 27. Paul declared “the whole will of God.” He didn’t pick favorite topics and skip the hard ones. That’s a good reason for churches to teach through entire books of the Bible, just as we’re doing with Acts.
Leaders Who Shepherd and Protect
The last two marks focus on leadership.
Acts 20:28-31 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
The fourth mark is leaders who shepherd the flock and protect it from false teaching. Paul called these men elders in verse 17, and here he calls them overseers and tells them to be shepherds, which is where we get the word “pastor.” Christians organize church leadership in different ways, but this passage makes clear that these roles overlap and that the core job is the same: care for God’s people and guard them. The church is precious because Jesus bought it with his own blood.
Paul warned that savage wolves would come from outside, and even some from inside would distort the truth to gain followers. His letters to Timothy, who later served in Ephesus, show this happened. Some taught legalism, forbidding marriage and certain foods (1 Timothy 4:1-3). Others drifted toward a self-centered, anything-goes way of life (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Healthy leaders guard the flock from both extremes.
Leaders Who Handle Money Well
The fifth mark is leaders who steward finances with integrity.
Acts 20:33-35 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
Paul worked with his own hands to support himself and his team. This doesn’t mean pastors shouldn’t be paid. Paul taught that elders who preach and teach well are worthy of double honor (1 Timothy 5:17-18). But leaders must never be in it for the money. Paul closed by quoting Jesus: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Interestingly, this saying doesn’t appear in the four Gospels. It’s one of the few sayings of Jesus preserved elsewhere in the New Testament.
The scene ends with tears. Paul knelt and prayed with the elders. They wept, embraced him, and kissed him, grieving most because he said they would never see his face again. Then they walked him to the ship. The next chapter follows Paul toward Jerusalem, where the Spirit had warned that hardship awaited him (Acts 21:1-22:29).
What This Means for Us
No church is perfect, and this passage isn’t meant to make us harsh critics. But there are healthy and unhealthy churches, and these five marks give us a simple test. Does your church teach the truth, even the hard parts? Does it call people to repent and believe? Does it point to grace instead of performance? Do its leaders care for and protect people? Do they handle money with integrity?
These marks aren’t only for pastors. Every believer helps shape a church’s health by loving the truth, living by grace, praying for leaders, and giving generously.
The Takeaway
What does a healthy church look like? According to Paul’s farewell in Acts 20, it preaches the truth even when it’s unpopular, calls people to repentance and faith, and centers everything on God’s grace. Its leaders shepherd and protect the flock and handle money with integrity. Look for these marks, and help your church live them out.
