Seduction By the Numbers

In the institution of the church there are many valid (and sometimes heated) discussions about the main purpose of our ministries.  Is it job one to build and nurture disciples in the church, or is it to reach those who do not yet have a relationship with Jesus?  Should we be focused on the pulpit and the classroom, teaching biblical truths and church history, or should we be sending people out into the world in ministry to "the least of these?"  Should our money be spent on programs, buildings and advertising, or should we be feeding the hungry and reaching out to those in need?  All of these issues and items are a part of the church, and discussions about our focus are needed and often healthy.  But even with all of the legitimate things we need to focus on, we somehow have allowed ourselves to be seduced by a very secular measuring stick for whether a not a church (or a youth ministry) is healthy.  Often the only question that seems to really matter anymore is, "So how many were in attendance?"  

It is quite true that we are called as the Body of Christ to take the gospel to the streets and to make new disciples.  Reaching new people for Jesus is clearly a biblical task.  None of us who are part of a church family can deny the thrill and joy that comes from having people confess Jesus as LORD for the very first time.  And we do love to see our churches grow.  But too often we can be seduced by the numbers.  We have come to believe that a large, growing church or student ministry equals a healthy one.  This is not always true, and we know it.  We all know of cults and mega-churches that do more harm than good. It is just so difficult to resist the lure of the numbers.  I had a youth ministry mentor years ago who warned me that "it is much easier to draw a crowd than to make one disciple."  That doesn't mean that we shouldn't do everything we can to get people through the doors and butts in the pews.  But just filling the room and padding the numbers must NOT be our end goal.  Making disciples and sending those disciples out into the world is what we should be all about.  I have always believed that if we show people the real Jesus, they will be overwhelmed with excitement.  They will want to show up. They will want to bring friends.  In fact, I think it is safe to say that if our churches are healthy, they will grow,  But that is NOT why we do what we do.  We do what we do so that people may know the risen Savior.

So why does it seem like every evaluation of every ministry in the church begins with the question, "How many?"  How many new members did you get this year?  How many do you average in worship?  How many were at youth group Sunday night?  How many are in the choir or the praise team? We ignore the truth that anytime even ONE person comes to Christ there is a party in heaven!  And far too many times if the numbers are not where church leaders thing they should be, the next question is not "Why?"  The next question is "How do we get more people?"  Instead of feeding the sheep we have, we go out and try to buy new ones.  When the issue becomes numbers and not ministry, we have been seduced.  

In my years in student ministry I worked with small groups and I worked with large ones.  Some of the small groups became quite large over times; others did not.  I can look back now and say with great certainty that the groups that grew in numbers were the ones where we took the time and the effort to build relationships with students and nurture them into relationships with Jesus.  We didn't become successful because we grew larger.  We grew larger because we served the Savior. Numbers take care of themselves if we are truly in ministry.

As we begin this new year I have a number I intend to focus on, and I invite you to do the same.  That number is ONE. We bring people into relationship with Jesus and make disciples ONE person at a time.  Imagine there is an empty chair next to you as you pray.  This empty chair sits before the throne of God. Who is it in your life that you need to be reaching out to?  Who is it that you can be a life-changing influence for- not in some pie-in-the-sky kind of way, but in a real and tangible way?  Pray right now that God will use you to help that person fill the empty chair.  Focus your prayers, your love and your time on that person.  Make them your personal ministry.  Also pray that God will use the ministries of your church to change the world for ONE person this week.  Jesus calls on us to change the world- but we do that ONE person at a time.  Let's stop being seduced by the numbers, and remember the power of ONE.

Because of Jesus,