Should We Be Counting?

Two interesting posts on NUMBERS this week.  One from Chuck Lawless, and one from Justin Taylor.

Which do you tend to side with?

Here’s a little of both:

Justin Taylor quotes J. I. Packer: 

I have found that churches, pastors, seminaries, and parachurch agencies throughout North America are mostly playing the numbers game—that is, defining success in terms of numbers of heads counted or added to those that were there before. Church-growth theorists, evangelists, pastors, missionaries, news reporters, and others all speak as if

(1) numerical increase is what matters most;

(2) numerical increase will surely come if our techniques and procedures are right;

(3) numerical increase validates ministries as nothing else does;

(4) numerical increase must be everyone’s main goal.

I detect four unhappy consequences of this.

First, big and growing churches are viewed as far more significant than others.

Second, parachurch specialists who pull in large numbers are venerated, while hard-working pastors are treated as near-nonentities.

Third, lively laymen and clergy too are constantly being creamed off from the churches to run parachurch ministries, in which, just because they specialize on a relatively narrow front, quicker and more striking results can be expected.

Fourth, many ministers of not-so-bouncy temperament and not-so-flashy gifts return to secular employment in disillusionment and bitterness, concluding that the pastoral life of steady service is a game not worth playing.

In all of this I seem to see a great deal of unmortified pride, either massaged, indulged, and gratified, or wounded, nursed, and mollycoddled. Where quantifiable success is god, pride always grows strong and spreads through the soul as cancer sometimes gallops through the body.

Shrinking spiritual stature and growing moral weakness thence result, and in pastoral leaders, especially those who have become sure they are succeeding, the various forms of abuse and exploitation that follow can be horrific.

Orienting all Christian action to visible success as its goal, a move which to many moderns seems supremely sensible and businesslike, is thus more a weakness in the church than its strength; it is a seedbed both of unspiritual vainglory for the self-rated succeeders and of unspiritual despair for the self-rated failures, and a source of shallowness and superficiality all round.

The way of health and humility is for us to admit to ourselves that in the final analysis we do not and cannot know the measure of our success the way God sees it. Wisdom says: leave success ratings to God, and live your Christianity as a religion of faithfulness rather than an idolatry of achievement.

Chuck Lawless quotes Charles Spurgeon, then gives his insight:

I am not among those who decry statistics, nor do I consider that they are productive of all manner of evil; for they do much good if they are accurate, and if men use them lawfully. It is a good thing for people to see the nakedness of the land through statistics of decrease, that they may be driven on their knees before the Lord to seek prosperity; and, on the other hand, it is by no means an evil thing for workers to be encouraged by having some account of results set before them. I should be very sorry if the practice of adding up, and deducting, and giving in the net result were to be abandoned, for it must be right to know our numerical condition. It has been noticed that those who object to the process are often brethren whose unsatisfactory reports should somewhat humiliate them …. The fact is, you can reckon very correctly if the figures are honest, and if all circumstances are taken into consideration if there is no increase, you may calculate with considerable accuracy that there is not much being done; and if there is a clear decrease among a growing population, you may reckon that the prayers of the people and the preaching of the minister are not of the most powerful kind.

Because God mandated that we make disciples (Matt 28:18-20), it seems logical at least to ask the question, “Is God using us to reach non-believers and make disciples?” Numbers are one means to answer this question. The numbers matter not because we want to build our kingdom or impress our denomination, but because we genuinely long for God to use us in His work. The numbers, when properly understood and utilized, are but one tool for evaluating our ministry.

If we believe the gospel is life changing but we see no lives transformed through our ministry, that “nakedness of the land” should lead us to seek God’s help. He alone can change lives. Especially when we read of God’s power exhibited in the Scriptures and throughout the world, how can we not grieve when He do not see that power? We should not be content with fishing that catches no fish.

Jesus died for a lost world (John 3:16), and heaven rejoices when lost sheep are found (Luke 15:7). People from every tongue, tribe, and nation will worship God around His throne (Rev. 7:9). When God draws men and women to Himself – thus increasing our church numbers – it is right to celebrate. It is right to encourage those whom God is using to change lives.

Spurgeon’s words are tough indeed. Where there is no growth, there may be little getting done. Where numbers decrease amid a growing population, “you may reckon that the prayers of the people and the preaching of the minister are not of the most powerful kind.” Those words sting, but they sting because they ring true. Is it possible that the church I lead is not reaching non-believers because my praying and preaching are weak? Do I choose to decry statistics because the numbers I would have to report are low?

Even if a church is growing, we must evaluate the source of that growth. Leaders should know if growth is simply transfer growth rather than conversion growth. Spurgeon again was right in an earlier section of the lecture quoted above, “We do not regard it to be soul-winning to steal members out of churches already established.” Statistics help us to see if our church is really threatening the enemy.

Agreeing that we do not want numbers to become an idol, tell us how you have used statistics properly to lead your church toward growth.

Do these two posts contradict each other?

How important are numbers?

Which do you identify/agree with more? Taylor/Packer or Lawless/Spurgeon?

Todd