Let’s Talk About The Numbers September 21, 2011

There has always been a debate in church leadership circles about whether or not a church should talk about/celebrate numbers.  AND…let me say that there are godly people on both sides of the argument and who will probably disagree with this post…which is fine.  I just really wanted to share my thoughts on “the numbers.”

Pastor, church leader…I say SHARE the numbers, talk about the numbers, BUT when you do so do it with the understanding that you are BOASTING in what GOD is doing and be VERY quick not to celebrate yourself.

It’s funny…but as I read the book of Acts I see that Luke specifically recorded the number of people who received Christ in Acts 2:41…he then went on to make note of a specific number in Acts 4:4…after that he stopped trying to count because the numbers got too high. (And yet he did specifically mention “numbers” in Acts 5:14, Acts 6:1, Acts 6:7, Acts 9:31, Acts 11:21, Acts 14:1, Acts 14:21, Acts 16:5, Acts 17:12, Acts 28:23!)  Now…either Luke was either obsessed with the wrong thing (which is a dangerous accusation) OR he is trying to make the point that it is OK for the church to CELEBRATE large numbers of people coming to Christ.

I’ve been told, “Perry, when you share your numbers it can make other churches feel bad.”  A couple of problems with this…

#1 – If you are a church leader then the last thing you need to do is compare your churches numbers to someone else’s…doing so is insane because there will always be a church smaller than yours and there will always be one larger as well.  If you compare yourself to the church with less numbers than you, then you will feel a sense of pride (which is sinful.)  AND…if you compare yourself to the church with more people than you, then you will feel a sense of inadequacy and insecurity. The question you need to wrestle with is are you giving God your best with what He’s blessed you with.

#2 – My competition is NOT other churches…it’s with the enemy…and my passion is not to make other churches feel good or bad but rather to partner with God in rescuing as many people from hell as possible.  (AND…according to the words of Jesus in Luke 15 when one sinner repents of his/her ways—btw Jesus used a number—there is a PARTY in heaven!)

It seems sort of weird to me…but some church leaders say that numbers do not matter…which could be one of the reasons church attendance in America is declining (while the population is increasing…anyone see a problem?)  The church is the ONLY organization I know of that does that…sports teams do not, Wall Street does not, successful businesses do not…but the church often does.  (AND…as Rick Warren says…if a church REALLY believes that numbers do no matter they should stop taking the offering!)

Pastor, church leader…CELEBRATE the numbers.

If you had ONE person come to Christ this week…CELEBRATE, Heaven did, why don’t we!?!?!?

If your church has been averaging 75 people and you broke 100 last week…THROW A PARTY, celebrate, get PUMPED!

If your church was averaging 100 people this time last year and this year you have 150…TELL SOMEBODY about it, DON’T HOLD BACK what THE LORD is doing in your church!!!  BOAST IN HIM AND HIS WORK!!!

We’ve GOT to STOP allowing the world to out celebrate us!  Honestly, I believe ONE person in your church coming to Christ is WAY more important than ANY awards show on television OR any touchdown scored in any football game ever played…and yet, once again, we allow the world to outshine us in the way they celebrate the temporary while we sit around and WORRY about how others may perceive the celebration!  (BTW…only insecure people can’t celebrate what God is doing in your church!!!)

I have celebrated the numbers with our church since day one…it’s actually just way more public now because of social media.  We had 115 people show up the first Sunday…and I WAS PUMPED!  I celebrated when we broke 200, 500 and so on.  I celebrate when one person comes to Christ…or when 490 do so like a few weeks ago!

Will people get upset when you do this?  Of course…and I say ignore them!  There are some people who cannot celebrate the success of others…which is sad because THE CHURCH ought to do it better than anyone.

(AND PLEASE do not allow musicians and authors who are not dedicated to a church to tear you down for celebrating the numbers.  Because…if numbers do not matter then why in the heck do they always want you to download their latest release off of itunes OR buy their latest book?  AND…one more thing about some of these guys…they crack on churches talking about the numbers, but when it comes to doing a concert or some sort of book tour…guess who many of them try to get in touch with?  You guessed it…the churches with the numbers!)

One more time pastor…CELEBRATE!  Don’t compare yourself to what God is doing in other places and “feel bad” because more people received Christ somewhere else than in your church.  We are ALL on the same team!

Celebrate!  Tell the WORLD about Jesus and what He is doing in the church you serve.  We can’t blame God for the world not knowing how “at work” He is…we have to blame church leaders who refuse to talk about it because they are way more obsessed over what someone online is going to say about them than they are excited about the fact that THE RISEN CHRIST literally brought someone from DEATH to LIFE in their church!

CELEBRATE!  It’s ok!  Jesus celebrated, the church in Acts celebrated (and counted) and we should as well!