Numbers????????

Have you ever noticed how we tend to be when our small group, Sunday School class, the youth group we work with, the discussion group we lead, is full as opposed to when there are only a few in attendance? We're on top of the world when everyone involved with our Bible study is there but the weeks that it's empty we can be despondent. How do we feel when a person at Bible study/small group/church service/youth group looks around and says "Where is everybody?" (by the way this is almost always exclaimed by a person who comes once a month)

What is happening in those moments? What is happening when life couldn't be better because the place is packed and life couldn't be worse when the place is empty? I think we'd like to believe that we're disappointed because we really care for people and we want to see them grow. That probably is part of the issue. We want to see greater maturity in our people. But because we are Americans we have a keen interest in tangible, quantifiable, results. The only way to quantify the results of a small group is numbers. We hang on the numbers. The numbers reign supreme in our minds. When most people think back to the glory days of their local church, small group, Sunday School class, they think back to days when the ministry was the largest. Remember back then? It was awesome. I might ask the question; Was it really awesome? Not necessarily. The work that God does is spiritual. It's internal. The internal work that God does can be seen on the outside but sometimes what we see on the outside appears to be spiritual and is not. The work that God does is not always manifested in numbers. In other words, the glory days may or may not have been that glorious.

When we ride high because our group was packed or sink low because our group was empty we've made numbers an idol. In those moments we've made Christ very small and the response of man very big. We're looking more to man for our satisfaction than to God. In addition, the person who used to oversee a large group but now is angry because their group is small must believe that it was their skills, ability, or worse yet, their personality, that made it big. Wow, how big is our pride? Even the Apostle Paul, one of the most gifted men to ever live did not believe he had the ability to grow people or group sizes. He said that when it came to the church he "planted, Apollos watered, BUT GOD GAVE THE GROWTH. (1 Cor 3:6)" It was God that did the real work.

Our calling is not to make everything bigger. The American economy is supposed to continue to grow numerically not the size of your church, small group, youth group etc. If numeric growth does come our way, we need to thank God and refuse to look to ourselves. And if numbers fall, may our eyes go more to Christ as we rely more on Him and His Word, not our long term plans or abilities. Smart and ambitious people know how to create numbers but only the Holy Spirit creates real numbers. He creates real followers. He creates real disciples.

Below is a question and answer with Dr. Mark Dever. He addresses the issue of numbers in the church. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_NqWzwDo6o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_NqWzwDo6o