Counting Sheep

Pastors and Lay ministers when they get together often ask, “So how many people does your church have?” or “What is your membership over at Fillinblank Church?” We have all heard of pastors who are accused of counting the mice and cockroaches to inflate their numbers. I want to propose a different standard by which we measure a church. It is much harder to quantify than backsides counted on a pew each Sunday morning, but here goes. Why don’t we try counting the number of lives that are being affected positively for Jesus Christ by our congregation? This might include people who never darken the doorstep of your church, and in some cases might not count people who attend every Sunday! When a church is consistently reaching beyond its walls to the community at large for Jesus, there may be thousands on this list even though the Sunday AM service only numbers 75 or 100. Just a quick anecdote to make my point: I once had a pastor who preached his last sermon about a week before he died in his early 90’s. His church wasn’t more than 50 people on Sunday mornings, but the people in the community who showed up at his funeral who considered him their pastor or whom he had led to the Lord personally numbered well over 500. When one considers that this was in a very rural area and the population of that end of the county was only a couple thousand, I would say that he was a very successful pastor! Was his church perfect? Of course not, but they reached out to the community around them just as their pastor did. They loved on this young man in a time of emotional and spiritual crisis helping me to hold onto my faith in our loving Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Hopefully your church is affecting many outside the walls of your building for the Lord in a positive way. One thought I heard recently that you might think about on this topic is: (((If our church went under today, would anyone care other than the staff and those who attend?))) I pray that your church is making a difference and would be sorely missed by your community!