Restoring Kingdom Builders

Five years ago, my daughter Sarah and I went to the 11:30 am Sunday service at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland.  The great Scottish Reformer John Knox preached there and is buried underneath Parking Space 23 behind the church.

St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland

                     

When we arrived that morning, rain was pouring down.  We settled into seats next to the heater on the right side – only it wasn’t working.  (After a few moments, a large puddle of water formed beneath my chair.)  Because I was a mess, I chose to visit the men’s room, which was down the back stairs – only I had to walk through the choir to get there.  (When I came out, I had to walk through them again.)

The service began with a choir anthem – in Latin.  After some festivities, it was time for the message.  The speaker was one of the chaplains for the Queen of England, and this was his regular gig.

I’ll never forget his message.  He lambasted the congregation for the decline in attendance over the years – from 1,400 to 600, as I recall.  He spoke all of 10 minutes.

I can tell you why people weren’t coming: busted heater, poor access to the restrooms, singing in a dead language, and a preacher who blamed the people who showed up for the church’s decline!

The topic of church attendance is touchy, isn’t it?

Let me make four brief points about numbers in churches:

First, numbers require context.  Jesus talked about rocky ground and good soil in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-8).  Some communities are fertile ground for the gospel, like Phoenix (where there are large churches everywhere) and Orange County (where spiritual and political values match).  Other communities represent stony ground, like New England (with its old buildings and liberal theology) and the San Francisco Bay Area (full of hostile atheists and agnostics).

In Phoenix, it’s common for a church to own a 5-acre campus with 500 people attending.  In the Bay Area, that’s uncommon.

Every church is unique.  There is no one-size-fits-all pastor or church.  What works in one place doesn’t work in another.  So it’s hard to compare churches – and often difficult to compare their statistics as well.

Please remember that.

Second, numbers can become idols.  Ask some pastors how their church is doing and they’ll say, “Our numbers are up 22% over last year at this time – and our giving is keeping pace.  We’re doing great!”

But how did their churches grow?  Through a renewed emphasis on evangelism?  Through an expansion of small groups for seekers?  Or was it by injecting secular methods into the church?  Or by receiving a flood of new people from the church that split down the road?

Pastors feel tremendous pressure to keep numbers going north.  And in the process, stats can become way too important.  If someone’s life was changed but attendance was down 15% from the previous Sunday, does that mean the pastor is a failure?  Or if God didn’t show up in the service but the giving was 31% better than two weeks ago, is that all that matters?

If a pastor thinks he’s a success when the stats are up, and a failure when the stats are down, it may be that numbers have become an idol.  Most pastors continually struggle with this issue.

Third, numbers are impossible to control.  My wife and I once held a small group in our home.  15 people signed up.  The topic was interesting.  We always had refreshments.  There was great chemistry among group members.

And we always contacted people in advance to remind them about our next gathering.

One night, we had 14.  Another night, we had 3.  Think I could control the attendance?

As a pastor, sometimes I’d go to church on Sunday morning and think, “This topic may seem irrelevant, so I’m not expecting a big crowd.”  And the place would be packed.  Other times, I’d think, “I can’t wait to get to church today because I anticipate great attendance.”  And I’d get up to preach and stare at empty chairs.

I delude myself – and even play God – when I think I make things grow.

I take comfort in Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.”  Only secularists believe that man makes things grow.  Jesus’ followers know that only the Father produces growth.

Finally, numbers alone cannot measure success.  I believe that success for a believer – including a pastor – is defined not by numbers, but by attempting and completing divine assignments.

When Jesus told the multitudes that they needed to “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood” (John 6:53), we’re told that “many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” (John 6:66).  By today’s standards, Jesus was a failure.

And yet the night before He died, He told His Father, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4).  If numbers are everything, why didn’t Jesus submit His stats at that moment?  Instead, He measured success by doing God’s will.

He may have looked like a failure in secular eyes, but was a total success in His Father’s eyes.

I wish Christians could set aside the success measurements of the business world (bodies, bucks, and bricks) and return to biblical standards – but the business model has become so ingrained in us that I don’t know if we can.

Think we can do it?  Do we want to?

In Mark 4:26, Jesus told His disciples:

“This is what the kingdom of God is like.  A man scatters seed on the ground.  Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.”

Did you catch that?  “He does not know how” the seed grew.  While it’s our job to scatter seed, it’s God’s job to make things grow.

Let us resolve never to reverse those roles.