Few things send a pastor into sin like the
questions, “How many are you running? How many baptisms have you seen this
year? How many people have joined this year?” We hear those questions and we
ask ourselves, “Do I round up to the nearest hundred or thousand? Or do I tell
it like it is?” Regardless of how we respond, if a pastor’s “numbers” are not
what he hopes them to be—as is the case with most pastors—they can lead him
into the depths of despair. Typically when this happens it is because we
pastors aren’t seeing things rightly; we forget that while the answers to these
questions are important, they are not necessarily indicators of success or
failure. Increased attendance, baptizing new Christians, and increased
membership are certainly signs of growth, but not growth that we can control.
As Paul reminds us, “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but
only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7). Growth comes from God, we
are called to plant and to water. In other words, for us, success and failure
are not measured in terms of growth, but in terms of faithfulness. In so far as
we are being faithful to plant and to water as God calls us to, we are
successful, regardless of the fruit we see. It is God who causes the growth,
not us. Success for us is faithfulness to God’s Word.
Yet, even though that’s true, we pastors still
all to often fall into despair over such things. We think about success merely
in terms of growth and that leads us to despair, but we also tend to only think
about growth numerically. So if attendance, baptisms, and membership aren’t up
then we aren’t growing. But, that’s not necessarily the case.
I currently pastor a church
revitalization/replant. Over the last few years we have been working—by God’s
grace—for church health. Until recently we weren’t really healthy enough to
focus much on outreach. That being the case, we haven’t seen a great increase
in attendance, baptisms, or membership. But, we have seen people come to know
and love Jesus in ways they never have before, we have seen people grow in their
knowledge and hunger for God’s Word like they never have before, and we have
seen people begin to open their lives up to one another and live in genuine
gospel-community like they never have before. And friends, while these things
might not be a part of the numbers game, they are most definitely growth. When
an eighty-plus year old brother comes to you after service and tells you—with
eyes full of tears and a heart full of joy—that though he has read the Bible
for most of his life, he has just now started truly understanding the Word and has
for the first time learned to study the Word himself in a deep, heart-stirring,
Christ-centered manner; though it might not be as sexy or as flashy as numbers,
that is a win, that is good gospel-growth.
We must not be so concerned with numbers that we
miss out on the joy of gospel-growth such as this. When we are tempted to
despair we must ask ourselves if we are being faithful. And while we may not see
fruit of a numerical fashion, if we are being faithful we should see the fruit
of lives that have been and are being transformed by the gospel. Gospel-growth,
gospel-wins, gospel-fruit doesn’t always look the same in a church
revitalization as it does in a church plant. No doubt, we should pray for and
seek out numerical growth in the ways that God has called us to in His Word.
But, we must remember that we are called to be faithful, and to trust in
God—for it is He who causes the growth. But if we are being faithful we can
trust that in one way or another gospel-growth is happening. So let not your
heart despair. Don’t let numbers, or the lack thereof rob you of joy. Plant and
water—trust in God’s Word and rejoice in Jesus and the power of His gospel. And
next time someone asks you how many are you running, or how many baptisms have
you seen this year, or how many people have joined this year, tell them of the
gospel, its power, and the fruit thereof in the church you serve. Because
friends, if you are being faithful, lives are being changed, whether you
realize it or not; and that is cause for great joy.
