This week we discuss the role of Pastor in church growth. It’s important to also note
what we mean by “growth”. It’s not always numerical even though it’s part of it.
Growth is a combination of metrics that are often more spiritual than physical. This is a
great article I pray you read as we finish up our current series this Sunday. See You
There!
-Pastor Tommy
Church Growth: The Place of Metrics in Evaluating Ministry
NOVEMBER 8, 2023 | GRAHAM HESLOP
Attending a conference, denominational synod, or church planting seminar, you do not have to wait long before
you are discussing numbers and attendance. It’s not even that people specifically ask how big your church is. It is
more that the question, “How’s it going?” either has the implied meaning of ‘how many people are attending your
church?’ or we instinctively answer with metrics. I do not yet know what to make of this instinct in myself; or that
when I ask about your ministry all I am really interested in is how many people are coming. But I know it is not
healthy. And I am fairly certain it is not biblical.
Paul does not mention the size of a church once in his epistles.
Paul does not mention the size of a church once in his epistles, apart from celebrating their growth. And in Christ’s
seven letters to the churches in Revelation it is the unimpressive and beleaguered churches that are commended
(Smyrna and Philadelphia), while the influential and powerful churches are rebuked (Sardis and Laodicea).
Metrics Have Limited Value in Evaluating Your Church.
Discussing the place of numbers in evaluating our churches and ministries, Marshall and Payne write, “Numbers
can be a blunt instrument for evaluation. On their own, they don’t tell the whole story. Good numbers can be a
sign of spiritual health, or they can indicate that you are running a non-demanding, people-pleasing ministry that
lots of people like.” Numbers do not tell the whole story. Yet the way we speak and evaluate each other’s
ministries I wonder if we actually believe that. After all, it is far more impressive to say your average Sunday
attendance is closing in on 1000 than to admit that you are seeing little maturity in your church.
Let’s not forget that Joel Osteen pastors one of the biggest churches in America.
Read that quote from The Vine Project again: numbers alone indicate nothing. Let’s not forget that Joel Osteen
pastors one of the biggest churches in America. So, in this short post I hope to outline a few of my concerns and
thoughts regarding numbers.
Numbers Can Be Misleading
I wrote a post a couple of years ago asking if Satan can grow the church. I was not referring to pastors selling their
souls or children to the devil in order to have bigger churches—though I reckon some might be willing to do that.
In the post I looked at Jesus’ parable about the wheats and the weeds in Matthew 13. The conclusion I drew was
that Satan is able to mislead God’s people by giving them what they desire most, so long as it draws them away
from finding satisfaction and significance in Christ. I concluded that post by writing, “[Satan] revels in a church
where attendance is the mark of faith and its leaders worship growth.”
Satan is able to mislead God’s people by giving them what they desire most.
We must remember that we may grow a large ministry only to have most of it ripped up and burnt. The warning
for everyone here is to pursue genuine gospel growth, and if you read the other ‘kingdom parables’ in Matthew
13 you will learn that that is often slow.
Church Metrics Make a Cruel Master
When the first question regarding an event or service is, “How many people came?” you are setting yourself up for
discouragement, or perhaps false confidence. On paper alone attendance is powerful, both to puff up and to pull
down. Forgetting for a second the trap mentioned in my first point, let us consider a second trap, one that Satan I
am sure also sets: discouragement.
Scripture and Sermon:
Titus 1:5-9
“Church Growth 103”
On paper alone attendance is powerful, both to puff up and to pull down.
Consider the statement, “Only 20 people attended the prayer meeting.” Sure, that
might be disappointing when you consider what percentage of your church 20
people represents. But 20 Christians did gather to pray. They surrendered their time
and submitted their requests to our Father in heaven, and surely that cannot be an
absolute discouragement. When numbers are the primary measure of our ministries
we will be crushed by disappointment and grow discouraged, often in spite of the
work of God before our eyes.
They Indicate Trends, Not Transformation
This is an important point that brings us back to Marshall and Payne, quoted above.
Numbers can indicate if the church is growing, on a plateau, or in decline, but little
more. When attendance is dropping we must ask some hard questions about that
ministry or event. If the numbers have stayed exactly the same we may need to
consider change and innovation. And if there is a growing trend we should ask if we
are merely filling seats. However, in all three cases the numbers reveal trends and not
conversions or Christian maturity.
Numbers reveal trends and not conversions or Christian maturity.
Therefore, in closing, I agree that numbers can play a useful role in helping us evaluate
our ministries, through the force of undeniable statistics. But we cannot let numbers
deceive us with false growth, nor can we allow numbers to rule over and discourage
us.
Keep The Faith,
Pastor Tommy
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