Why the judgmental venom surrounding church attendance numbers?
I was reading a recent 'negative' article entitled "Body Count Evangelism". The angle was a slap toward churches and ministries who are determined to count people, bodies, souls and propagate those numbers as a statement of some success in evangelism. The conclusion was; "Why are we so caught up in numbers and counting bodies?" My answer; "It's an evaluation of success in reaching the community with the love and touch of Jesus." Jesus told us to go and make disciples, not disciple.
I was raised inside of a traditional protestant denomination, and boy did we protest things. I remember the antiquated attendance sings that greeting my family at church when we were kids. It was the first thing you saw upon entering the stained glass door of the church building. The sun-bleached cardboard numbers that calculated last Sunday's totals for attendance, tithes and offering were hung with slight embarrassment. The amazing thing about the 'number sign' - the numbers never grew all that much over 18-years. As a young boy I always wondered why the numbers were always the same.
As I matured into my rebel sarcasm, I'd think to myself, "Here we were, the 'saved' kids of Father God, with the good news of Jesus for the community, and all we could muster is 125 people each week". I left the denomination when I was 18-years-old. One of the many reasons that I bolted, the failure (in some cases the refusal) to reach the 'people' of the city with Jesus' love and acceptance. For years the traditional, denominational church that I attended never grew. To this day, I can walk through those same doors and probably read the same numbers on the same antiquated sign.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe that attendance is the 'be-all-end-all' of evangelical success, but it sure does reflect a missional heart and the loving reach of the local 'gang of followers' of Jesus. If we believe we have the antidote to our sinful situation, why are we afraid (apathetic) of the "numbers as evaluation". Are we embarrassed to evaluate our failures as it relates to a missional heart?
Why can't we love more people into our gang of community? Is it a direct reflection of our authentic impact on the community...in a word, yes! Church attendance matters, it is a direct indication of success of 'gospel reach' and 'gospel touch'.
Here's a challenging thought; If you're a church that has been stagnate at, or near, 150 people over the past 15-20 years, why not consider a radical move of purpose? Locate another stagnate church in your city with similar doctrines and theology, and encourage the two pastors to have lunch. Consider combining the congregations and the staffs. Sell off one of the buildings and property, use the money to keep staff in place and develop the new meeting location.
Take the new leadership and turn the new church inside-out. Make the focus the community and not the denomination.What you would be doing is closing down two small, stagnate churches and birthing a new congregation with a purpose to create a vibrant 300-plus missional church, with an invigorated leadership and a passionate 'gang of followers'. Numbers do matter, and they are an evaluation of success in reach. Try the reach, it's worth the stretch.
Comments: erichogueshow@hotmail.com
