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I do not think that counting is an evil, or even unnecessary, thing; yet, as members of Christ, partakers of the divine nature, we should be wary of emphasizing the number of people in a building on a Sunday over the holiness of those people (for example). We must be wary of the emphasis on those things that we count (for whatever we count is what we are declaring to be valuable), however, there is a place for administration in the Kingdom of God.
I would ask, however, what exactly it is that we should be counting...
...bodies in attendance at a gathering, or people who are plugged in to a small group?
...square footage of our facility, or number of Churches planted that have themselves planted a Church?
...dollar amounts given, or hours volunteered?
How about...
...the number of hours each member spends in prayer, or in the word daily?
...the number of leaders in the Church who have raised and released other leaders?
...the number of small groups that have multiplied?
...the number of volunteer organizations Church members are involved with?
...the average percentage Church members tip the wait staff for Sunday lunch?
This list could go on!
The simple point is that we can help people to understand what is important, if we are wise in what we do. If we will decide that which is truly valuable, and then find ways to emphasize those things by counting them, we will be less woried about whether counting the ABC's is devaluing that which is truly important.
3 comments:
is it just a romantic notion that church used to be a sanctuary where those in need could find safe harbor and providence? i don't want to go to church to be appraised, i want to go to be reminded that there is a safe place to be broken. I don't want to attend to find fellowship with like-minded sheep, but to (hopefully) offer myself as a willing servant in god's kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven (although i find it hard to see beyond myself most days). the trend of counting reflects a self-consciousness as opposed to a selfless eagerness to worship alongside others who are as much in need as we are. is the purpose of church to be able to leave every sunday with a smug confidence in what you produced or with a hopeful empowerment to go serve, love, lead and listen?
I would agree that the focus gets off when we emphasize things that ought not be.
I believe that our 'counting' should be a way of keeping ourselves accountable, not of proving our effectiveness against others, or justifying ourselves.
Counting should essentially be getting at the question, "Am I walking my talk?"
If our counting leads us to "a smug confidence in what is produced" we are in error; counting should be determining instead whether we are in fact "empowering the church to go serve, love, lead and listen."
I do sympathize with a desire to simply focus on Jesus and His purposes; I believe that the manner in which we 'count' can serve to hinder or advance this cause...
A note on collecting data (aka 'counting'): Over the years I've spent countless hours collecting measurements to 'characterize and describe' some aspect of our collective material culture through history and prehistory. Only on very rare occasions would I suggest that any of this data was actually valuable. Rarely do people collect data with a real question in mind; rather they look for the numbers themselves to speak. And then follow with some faulty inductive reasoning to impress their worldview upon the sample they collected. It’s the old ‘garbage in, garbage out’ axiom. Often it isn’t that we count what we think is important – it is that we count what is convenient and potentially able to justify our quasi-research for the time being. Counting is great and concrete, 10 chairs will be 10 chairs today and 100 years from now. But you need to ask the right questions, data cannot speak beyond its bounds. To get to a ‘thick’ description of the heart, you must first ask the right questions and make that commitment to jump all the way in and really get wet.
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