What we count is what we value. And what do we generally count in our churches? The number of people who sit in the services. The offering. Why not try counting something different this month—something more in line with what Jesus told us to do when he said to make disciples?
- What if we counted missional acts of kindness?
- The percentage of our people who are in active discipling relationships?
- The percentage of our people who are serving the poor?
- The percentage of our leaders who have an apprentice leader?
- The percentage of our people who regularly serve outside the church walls?
The very way we define success is in need of rethinking. We need to get a scorecard that reflects the values of what’s really important: making disciples, living as Jesus lived, relationship with God and with others.
This kind of scorecard probably won’t even look like success to most people. Look at the ministry of Jesus. At his death, he left a few ragged followers, no published records of his teachings, no building, no budget, not even a good name for his movement. By all of our measures, Jesus was a failure. But the seeds of discipleship were there– the seeds of a movement. So tear up your scorecards and let’s start measuring what Jesus cared about: caring for the poor and making disciples. It may not fit on current scorecards, but it will absolutely contribute to the Kingdom of God.