Why Numbers Don’t Matter

Numbers don’t matter.  I thought for years that I had a healthy perspective on numbers, but I didn’t.  I thought healthy things grow and if your ministry wasn’t growing, something was wrong.  I thought it was good to keep track of how many preteens show up for programs feeling good when a lot did and bad when we had a low turn out.  I deceived myself into believing that I wasn’t getting hung up on numbers, but in reality I was.  I’ve now come to the conclusion that numbers really don’t matter.

We say that they do, but they don’t.  I’ve seen unhealthy churches grow and I’ve seen healthy churches not grow.  So, I no longer believe that healthy things grow.  Yes, I am contradicting what you will hear at leadership conferences.  My experience is that growing churches look healthy from the outside, but on the inside are just as messed up as the ones that aren’t growing.  Also, I think I am not the only one who sort of gets my self-confidence from how many kids show up.  In ministry, there aren’t many tangible things we can look at to determine success.  A lot of what we do is plant seeds in the hearts and minds of preteens.  So, we don’t see a lot of results.  Yes, we do see some.  But tracking numbers is a tangible thing we can look at and I don’t think it is healthy to do.  I think our ministries would all benefit from stopping to count how many show up each weekend.  It would help to focus on what really matters.

I’ve slowly come to this realization in the past year.  Launching a preteen ministry at my new church with a handful of kids has made me rethink everything.  I’ve had nowhere near the number of preteens show up here as I did at my previous church, which I build from the ground up as well.  But a lot of good things have been happening.  A lot of relational and foundational groundwork has been laid.  Last Friday night we had our first event since back to school and we hit a record having the most ever show up at any program since I’ve been here. It was a tipping point for me to realize numbers don’t matter.  I would usually be excited about that many showing up.  But in reality, it is simply a reflection of all that has been going on for the past year.

Instead of tracking numbers we would do better to focus on what really matters.  Relationships between leaders and preteens.  Giving preteens opportunities to explore and experience God.  Recruiting and equipping leaders.  Reaching out to preteens in the community who aren’t followers of Jesus.  When we focus those things, numbers will come.  But if our focus is on numbers, we miss what’s really important.