You know the number game, right? The one where we measure our success or failure soley on the number of students that show up to our event or our services.

When we play the number game, when we focus on numbers…nobody wins.

I know that numbers matter. Healthy ministries grow but what happens when numbers become our only means to determine our health. {No one is really willing to admit that numbers are all that matter but when I reflect on events and judge my feelings based on the event I am always surprised by how many times they are tied to numbers.}

But when we focus only on numbers, nobody wins.

Leaders- We don’t win because we fall into traps of shame and pride with each win or lost. We compare and judge others who are doing “worse” or “better” than us.

Ministry isn’t about us…it is about Him.

Students- Our students don’t win because once we counted them – we stopped seeing them and caring for them except for their attendance or their ability to bring more students. We miss the one, the individual. We stop looking into the eyes of our students and REALLY seeing them.

Ministry is about caring for the one. (The Lost Sheep, Coin, Son)

Church- Our churches lose because students start to think the church is only about attendance and not about BEING the church.

Ministry is about equipping students to be the Body not just attenders.

Go ahead and count your students at your next program but know that the success or the failure of that program isn’t based on the number. What is good and true comes when we rely on Jesus and not on our own ability to care and equip for the students in our churches and in our communities. I realize this is easier said than done, especially in the current culture of church but I am certain that it is the way of Jesus.

Praying that you are freed from the game nobody wins this season.