Perhaps the greatest area of inconsistency that I have witnessed personally in our churches and among church leaders is the means we use to measure success in the ministry. Let me say at the outset that I've never met anyone that was worth his or her salt that didn't want to be a great at what they did. I would have to wonder about anyone who doesn't want to be a success at the thing that God has led them to do. Yet over the years I've noticed that we are inconsistent and often hypocritical when it comes to how we measure what "great" is, or what "success" and "blessing" are.
How is success to be measured? Is it to be measured? Are there dangers involved? Years ago a man told me that I needed to quit dealing with some very egregious sin problems in our church. Dealing with some of these issues had caused a few of our members who had no intention of changing to leave. As a result our church attendance dropped for a while. This "brother' told me that the previous pastor left those things alone and that the church ran a lot more people then. That troubled me. I thought you were supposed to just mind God and let the chips fall. I thought success should be measured by obedience, not attendance. I asked that brother if he thought the Mormons were of God. He said, "Of course not". I told him, "But they've got thousands more people than we in our church could ever have." I then said, "By your gauge, they must be more blessed than even the previous pastor you just referred to". Basically, he then concluded that the same sized measuring stick did not apply to every group or at all times. Yet this is a perfect example of how pragmatic we are when it comes to who is blessed, and who is a success, and who God is blessing.
The Saddleback Community Church pastored by church-growth guru Rick Warren has massive teenage dances that draw in some 5,000 young people. That alone is success in the eyes of many! Yet, friend, there is no such thing as a godly teenage dance party. Saddleback is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, and Rick Warren is perhaps the most prominent and influential spokesmen on church growth. Why? Because of his crowd. "God must be really blessing him-look at how large his church is!" How Laodician! Friend, don't get me wrong, we should all be aspiring to build great churches for the glory of God. We should not be satisfied ever! But we had better watch out how we measure greatness!
During a revival meeting we once conducted some thirty-five people were saved. We rejoiced. Naturally, we shared the number of folks getting saved. The evangelist wisely told me and the rest of the church that the best time to count the converts was twenty years after the meeting. What a sobering thought. I want to succeed and I want to testify about success! I want my church to be as great as it can possibly be! But we had better use caution as we measure what we call "greatness" as well as what we call "failure". We might misjudge both if we are not very careful. God said in I Corinthians 4:5, "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God." Friend, if you obeying the Word of God and giving your very best effort, I believe you are a success. Don't be discouraged if things don't happen for you as fast as you would like. The next time you equate your ministry's attendance or bank balances with success and greatness, be sure to be consistent - use the same gage for the Catholics, JW's, Mormons, Charismatics, and of course the Moslems.
Steven E. Mays - Trumpet Editor