How Many Ya'll Running Down There?
It seems the mentality of the world is to measure success on
numbers: number of people that participate, amount in bank account, how many
likes on Facebook, retweets on Twitter, and the list goes on and on. While it
is true that you could probably measure your success in business or wealth on
the number of dollars in your bank account, you simply cannot measure your
success in the ministry based on numbers.
Early in my ministry, it was my belief that if the Church
house was full that I was being successful as a preacher. I had this idea
implanted in my head from the world's way of thinking and also from other
pastors and preachers. I would cringe each and every time some preacher would
ask me "how many ya'll running down there?" Also when
gathering together with other preachers, there was always a division - the ones
running a big crowd and the ones running a little crowd. I mean, after all,
doesn't a large crowd of people attending an event make it successful?
I would get on social media and see fellow ministers brag and
boast about their "packed-out house," and "overflowing
parking lot," and make bold statements such as "Wow, had to
put extra chairs out, God was really in the House!" Meanwhile I would
look out upon the congregation of the Church that God called me to pastor and
see empty spots in the pews. This really bothered me and I took it very
personal, feeling that I was a failure in the ministry. I would go home
defeated and depressed, thinking I should probably just give up.
One day while in this state of depression, contemplating
giving up the Church and walking away from the ministry, the Lord directed me
to this passage of Scripture: Matthew 27:22-23: 22 Pilate saith unto them,
What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto
him, Let him be crucified. 23 And
the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more,
saying, Let him be crucified.
I
couldn't help but notice the Bible says "they all," meaning
the great multitude of people, the "crowd." I then thought back to
the Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem
just days before this event happened when the crowds were all rejoicing and
praising him. Then it was like a light switch flipped in my mind and I realized
that crowds have nothing to do with success in the ministry. Though great
multitudes thronged the Saviour while he was ministering, healing the sick, and
raising the dead, when it came right down to it he had very few true followers.
If
you were to measure success by the world's standards, the Lord Jesus was a
colossal failure. But we know, in fact, that He was and is the most successful
being to ever exist. So, why do we measure our success in the ministry on the
world's way of thinking? What does the Bible say concerning this? It is very simple.
God shows us in His Word: Ephesians 4:11-13: 11 And he gave some,
apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and
teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
I
thank God that He showed me that He doesn't measure true success on crowds or
on "how many ya'll running?" but rather he measures it on how closely
we resemble His Son Jesus.
Let
me encourage you, if you are a small Church pastor with only a few congregants
in the pews, don't get discouraged. Keep your eye on Jesus, or as the Apostle
Paul puts it: "I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." ~Philippians 3:14
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