Today, I am asking for you feedback. Yesterday, I discussed the state of the church today and left the post with the haunting question of whether or not what we call church today is what God intended it to be. In yesterday’s post, I quoted Jim Denison’s statement that “Rather than measuring success by how many people go to church, let’s measure success by how effectively the church goes to people.”
I am continuing to wrestle with this idea. So today, I am asking for you input. Comment here or email me your thoughts on what this would look like.
If we were to try and measure the effectiveness of the church going to people, what would success look like?
I look forward to your thoughts.
Clay in the Hands 
This is a very interesting discussion. I think the days of building huge sanctuaries are coming to an end. I believe our buildings will be more and more multipurpose, and those dollars will be spent in our communities and on our mission points. I think the church will be more involved with the social ministries of their communities as well. I believe we need to try and find a place where we can meet physical needs, not just food pantry, not just a food pantry, but I’m thinking about after school programs, job corp, home repair, mentoring of adults…
If you haven’t read it yet I strongly recommend the book When Helping Hurts.
http://www.amazon.com/When-Helping-Hurts-Alleviate-Yourself/dp/0802457061
This book has been very influential at our church and the effectiveness of our church going to people.
Thanks for the input Jeff. Great resource!
I think success is all too often measured by the production the church puts on and the number of people in the seats. I recently attended a service with my girlfriend in Lubbock. It was a very nice church with a very large congregation. They put on a great show and the message was very powerful. Needless to say, I was impressed. The very next week, we attended 1st Baptist, on the day of our missions fair, and it occurred to me that it is not about how the church calls people in, but how the church is called to go out. We sleep better at night knowing we saved a hungry child in Africa or an abused cat in New Jersey. There are needs in the community that we are very happy to ignore. One of the first verses Joel shared with me has become one of my favorites. Matthew 28:19 says “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and and of the Holy Spirit.” We should measure success by how we go out in our community, our nation, and the impact we can make on those that need our love the most.
Interestingly enough, the Pastor in Lubbock made a disturbingly blunt statement. There are many people sitting in the seats there in the church who are not on the path to heaven.
Brian, great question. I would reply that success is not something for the church to seek. Jesus looked to meet the immediate needs of the people he encountered. Why? Love! Only love! I am not even sure he would have wanted to know someone was writing down all that stuff. Our motivation should be love and love only. Any attempt to quantify what we have done creates alterior motives.
Great words Tim. Thanks. You are right. God’s call is for us to be faithful – not successful.