How To Measure Success?

Lebron James recently stated that this season for the Cleveland Cavs is either win the NBA championship or bust (or their season is a failure). James has made a statement that hinges on how he measures success. In the church we have this weird, messed up notion of how to measure success as well. This usually is surrounded with NUMBERS. This parallels a corporate mentality and sadly it has crept into the church (along with other cultural examples). How do we look at numbers? We can measure success in terms of

• Attendance (usually a number that someone records)
• Budgets and Giving (a number on a sheet and a number of $$ that comes in each week)
• Staff (a number)
• Year end reports filled with how many came to the outreach? how many kids?, etc.
• Programs - are their a lot of options on the buffet?
  

Other areas where we tend to measure success in the church are

• Style - does the aesthetic appeal to me? Does the worship create an experiential moment for me?
• Prestige - is this where everyone goes? Is this where I can be seen to enhance my reputation?
• Big, Large, and Small - People value large congregations because size is how we measure success. We must not confuse large with successful. Nor for that matter should we equate small with successful.
  

Now, numbers as well as these other areas can be looked at correctly when they point to something much greater such as obedience, grace, and the greatness of Jesus Christ our Lord that has saved us from ourselves. The problem lies in the fact that many of the things I've listed are ends in themselves. May Jesus' church never lie in these things, but lie in the obedience that has been pressed upon the hearts of His people. When obedience is pursued "one anothering" will happen, community will be formed (no matter big or small), and Christ will be glorified.