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Commentary
GEN-X RISING: Why numbers are important Andrew C. Thompson, Jan 28, 2009
Andrew C. Thompson
By Andrew C. Thompson UMR Columnist
We all love numbers. Or at least we’re obsessed by them.
In these bad economic times, we watch the numbers on the stock market indexes with a kind of jittery anxiety.
During the summer months, baseball fans fervently check the box scores of their favorite teams’ games every single day.
And high school students all know their GPA down to the last decimal point, because every little bit counts when it comes to getting into the college of their choice.
For those of us raised on Sesame Street, numbers became important the first time we heard the Count tick off bunches of apples and bouquets of flowers for our benefit.
I’ve written skeptically in the past about the “numbers obsession” in the church. Since the United Methodist Church was organized in 1968, the number of its professing members has fallen dramatically, so that over 10 million members are now down to less than 8 million. And that can make Methodists awfully nostalgic about bygone days.
But my problem isn’t with the concern over numbers itself. My problem is with what we tend to think the numbers represent.
Rather than caring about the number of Methodists who are committed disciples with a living faith in Jesus Christ, we tend to worry instead about our falling prestige in American culture. We see Baptists and nondenominational evangelicals exercising the kind of cultural influence we think rightly belongs to us—all because there’s more of them.
But today I offer a mea culpa. My perspective has changed. Numbers are important. And whether or not we obsess over the size of other denominations, there are legitimate reasons why we need to focus—and focus hard—on our numbers.
At a recent conference in Washington D.C., I heard Lovett Weems, director of Wesley Theological Seminary’s Lewis Center for Church Leadership, present his views on the importance of numbers. Using the center’s new survey, the Lewis Pastoral Leadership Inventory (LPLI), Dr. Weems reported on three areas that attempt to measure clergy effectiveness: character, competence and contribution.
When administered to pastors and congregations, the survey finds that pastors score well in character and competence. Generally speaking, Methodist ministers have a high moral character and know how to do the tasks of ministry well, such as preaching, pastoral care and administration.
But they don’t score so well in the area of contribution. When it comes to measurable achievements, such as forming new disciples of Jesus Christ, they fall far short of the kind of success that would grow churches.
Dr. Weems is pursuing statistical analysis in the hopes that seminaries can better prepare church leaders who will add numerically to the kingdom of God by forming new disciples who are marked by the love of God and neighbor.
Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). If we are not growing churches by baptizing new Christians and forming them in the way of discipleship, we are falling short of the mission Jesus has given us.
Numbers really are important. They are an indication of men and women who are being brought into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. We should care about numbers because they point to the growth of God’s beloved community, the church, which is the very force that is transforming the world and heralding the coming kingdom.
As Dr. Weems suggests, improving our numbers is a task for leadership—both clergy and laity. It means spreading the gospel more effectively. It means celebrating more baptisms and more professions of faith. It means recognizing the Holy Spirit is already ready to lead us in these vital ministries of evangelism.
We can do this, if we will be faithful to Jesus’ call on us. And then what was said about the church in Acts will be said about us: “Day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).
Andrew C. Thompson
