Some Numbers To Think About

I know that I’ve railed against the use of numbers in evaluating ministry. I stand by what I’ve said and I still believe that many pastors are practicing a cult of numbers. Just listen to a couple of pastors talk and time them to see how long it takes for one to ask the other, “Whatcha running?” There are some numbers, however, that are useful in measuring your success. In fact, if these numbers are bad then you can mark it down that you are headed for a train-wreck in your ministry.

The numbers that I am referring to are numbers like:

The number of hours you spend each week loving your wife as Christ loved the church

The number of hours of undivided attention you give your children each week

The number of times you sit the family down together for a meal and talk and have fun

The number of times a week you and your family spend time reading the Bible and praying together

The number of times you pray for your wife and children each week

It is tragic to see a pastor grow a ministry where scores of people are filling the pews only to find out that his family has been ignored and neglected. Yet for all the warnings, I see and hear of pastors every week who know their staff and their deacons better than they know their children. God have mercy!

Not everyone is intended to have children. In fact some people choose not to. That decision is between them and the Lord. If, however, you have chosen to have children, and make no mistake they are a blessing (Psalm 127:4-5). Then you had better love on them, disciple them (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), and raise them to honor God (Proverbs 22:6). Sometimes this means doing things you don’t like to do or want to do. Some times it may mean going home instead of going on visitation, or not having a lock-in with your youth so that you can stay up late with your children instead.

All of you know of the great work of Dr. James Dobson. His ministry spans generations and reaches around the globe. What you might not be aware of is how he almost never came to be. When he was a junior in high school, his dad was an evangelist whose star was on the rise. His dad would spend days on the road speaking at churches, conferences, and other public gatherings. One day he got a letter from his wife telling him that James Jr. was out of control. She told him that he had become too much for her to handle and that he needed to come home right away. James Sr. had a choice to make. In a matter of days, he came home, he put his house up for sale, and he moved his family to a town where he took a church so that he could be at home to see his son through the last two years of high school.

After James Jr. graduated, James Sr. tried to pick up where he left off two years earlier. In that time many of the older pastors that were familiar with James Sr.’s ministry had retired. He received very few invitations to come and speak. The decision to come home had cost him his ministry but the result was a son who had straightened out his life and who would later start a ministry of his own called Focus On The Family. Do you think James Dobson Jr. may have been led to do this because of the example of his dad? Chew on that bone for a while.

You can do the math, but rest assured that when we stand before God He’s not going to ask us how many hours we spent at church this week.