Comments on: Defining Success

By: lenslugger

lenslugger — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:44:50 +0000

Although perhaps naive, I wouldn’t think success has anything to do with square footage of buildings or the number of traffic control people a church has to hire Sunday mornings to manage the parking lot. Perhaps in the eyes of man a church of a thousand is amazing, five thousand even more so, yet in truth it’s not the numbers in the seats which matter in the end, but what is in those people’s hearts. Are those people receiving the teaching and stewardship they need or are they simply there to be seen by others, punching the clock if you will? I’m not suggesting a large church can not meet the spiritual needs of all it’s members, but I am saying growth means nothing if all which is achieved is filling more seats and any system which rewards on roster sheets alone certainly must be flawed.

I’d think success in a church is not about the number of people who leave home to come see you but rather about what the numbers that come to see you take home. Perhaps not as easy to see as a full parking lot, but far more important in my eyes.

By: pastordunn

pastordunn — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:09:32 +0000

hey jack, good point. Although I was asked to pray at prayer conf. 3 years ago after I took a church of 13 ( which I was told were running close to 100 before I went for the interview.) Anyway, I haven’t been asked to do anything else and I’ve been a credentialed minister in this state for almost 15 years. But you got to know some guys aren’t meant to speak before large crowds, they may say the wrong things, things that others might not approve. Not you or I of course.

By: critzpastor

critzpastor — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:49:38 +0000

I wonder too if our fascination with bigger, better, larger and greater isn’t why so many of our churches (international as well) are saddled with too much debt and currently in a crisis!

By: Tonya

Tonya — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:18:36 +0000

I would like to share my definitions of success and failure. First, my definition of success is simple: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

The way I see it is this: denominational organizations are businesses and therefore they recognize those who help their business grow in hopes that more entrepreneurs will follow suit and increase the size of their “business”. As for the preachers of large congregations, they have their reward. They are recognized by men so God will have little left to say. These pastors are denominational leaders and their names mean little outside of their denominational world and local communities.

You present a valid point: the geographic location of some churches will likely prevent them from growing into a large congregation. For them, a large congregation is not an option. The best way, in my opinion, for such overlooked pastors to carry on unaffected is this: Stay focused on their own cross. Each of us, preacher or lay member, has a purpose. That fact makes us all equal. We get up each morning and spend our day working towards God’s plan for our lives; anything less than that is failure.