There’s a shift taking place in our culture, and the church isn’t immune to it.
After a brutal stretch which saw most of our measurable metrics dismantled, church leaders now find ourselves trying to figure out exactly how to measure success or failure.
The old standards of butts in the seat and bucks in the plate aren’t as reliable as we thought they were. In the current climate, some of the most faithful givers watch online, and some of the most reluctant sit in the seats, still unwilling to move a muscle to help move the mission.
And buildings? Don’t even get me started on that one. Surely by now we can agree that while buildings serve a purpose, they cannot be the purpose.
Unfortunately, it seems as if we are slowly slipping back into celebrating success based on these metrics again. I get it. Faced with the void of not knowing what to count, we start counting the very things we counted before. How many people are coming? How much are those people giving? How many buildings can we buy or build with that money?
This isn’t a rant about the motives of leaders, but rather a plea to mindset of the leaders. Please, for the actual love of God, can we begin to shift toward something besides butts, bucks, and buildings?
Allow me to frame the dilemma differently. If all we celebrate is the breakthrough, then how does the faithfulness of the one waiting for the breakthrough get celebrated? The man or the woman who is in the middle of the longest, darkest, and most painful chapter of his or her life, but is still trusting, still serving, still hoping, still waiting – how do we create metrics that celebrate that person?
If all we celebrate is the breakthrough, then how does the faithfulness of the one waiting for the breakthrough get celebrated? Click To TweetIf all we celebrate is the harvest, how do we keep ourselves from missing the value of the one who sows in tears, but – and don’t miss the weight of these simple words – still sows?
“Those who sow in tears shall harvest with joyful shouting. One who goes here and there weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” (Psalms 126:5-6 NASB)
Faithfulness matters. Obedience matters. Commitment matters. The uncompromising and unyielding commitment to “bear one another’s burdens” because we know that doing so “fulfills the law of Christ” matters (see Galatians 6:2). Sowing in tears together matters.
As a church culture, we’re pretty good at celebrating beginnings and endings (especially what seems to be a successful ending), but we desperately need to get better at celebrating the long middles.
Stated more accurately, we need to get better at celebrating the people who are in the long middle and aren’t quitting. The people who are still walking on the dusty roads with the Rabbi Jesus, listening to His words, and leaning into His presence.
If that’s you, I celebrate you, and so does the Rabbi.
Photo by William Warby on Unsplash
