10/14/2019
Katherine
Friends,
Do you ever worry about results? At work, you should. But how about at church?
On the one hand, yes. Jesus commissioned us to make disciples of all nations by baptizing and by teaching. This is the most important thing going on in the world; nothing even compares. So we should have goals, measurable goals. We should track our progress toward those goals, and reward churches and individuals known for getting results and making disciples.
But on the other hand, no. Jesus was not known for getting results. In his ministry he preached to, healed, and encouraged tens of thousands. But at the beginning of the book of Acts, how many disciples had he made? 120. That's it. Three years of back breaking work, thousand upon thousands of peoples lives touched, and only 120 converts. That's not good. Compare that to St. Peter, who preached one sermon on the first Pentecost and 3,000 people came to faith. Anyone tracking progress would give Peter an A+. But Jesus? Maybe a C-.
But looks can be deceiving. Jesus' worst day was actually his best. The cross looked like total defeat. Jesus' enemies thought it was the end of him. They watched him die, taunted him and mocked him. Anyone tracking results would mark Jesus down. Except, what looked like defeat was victory over sin. What his enemies saw as Jesus' greatest loss was God's victory over death and hell.
Results can be hard to calculate, especially in the church. God's ways are not our ways. Should we be concerned for results? Probably. How do we track results? I'm not sure I know.
In Chirst,
Pastor Marty Hufford