Estimated reading time: 6 minute(s)
Last week I was chatting with a friend online who was writing up a report for some sort of governing board for their church. She has been challenged by the way we “do church” these days in ways similar to us. She is still however, the pastor of a church, so there are obviously more issues to deal with than we have at the moment. 🙂 She mentioned she was trying to present some of the things God was working in her and their church and still present a report that was close to what was expected. That was a challenge as well. When asked if I could give it a look, I was definitely curious to see how she might tackle it.
As I read the main thing that stuck out to me amongst the reports of the great stuff God was doing in and around them was the numbers. Everything was numbered. This many people were at this event, we had this many events, and so on. The emphasis was not necessarily on the quantity, but it was a strong presence throughout the report.
And this week, as I was updating this website, I noticed that sometime soon I would be writing the 500th blog. Five hundred. That’s a lot of writing. What a cool tool the internet is for people to communicate and share information and ideas. So, with that benchmark approaching, I tried to think how I would celebrate it… what could I do to commemorate the occasion? How could I make it special? What in the world would the topic of my 500th blog be?!?
How about, our fascination with numbers?
You see, David had a similar fascination. When God had brought him from the young boy who would be king, through a long, hard stretch of time where not only was he not king, he was on the lam from the current king – who wanted to kill him! But through all of that, God was faithful. God was a refuge for Dave. He had peace even when his world was insane. God began to give him visible victories. He became famous, even as a fugitive, for his victories in battle, and how God was so evidently with him.
Eventually, he became king over a very powerful nation. It seemed nothing could stop David and the entire Kingdom of Israel from doing anything they wanted. Their army was nearly invincible. David sure felt invincible. He was feeling so great about himself and his power that he had his chief army guy take a complete census of all their troops.
Well, being the good listener that he was, Joab reminded David that God had said not to take a census of the troops, but David was pretty sure it was a good idea, and made him do it anyway. Joab should have listened to his gut, as David’s pride and obsession with numbers got a good number of the Israelites were killed by a plague. Not good.
You see, God also says that we’re just like that. Men look on the outside, but God looks at the heart. Samuel said that about David, actually. (1 Sam 16:7) Everyone looked at Saul, a tall, handsome, strong man and thought, “Now, there’s a leader!” But God, looking at the world the way he does, saw scrawny little David, with the big heart and big Kingdom eyes and said, “Now that’s my leader!”
He just sees it so differently than we do.
Recently my boys and I were reading in Mark where Jesus says the yeast of the Pharisees is a dangerous thing. It’s kinda cryptic, that little section, but I think I get it. He was talking about the Kingdom, and specifically referring to what had just happened in their recent past. First he fed 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. That fed everyone and produced 12 baskets of leftovers. Then he fed 4000 people with 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish. That fed everyone and produced 7 baskets of leftovers. As Jesus was talking with his friends in the boat about the yeast of the Pharisees, he quizzed them on these numbers. I think it was because they still didn’t get it. It’s not about the numbers.
See, those numbers don’t add up. You can’t end up with more than you had to begin with after using way more than you ever could have possibly had in the first place. That just doesn’t happen. That is the way of God’s kingdom. With God, all things are possible. Through faith in him, nothing is impossible. The numbers in the kingdom are irrelevant.
But not in our kingdom. We want to see results! We want to know what the average attendance was for the months of July and August so we can chart the per capita giving over that time table vs the budget needs and actual expenses. We need to know which programs reach the most people so we can maximize our results and streamline our efforts. There are only so many resources to go around, right?
Wrong. So completely and totally wrong.
I am not saying that we should not be wise with our money and our possessions, and yes, our time. We do in a way have limited resources, and it takes wisdom and self-discipline to manage our limitations. But God is not limited. And if he is doing something, in his Kingdom, numbers are irrelevant. Completely.
I don’t know how we could ever not look on the outside. It’s not just applicable to our church attendance, or the strength of our kings. Racism and other forms of favoritism come from our tendency to measure by the outside, visible, quantifiable things we see. The measurable world definitely exists, and is a gift from God, but it can be such a barrier to a healthy understanding of the true Kingdom. The true Kingdom incorporates these things together into a world where God is in control, and does things that are not possible. He’s more than we could possibly imagine.
I love that! That’s exciting! I don’t want a world I can completely predict! Science has always fascinated me, and I love it, but I also love that we don’t and can’t know everything. You can’t get 12 baskets of leftovers after feeding 5000 people 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. You can’t. But God can.
The Kingdom is not quantifiable. It can’t be measured as we measure. It shouldn’t be. God doesn’t want us to or need us to. The Pharisees took pride in their achievements, and that little bit of yeast spread through the whole batch of dough and ruined their whole understanding of the kingdom. It’s not about us, or what we do, or what we have done. It’s not about quantity.
It’s not even about 500 blogs.
It’s about Him, and Him only. Focus on knowing and loving him, and all the rest falls into place.
Oh wait… I think I have heard that before…. 🙂
People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.