THE WORLDWIDE PROBLEM
Many pastors around the world are weighed down with a heavy burden to see numerical growth. Whether you pastor in the global West or the East, you can feel the pressure.
Sometimes the desire for numerical growth is good-natured. A pastor wants to reach more lost people and provide faithful teaching to more people. Sometimes the desire is for pragmatic reasons. More people will make the church more financially viable, a pastor reasons. And a bigger budget can accomplish more ministry. And sometimes the desire for numerical growth is compromised. A man lusts for greater personal influence. Or to impress his donors and raise more support. Or to take pride in leading a large church.
The desire for numeric growth, in turn, leads many pastors to constantly look for growth strategies.
THE WRONG PATH
The trouble is this preoccupation with numbers sets us as pastors on the wrong trajectory. It lures us away from our primary calling of faithfully shepherding the flock that God has entrusted to us.
Let me assume for a second, pastor, that you desire such growth. What happens when you don’t see hordes of people thronging through the church doors? When your dreams don’t match
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