Measuring success, part 1

It's a question that frequently pops up for us in our ministry: "How do you measure success?"

For many people, success in ministry = numbers attending. It's an easy measure of success - you must be doing something right if you've got the numbers following. It's a feelgood measure of success - leaders can pat themselves on the back when they've got hundreds (or even thousands) lapping up their every word. It's sometimes an arrogant measure of success: you look down your nose at those struggling ministries that just don't have the numbers - well, they must be doing something wrong...

Numbers is a dangerous game to play, but it's one I've been tempted to fall for because it's so visual. Everyone notices when your ministry is full. Numbers breed more numbers. Numbers make you feel good. Likewise, people notice when your ministry seems to struggle for numbers.

But it doesn't work. After all, if your only measure of success is numbers, then you'll do pretty much anything in your ministry to make the numbers expand. For example, in youth ministry there's a very easy way to boost numbers: turn your youth group into a pick-up joint. It's quite simple. You play games (lots of games) that give kids a chance to "legitimately" have physical contact with the opposite sex. You also provide activities (like movie nights with lots of cushions) that are conducive to forming relationships with said people, and you back off on any kind of heavy bible teaching. After all, kids don't want to be told how to live. They want to discover the joy of living for themselves...


What's wrong with this picture?