Numbers vs Fruit

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” 3 John 1:4

Spiritual progress in the lives of God’s people means everything to a pastor. I can identify with the Apostle John’s pastoral heart when he wrote in his 3rd Epistle, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” 3 John 1:4. By “children” he means his congregation, his flock.

One Sunday, I was having lunch with a young family who attends my Church. I was thrilled with the spiritual progress I had seen in their lives. When they first came to PCC, they were not married, but were living together. It brings me so much joy when I see a couple living together approach me and ask me to marry them. I cannot tell you how many couples have come to me and said how they did not see anything wrong with living together until they got serious with the Lord and serious about pleasing God. I love helping couples make that important step in their lives by honoring the covenant of marriage, which honors the Lord who established it.

After the lunch, I went back to the church and thought about how often churches track numbers. I don’t know why we love numbers…but we do. Even when we try not to get caught up in them…we do. How many attended this morning? How was the offering? When you get a room full of pastor’s together it never fails that one of them will ask, “Well, how many are you guys running now?” Preachers love numbers.

Is this the standard by which Christ, the Head of His Church, measures our ministries? Absolutely not! He uses a different standard, the standard I would rather use for Preaching Christ Church. He measures by fruit…Fruit that will remain. Jesus said in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit–fruit that will remain…”

See, numbers grow stale. numbers don’t mean much after a month or so. However, when you see lives changed by the rich grace of God, when you see marriages restored and homes put back together, and when you see hardened hearts melt with the Gospel, that is fruit that is eternal. I think this what Jesus meant by “fruit that will remain.”
So Preaching Christ Church, let us be careful that we do not measure what we do by worldly standards. Let us not cheapen the beautiful work of grace God intends on doing in our midst by counting numbers alone. Rather, let us work the vineyard of our city because Jesus promises, “The harvest is plentiful…” Luke 10:2.