Strategy for SuccessSample

What do we measure?

How do you measure success in your churches and organizations? Do different cultures measure success differently?

Sometimes, success feels more likely to be measured in business terms than Kingdom terms. In my experience, the way that the developing world measures its success is more closely aligned with New Testament priorities.

When we look at the annual reports of organizations and churches in the developed world, there are often two primary measurements. How many more staff members this year compared to last year? How much more income this year than last? The two go hand in hand. Obviously, neither of these measurables is fundamental in the New Testament.

Many Western agencies report the number of new faith decisions. A new believer friend was developing a unique ministry strategy. He was skeptical of agencies reporting numbers of recent faith decisions, so he added up the number of faith decisions from every agency he could find. The numbers nearly equaled the world’s total population! Impossible!

Many things in the realm of faith are hard to measure. Personal growth, love, joy!

So, what should we measure?

Let’s count the number of disciples who are making disciples. In this metric, developing countries are more inclined to look like the New Testament. They have very little money to employ staff or invest financially in measurement tools. They simply count the number of new disciples who make disciples, who make disciples.

So let’s use this as our metric. Let’s count new disciples who are making disciples.

Scripture to ponder:
John 15:16a "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. "

Key Lesson:
If we measure the wrong thing, we prioritize the wrong outcome. Our priority should be making disciples who know how to make disciples with the Spirit’s guidance.