(The following is the May 20 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read Acts 11 and pay close attention to verses 19-26.)

Churches can have a love-hate relationship with membership, attendance, and other statistics. We may interpret increased growth as God’s blessing, but how do we perceive lower or trending numbers? Do we attribute those to God as well? Do we blame individuals or external factors beyond our control? Do we dismiss the decline, saying, “Numbers aren’t everything; I’d rather have ten faithful people than a hundred lukewarm bodies”?

Are numbers important? Yes. Each represents a person made in God’s image who needs Jesus. Until the whole world worships Christ, we should not be content with the number of disciples in our churches. We should also recognize that a large crowd is not necessarily a sign of God’s blessing, especially in churches that have abandoned biblical truth and sold out to the world. Some may have huge numbers only because of the false teaching that scratches itching ears (2 Tim 4:3).

Concerning the early church in Antioch, we read about a large number of people turning to Christ in Acts 11:21, 24, and 26. God blessed the church with more people. The leaders’ sound teaching and faithfulness to the gospel must have contributed to God’s choice to enlarge the church.

We should wisely and prayerfully evaluate the reasons for our church numbers (large or small, growing or shrinking), giving glory to God for all that is good. We must also continue planting seeds of gospel truth and watering them, relying on God to provide meaningful spiritual and numeric growth.  

Next Step:
What are the current membership and attendance trends in your church? How do you interpret them (God’s blessing, faithfulness to the gospel, other influences, etc.)? What needs to change, and how can God use you to accomplish his purposes in the church?