One of my best friends told me that his wife, after reading our updates for a while, said "wow the deep is doing so well". Her perspective, coming from a number of church planting experiences caused her to see what is going on as tremendous progress and success!
In talking with an individual from our group close to Christmas who had attended a church of over 1000 for the last number of years actually thought that we had far less people than we do! Being part of something HUGE caused this individual to see things in a diminished way! A few weeks later I was having a meal with a person who grew up in a tiny church that only ever had one staff member...their view was that we had way more people than we actually do!
I can get caught up in the perspective game as well. I grew up in a very small church but have been part of some large ministries as well! One thing I try to keep close tabs on however is how people's lives are changing by their participation in our community and how people are getting involved in the community and become the hands and feet of Jesus to those around them!
Sure we need people to make ends meet and must grow in order survive long term and impact our community in greater ways. Would it be better though to have 1000 people who gathered once a week for something we called "church", who seldom did much more than that or a couple hundred people who truly made a dent in this community in the name of Jesus? My competitiveness and ego like BIG but my spirit longs for something effective that truly counts!
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