A Measuring of Success
Back in my youth leadership days (and when it was safe to walk the streets) we would occasionally organize a youth event we called “Bigger or Better.” Groups consisting of a chaperone and a small group of students would choose a very small object in their possession, a penny, comb, shoelace, piece of gum etc., which they would be willing to part with. They would then proceed around the neighborhood or go to various homes of people in the congregation and attempt to ‘trade up’ for something Bigger or Better than what they currently had to offer. If they managed a trade, they would move on to the next house to attempt to trade their most recent acquisition for something even bigger or better. At the end of the designated time all would return to the church to compare the items they managed to collect. Frequently teams would return with items such as couches, TV sets, lamps, sports equipment etc. having left with almost nothing. Whichever team had the greatest success and managed to return with the biggest and/or the best item was declared the winner for the evening. These adventures were always a lot of fun. However, I wonder now if we were unintentionally reinforcing a misguided and materialistic, cultural definition of success – that size and prestige matter the most.
We frequently fall into the same thinking when measuring success in regard to church. Our numeric measures in comparison to others becomes a source of pride, convincing us that God’s blessing must be upon us. Yet, ultimately, success from God’s perspective is simply being faithful to the plan and call which God has laid out for us and our community. Therefore, the successful church is not the one that necessarily grows the largest, or has the biggest and ‘best’ programming, but the one that deeply impacts its surrounding community and seeks to be faithful in its specific missional calling, embodying the missio dei, the mission of God.
Being a missional church is more than simply financially supporting various mission agencies as important as that is. Missional faithfulness is walking with Jesus on His mission to the world, motivated and shaped by His purposes rather than any agenda we may establish for ourselves. Truly missional churches will consistently make the most impact, regardless of their numerical size.
RPC has consistently been a community making a much larger impact than its size would suggest. This is the result of long-term faithfulness of so many individuals within the congregation. As we begin to consider what church life will look like with pandemic restrictions easing and we renew the process of developing a strategy for the next five years of ministry, let us remain focused on God’s measure of success. “The most successful church is the one that is most focused on its faithfulness toward both God and its community.”[1]
[1] Stetzer, Ed. “Significantly Small.” Outreach, 2019, pp. 14–16.
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Dan Kreiss, RPC’s new Associate Pastor for Mission Outreach, brings with him a heart for service and a diverse array of experiences in the mission field. Be sure to subscribe to the Mission Outreach Blog to read and follow along as he documents his personal journey and shares his vision for RPC’s mission outreach commitment. Along with providing meaningful resources, this blog will help jumpstart the important conversations our church community must be having about missional living.
Dan Kreiss
Rev. Dr. Dan Kreiss is the Associate Pastor for Mission Outreach at RPC. Dan is particularly passionate about encouraging the church to reflect the diversity found in its surrounding community in regard to age, gender, ethnicity, education and economic status.