Keeping accurate numbers is important. But I’ve discovered another reason why many pastors pay such close attention to attendance records and offering amounts. In fact, I think it’s the main reason.
We don’t like to admit it, even to ourselves, because it’s not quite as noble as we’d like. It’s not sinister, either. Perhaps it’s just embarrassing.
Pastors don’t just count people because people count. Sometimes pastors count people to assure ourselves that we count. That our efforts matter.
Want to reprint this article? Click here for permission. (This protects me from copyright theft.)
A conversation with Eugene Peterson’s biographer on how simple pastoral presence is the healthy alternative to Christian celebrity.
When you have an open market, not
just in finance, but in religion, the size of the crowd brings an air of credibility.
We debate what Jesus would say or do if he was walking the earth today. But no honest reader of the Bible can doubt he would be with people.
