Day 133/365- Psalm 62:9

"How Much Do You Weigh?"

Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind,
and the powerful are not what they appear to be.
If you weigh them on the scales,
together they are lighter than a breath of air. (Psalm 62:9 NLT)

In church circles, numbers are very important. The way we often measure success is in numbers. The question I commonly get from people (especially other pastors) is, "So, how many are y'all running now?" This isn't a bad question. If people are coming, that means things are going well right? My answer would be yes & no. We need to be reminded there are some pastors with enormous crowds that wouldn't know the gospel from a hole in the ground. And, there are many faithful guys laboring in contexts where only a handful are in attendance. In fact, the whole way that we measure success in church & in life needs to be turned on its head.

Now, Jesus thought it was important to count. He said that a shepherd had 99 sheep & one went missing. How did he know one was gone? He counted. He knew how many sheep he had. That is important to a shepherd. So, not all counting is bad. It helps us know some things about what we are doing but it is not the be all end all. Just because we have a crowd doesn't mean we are pleasing to the Lord. In fact, Noah lived a life pleasing to the Lord & the only people that believed him about the flood was his own family.

So how should we measure people? This Psalm gives us some great insight on our worth. "If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of air." We should weigh people instead of counting them. This thought is not original with me but I can't remember who I first heard it from (Bill Hybels?). Weighing people instead of counting them means valuing the quality of the disciples we are making rather than the shear quantity of attendees. If we have a room full of people that don't add up to an ounce, what's the real purpose? Jesus instructed us to go & make disciples not converts. He told us to teach them EVERYTHING he has commanded us. If we do that, we may find ourselves with fewer people but heavier people. Not that the two are mutually exclusive. But we must give ourselves to one above the other. Making heavy disciples is the priority. These are not just disciples but disciple makers! These are not just consumers but givers! These are not just prayers but goers! These are not just receivers but reproduces! Do you see the difference?

So, while numbers can be impressive & even intoxicating, we must consider the weight of our people. How much do you weigh?