Stories

When my husband and I are working with companies and organizations on projects and processes, one of the questions we ask is “what does success look like?” In other words, how do you know when the project is completed, when the process is working. What do you measure?

Similarly when we are coaching people on leadership, and specifically on how to lead a team, we outline five principles including setting clear expectations and how they will be measured for feedback.

Attendance is frequently used as a measure of success: how many people were at the groundbreaking, how many followers on social media, how many people’s attention did we capture? This is also very true in our churches today. What’s the size of the membership, how many podcast subscribers, how many did we “reach” which is just another word for ticket sales or listeners.

And yet, those measures of success are not what captures our attention except when they are a proxy for money. What captures our attention – and many fundraisers and news media know this – is the poignant story of an individual. Want to get puppies adopted? Show a picture of one puppy. The cutest one of course. Share the heart rending story of being found in a dumpster. Boom. Home found.

In my reading today in the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “…there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10:16) In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus gives what is affectionately known as the Great Commission, saying (in part), “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…“. (Matthew 28:19). Jesus establishes the success criteria: disciples and unity. He also establishes elsewhere the pruning criteria: if they won’t listen, shake the dust from your sandals and move on (Matthew 10:14) for “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” (Matthew 9:37).

We often believe that we can bring people to faith, to a walk with Jesus. We can get them in church, and have a bigger church, and what we often miss is the making of disciples and unity. Making disciples, as Jesus showed, takes time and effort and engagement and caring. Not unlike raising children. Just because you have a houseful of children, doesn’t mean you have a family. Just because you have a huge attendance at a worship service doesn’t mean you have a Body of Christ.

And if you are insisting that your beliefs are the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through your way, maybe check out what Jesus has to say about that (John 14:6). The Church is not Presbyterian or Lutheran or Catholic or even the euphemistic Non-denominational.

So how do we measure success using Jesus’ criteria? It may be better to understand what is NOT a measure of success, and get on with His work. Then listen for the stories of changed lives: “the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” (Luke 7:22). Listen for the stories of those who are hungry for Jesus.