We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum. A.W. Tozer
Therefore let God-inspired Scripture decide between us; and on whichever side be found doctrines in harmony with the word of God, in favor of that side will be cast the vote of truth. --Basil of Caesarea
Once you learn to discern, there's no going back. You will begin to spot the lie everywhere it appears.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service. 1 Timothy 1:12

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Ministry Priority

The most important factor in  a man's ministry is not the number of converts he has (or how many people attend his church), but whether he is faithful to the Lord.
Dave Swavely, Who Are You to Judge? p.53

2 comments:

Steve Bricker said...

I have read many e-mail discussions on how to evaluate the effectiveness of ministry with most, if not all, settling on this same conclusion. I believe the subject comes up because faithfulness and spiritual growth can neither be measured by accumulating metrics to analyze results, nor can statistical models be developed to test future trends. What works very well for inanimate goods and processes are fairly worthless when applied to a living organism.

For living things, you know how it should act, and if it does not, steps are taken to mend damage and build up weaknesses, so that it may live as it should.

Drew said...

Getting a lot of people saved would seem like a pretty good measurement, I guess. But the problem with just measuring church size is that if you create a fun and hip church, you can attract tons of Christians from the area and thereby make a big church, without actually getting many people saved.