Let Me Count.....Yep, It's All About the Numbers

Yea, I said it....It's all about the numbers.

When it comes to church and church culture the idea of "numbers" and questions like "how many are you running?" tend to be very polarizing.

Some people seem to be all about the numbers; counting people, counting guest cards, counting cars, counting new families, etc. Then there are those who don't feel the need to count, and possibly are even critical of those pastors/churches who do count.

So the questions remain: which group is correct? Should we place so much emphasis on counting people? Should we push for the "biggest, best EVER..."?

I don't remember where I heard the phrase but I love it: "We count people because people count."

I'm not saying that I am the only one who has the best answer or only answer. I'm not even saying that I necessarily have the "right" answer ("right" is always relative). BUT what I am saying is for me and my house "True Life Ministries" we will count numbers.

Yep, it is ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS...

You see, we don't count numbers for counting's sake. And we don't count numbers for number's sake. We count numbers because each number represents an individual and each individual has a story. We count people because people count; people matter.

So for True Life it is all about the numbers:

• The number of 1st time guests
• The number of people asking Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of their life
• The number of people breaking free from addictions
• The number of "un-churched" people getting a new perspective on church and Christianity
• The number of children receiving a strong Biblical foundation through LifeKids Children's Ministry
• The number of baptisms
• Etc

You know what else? Historically speaking, counting people is not a new phenomenon. It is not an idea birthed out of a "mega-church" mentality. Over 2000 years ago  Luke wrote  "Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day…And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2: 41,47)

I believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God and every detail in the Bible is there for a reason. In other words, something or someone didn't slip into the Holy text on accident. This passage in Acts is just one of numerous accounts where numbers were mentioned because numbers matter to God. And if numbers matter to Him, then in my opinion they should matter to me.

You might be averse to numbers for a number of reasons.  Maybe you don’t like the idea of big crowds. If that’s the case, you wouldn’t have liked the New Testament Church. And you really won’t like heaven.


So for our Passion Week I want us to do everything we can to get as many people in our church as possible. We want to have hundreds of new guests, people giving their lives to Jesus, people signing up to be baptized, and new families calling True Life home. I want us, as a church family to spread the word as much as possible about our Passion week activities and I want BIG NUMBERS. Not so we can feel good about ourselves. Not so I can brag to my ministry friends, not because of ego or pride..but simply because every person represents a story and a soul.

Use the graphics provided below. Email them, text them, Facebook, Instagram, and tweet them. Yelp them. Make a Youtube video. Snapchat and Vine them. Just do something. Because I believe God wants to grow His church, and we need to continue to do our very best to make sure we play our part in His heavenly equation.

Let me count.....Yep, IT'S ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS.

I'm so pumped to see what God is going to do in us and through us during this Passion Season. Thank you for your sacrifice and the part that you play.

Much Love!
The Best is Yet to Come!

Tylre Butler
Assoc. Pastor
True Life Ministries
www.truelifeministries.com