The purpose of this post isn’t to give you a magic bullet or a list of steps that will fix everything.

And I’m not saying that taking church attendance is wrong. Or that not counting people is some sign of holiness or whatever. And I’m fully aware of the mantra “we count people because people count.” This isn’t about any of that.

But if my story feels familiar to you – if the numbers are hard to take right now – I want to encourage you with two truths you may really need to hear today.

First, you’re not alone.

I get it. I’ve been there. In fact, there are a lot of us who get it.

Sometimes we don’t want to know the numbers. We know our churches are small. We’ve got eyes. We don’t need to add to our feelings of guilt and failure by poring through statistics that confirm it.

The second thing I want to say is…

It’s okay. You’re allowed to take your eyes off the numbers for a while. Maybe for a very long while.

Just don’t take your eyes off Jesus.

He’s not wondering or worrying about your numbers. He’s burdened about where your heart is. And he wants to ease that burden, not add to it. Jesus never said “count my sheep.” He said “feed my sheep.”

Leave the results in God’s hands.Stay faithful. To Jesus, the church and to your own personal spiritual health and growth.

After all, it’s Jesus’ church, not ours. And he knows what he’s doing.

Please Pass this Along

I almost never ask people to re-post or retweet what I write. But if you know a church leader who might need to read this message, please send them the link.

That simple act might help them more than you know.

Let them know you’re praying for them today. Then actually pray for them.

Sometimes it’s not about finding answers. It’s about knowing that someone else feels what we feel. And knowing that we’re going to be okay.

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