Pastors who boast numbers
“The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, … But the LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too many men. ….” (Judges 7:2, 4)
I remember hearing a sermon from a pastor. There are two things that the pastors must count every week: the number of members and the amount of offerings. Why does the pastor do that? Why are some pastors so sensitive to the number of members and their offerings? As I remember, when I first started serving as the senior pastor at our church, I didn’t include the number of members and the amount of offerings in the weekly service program. Then later, the reason I put those numbers in the service program was because one or two members of the congregation suggested it, and I also agreed with the suggestion. The suggestion was that members had the right to know how many attended the service and how much they did offering. And because of that knowledge, it was necessary to motivate the church members to evangelize even more diligently (as I remember, they didn’t mention the offering). Since then, I have been writing down the number of church members attending worship and the amount of offerings in the weekly service program. And I also look at the number of members while making a weekly service program and writing down the number of members in the program. And oftentimes, I'm calculating the total number of members in our three ministries: Korean Ministries, English Ministries, and Hispanic Ministries. Then, it is true that it feels good when the number of people attending the service exceeds 100. But I'm not discouraged by the number of people who attended the service is less than 100. I am praying and looking forward to God in the hope that it would be great if only one hundred people for each ministry gather together while counting the numbers with interest in expanding the kingdom of God by nurturing, building, and sending Gideon's 300 soldiers, which is my prayer topic. Of course, the number 100 doesn't matter. This is my dream and prayer topic to become tools used by the Lord by being raised as those 100 Christ-centered visionary leaders. Nevertheless, it is sometimes very frustrating to see that the number of church members is always fixed. And there are times when I feel guilty as I ask myself ‘Is it okay for me to do the ministry like this?’
If we look at Judges 7:2, 4a, God is repeatedly speaking to the judge Gideon. And the repeated word is that ‘there are too many men.’ God said the 32,000 Israelites who had gathered to fight the Midianites were too many. So God commanded Gideon, “Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead” (v. 3). Then 22,000 people returned, and now 10,000 men were left (v. 3). However, when God saw 10,000 men remaining, He said to Gideon, “There are still too many men” (v. 4). Why did God repeat this twice and say that the number of the Israelites was too many? Why did God twice command Gideon to reduce the number of the Israelites from 32,000 to 300? What was the reason? The Bible says: “… In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her” (v. 2). In a word, God commanded that the number of the Israelites be reduced in fear that the Israelites would become arrogant and proud of themselves against God.
We must guard against pride in our hearts. In particular, we pastors should be more and more wary of arrogance infiltrating our hearts. The reason is because when we become proud, our lips will appear to boast God, but our heart will boast of ourselves and the number of our church members. And when we brag about the number of our church member, we need to guard our hearts against arrogance, because we are subtly relying on those close to us. As the number of members increases and the amount of offerings increases, the more humble we become, the more we must boast in God and depend on Him. Nevertheless, on the contrary, we become arrogant, boasting more of ourselves than God, and instead of relying entirely on God, we try to depend on those around us. Knowing this sinful inclination, God commanded Gideon to reduce the number of the Israelites. How does this command of God really sound to us?