Numbers Or No?

“In the multitude of people is the king’s honour: but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.” (Pr 14:28 AV)

We often say that numbers do not matter.  But they do.  At least to some degree.  The number of followers reflects the honor of a king or prince.  What is not stated above is from who this honor comes.  Does it come from the LORD?  Probably not.  The second half of the proverb says the lack of people is the destruction of the prince.  Who destroys the prince?  Is it the LORD?  Probably not.  In other words, mankind usually honors those who lead a multitude and harshly judge those who do not.  It is a matter of easily discerned metrics.  If someone has a big crowd that follows, he must be an effective leader.  If he does not, then he is not worth following.  With this thought, Jesus at his crucifixion only had one.  He must have been a lousy leader.  So, do numbers matter or do they not matter?  Yes and no.

Preachers, like myself, will tell you numbers do not matter.  The real truth is they matter to us.  When numbers drop, the preacher becomes discouraged.  He takes it personally.  He should not.  But he does.  He reads far too much into it.  It does not help when those who are impressed solely by numbers share their opinion of the man of God’s leadership abilities.  Looking into the old testament, the prophets of God did not command big numbers.  For the most part, they preached to an unresponsive crowd.  John the Baptist had a huge following.  That is until he was in prison for his preaching and lost his head over it.  Moses had a large following.  But what else were the people to do?  Who else would they follow and did they really have a choice anyway?  Conversely, we can use the absence of numbers as a false badge.  We can draw conclusions from the examples above and believe that fewer numbers meant more truth is preached.  We can talk ourselves into the idea the harder we preach or the more dictatorial our leadership, the fact of sheep leaving is an indication of their lack of obedience or heart for the truth.  That is not always the case.

There is a balance here.  Numbers should be a concern.  But only from the perspective of effectiveness.  Pragmatism is not the method of numbers.  If pragmatism is our vein of thought, them compromise is sure to follow.  I have seen this first hand.  Pastors abandon biblical methods and examples because they do not attract large numbers.  They use marketing strategies to increase the numbers.  Jesus is not a product.  Effectiveness is a better standard.  Effectiveness means we preach the word of God without adulterating it to fit our pragmatic mindset.  We seek the most from the methods God gives.  If numbers grow, which we would hope they do, then God gets the glory.  If, on the other hand, numbers do not increase as we hope they would, faithfulness to the truth and methods of God’s word is more important.  It is true mankind will honor those who have larger followings.  More people, more honor.  This results in more opportunities.  But numbers cannot be the only thing.  The standard by which the great commission is given is fidelity to the truth while seeking numerical growth.  I would rather have the honor of God and man.  But if I could only have one, I would prefer the honor of God above the honor of mankind.