Do numbers matter in and to our congregations?

Well, of course they do! Scripture is replete with counting, including the number of new believers: Peter “bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this crooked generation.’ So those who received his word were baptized and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:40-41 ESV)

While numbers are far from the only thing that matter in and to our congregations, they matter insofar as they represent people who are important to God, who wants “all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4 NIV84) Our church body, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has made a census of its congregations since nearly its inception.

Here are some numbers that matter to our congregations and to each of us as individual Christians.

In round numbers, about 30 million people live within the geographical boundaries of the Texas District. So far as we can ascertain from the research data, perhaps 1 in 4 of those people trust in Jesus as their savior. Thanks be to God for the 7-8 million people in Texas whom God has drawn to himself by the power of the Holy Spirit! But that leaves upwards of 22 million folks who are far from God and have an eternal destiny apart from him. That’s a lot! We have work to do! (A note about the numbers: counting the number of people with faith in Jesus is an inexact task. But even if the number is 2 in 4 who trust in Jesus, that’s still 15 million who do not.)

The bottom line: we do not have to go to a foreign country to find the mission field (as important as that work is). All we have to do is walk outside the door of our churches, homes, offices, schools, and places of work, and there it is. Pick out four people at the mall. Using the numbers above, statistically speaking, three of them are far from God. Jesus said, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for the harvest.” (John 8:35 NIV84)

Our common cause is to reach them. With the best message in the world! That Jesus Christ paid the price through his sacrificial death on the cross, so that those who are far from God might trust in him and spend eternity with him forever! That’s the core of our common convictions.  It’s a cause that is best achieved, with convictions best maintained, when we work together in common community. See 1 Timothy 4:16, 2 Corinthians 5:14ff., Acts 15:1-31, and 1 Corinthians 12:4-31.

Do the numbers matter? Yes! We count people because people count.

By Jon Braunersreuther, D.Min.
President