What Metrics Matter in Church? (Toward a Theology of Metrics)

Are you competitive? I'm competitive and find it difficult to not compete. But in church world and ministry there really isn't a competition (or at least there shouldn't be). We are all on the same team; however, you wouldn't necessarily know it by watching social media.  

 As church online continues to grow, so many positive things are happening: People are hearing the gospel in a new way. Biblical teaching is highly accessible. The church is being stretched, and many pastors/church leaders realize that they can change and adapt. But with anything new, there are always some unique challenges. One challenge we face is how to measure progress in the online ministry context.   

“...context dictates what you choose to measure, how you measure, and how you should weight the results.”

Metrics and measurable are an essential aspect of being a thoughtful leader, regardless of context. However, context dictates what you choose to measure, how you measure, and how you should weight the results.  

Carey Nieuwhof and many other church leaders have begun to address how we measure progress in this new digital expression of church. Their thoughts and ideas are helpful and worth checking out. You'll find a couple links at the bottom of the page. But regardless of how/what you measure consider what the Bible says about measuring progress (theology of metrics).  

“the church is primarily an organism”

When thinking about metrics for church health, it's essential to understand the church, at times, functions as an 'organization' (You're thinking, 'Duh, of course, it does…'). For organizational purposes there is alignment between good practices in any organization, secular or otherwise, and the church. However, the challenge is that the church is primarily an organism (body), not an organization (Romans 12). We think of ourselves too often as an organization in this modern time of ministry. (Quick check-in; look at your week and think about the to-dos and meetings, what falls into the 'organization' category, what about the 'organism' category?).   

“simple attendance online or in a building is much less critical than meaningful engagement.”

As we become more practically competent managers and leaders, we have to be careful that we do not get distracted by organizational duties. We've got to keep the main thing the main thing. At the end of the day, we are leading a living; breathing part of the Body of Christ, not just an organization. The main focus of the church is making disciples for Jesus (the organism identity of the church). That is our calling, therefore, what we measure (measurable), how we measure it (metrics) must be built around that purpose. Therefore simple attendance online or in a building is much less critical than meaningful engagement. The links below do an excellent job of helping you figure out how to measure engagement. (See the Nieuwhof and Barna material below for thoughts and ideas on what fair and honest metrics are. HINT: For FB videos it is NOT the 1s and 3s views…)  

Now we have established that there is a need for useful metrics/measurables, another issue pops up:  

How should you use the information generated by measuring?

Well, here's a great way NOT to use the information: publishing it on social media for all the world to see.

Nieuwhof uses this example in his writing below. We've all seen it, the pastor or church who can't help but promote their numbers and perceived success. It's happening more now than ever, and it isn't right.

Leveraging social media to engage people, to encourage them, to promote a gathering etc., that all makes sense and should be done. But reporting how many people were on the latest zoom prayer call, or how many subscribers you have, is just obnoxious and is not Christlike. Many social media networks publicly display this information anyway. Since we can’t change that, let it speak for itself.   

“The Bible says that Jesus made himself of no reputation (Phil. 2) — but His ministry had one.”

The Bible says that Jesus made himself of no reputation (Phil. 2) — but His ministry had one. That is clear if you read anything about Jesus' ministry and the crowds following Him. But He left His reputation in heaven; some translations say 'he emptied Himself'. The passage speaks of Jesus' incarnation and how He humbled Himself and became a man. Whatever reputation He had, He gave up and received suffering, anguish, pain, and abandonment for us in return. It isn't about you or me, it's about Jesus and those who don't know Him.  

That is why detachment from the perceived successes (or failures) is critical to ministry longevity. These numbers are not ours. They are God's. We are stewards, shepherds, and teachers working for our Master; caring for His sheep and creating opportunities for response to Him. We cannot make people respond. Jesus said go into all the world and preach (Mark 16:15), and make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19); He did not say go and save people. Probably because we can't. What we can do is create opportunities for response, and disciple those that respond. If we view salvation results as something we have done, we are susceptible to pride, and to stress and disappointment when numbers aren't what we want. 

“He did not say go and save people. Probably because we can’t.”

We don't have to go far to seem Jesus' instructive example. During a number of the healing miracles, Jesus instructed that no one should reveal what had taken place:  

Matthew 8:4

Then Jesus instructed him, "See that you don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by Moses, as a testimony to them."

Mark 1:45

But the man went out and openly began to proclaim and spread the news. Consequently, Jesus could no longer enter a town in plain view, but He stayed out in solitary places. Yet people came to Him from every quarter.

Mark 7:35

Immediately the man's ears were opened, and his tongue was released, and he began to speak plainly.

But He didn't control them, He could have. There is nothing in scripture that tells us He kept a tally of the healing miracles or attendance. But there is something to be said for individual word of mouth testimonies. If a member from your church organically posts about something through their relationship with Him, or about a life-changing experience at church; that will serve God's purposes well. But if you as a pastor, or the Church social media account, shares that information in a 'look what I did way, that just drives cynicism, and suspicion.    

In the scriptural examples, the people told others what God had done. And the Bible indicates that Jesus and the disciples were not 'advertising'. The point is that Jesus wasn't drawing attention to Himself intentionally. Are you?  

In a society and culture that is 'brand' driven, it can be hard to resist competing. (Remember, I said how competitive I am, I can no longer play Rook with our family. It brings out the bad.) But we see that Jesus exemplified making oneself of no reputation. Further, Jesus said, in Matthew 6 don't pray, so others hear it; and don't do your "righteous deeds, so others see them." That is pretty clear, isn't it? 

Why did Jesus say this? I'm not 100% sure, but it has to do with the human propensity for pride mentioned in the Bible many times. Numbers are significant in the Bible because people are significant. Numbers mattered to Jesus in as much as people mattered to Jesus. He made a way for everyone to come to God through him. But what Jesus didn't do was promote those numbers. He didn't rely on marketing himself or his message. Neither should we.  

“Numbers mattered to Jesus in as much as people mattered to Jesus.”

Unequivocally, metrics are vital, but if we begin to think results have to do with us, there's a problem. If we leverage those numbers to increase our 'brand'; there is a problem. We all need to take the time to form thoughts and opinions on the subject because those thoughts and opinions will form the foundation for our action. A great starting place is: We measure to better fulfil our mission.   

Some specific scriptures will help you do that. I'll write about those in the next post.  

Helpful Links:

Carey Nieuwhof: “How to Measure Online Church Attendance”

Barna also released a new Church Pulse Episode that discusses digital metrics. You can listen to it here: 

Church Pulse Weekly “Measuring Online Church Attendance”