There’s certain times in my week that I love.  Those are times that I look forward to, that I realize will someday go away, and that I try to get as much out of as possible.  They are my weekly regular times with my friends.  Without these times I would know half as much and be twice as bored.  They come at different times throughout the week and in various communicative ways.

Date night with Carie.

An early morning phone call from Garret.

A late night drive back home from a basketball game with Jay.

Sitting in St. Arbucks with Jeff.

Sunday early mornings with Steve and Al.

In the office with Billy.

Watching football with Sean, Steve, or Dave.

Text messages from Brian and Brandon.

Regular long distance convos with Clay.

Occasional Tuesday nights with Deric.

Sunday Mornings @ Fellowship.

Game nights with Steve and Priscilla and Jake.

Friday at Finders Pub.

Hang time with my life group

I not only have these times placed in my calendar, I thrive on these times like Popeye to spinach and Tammy Faye to make up.  I think it’s important to invest in relationships, and to set aside time to pour into others and to allow others to pour into me.  Sure it would be easier and cleaner and require less time to simply keep to myself, but friends are more fun and make me want to be a better person.

Cheers to friends and growth.

Sometimes the numbers are important and sometimes they are not.

Like if you told me that a church hasn’t grown in 50 years, I would tell you that there might be a problem there, depending on the demographics of the church, but the location might also be hindering growth.  I’ve seen churches in the middle of nowehere grow to thousands, but that was in the Bible belt.

So numbers have some importance, but then again…

I know churches that have thousands of people but are led by pastors who are rivaling Wilt Chamberlin’s many records (unfortunately I’m not referring to basketball).  And I know churches that struggle with under a hundred people, but who are doing amazing things for God in their community.  Likewise, I know churches who have thousands and their pastors are amazing pastors who have given their lives to enhance the gospel of Jesus Christ to not only their communities, but to the world.  And pastors who are keeping their churches from growing an going anywhere, simply content to leave things how they are.

A friend who happens to be a bartender shared with me the other day why they hate church.  She went through a list of things, and then told me a story of how she served the pastor of one of the biggest churches in our area and one of his buddies five glasses of wine each a few weeks ago.  She happened to have been in his church a few weeks prior to this event, so she recognized him immediately.  After the two friends left the bar, he came back in by himself after a few minutes, and she poured him another 3 glasses before the end of the evening.  She asked, “Is that a good situation for him to place himself in?”

I said “No.”

Here’s the thing about churches and pastors and growth.  The church is Christ’s.  Christ takes care of his church and leadership is one way that happens, but its not the only way.  He’s going to use the church despite the inept pastors who use the pulpit to get what they want, or the complacent congregation who would rather get a hemmoroidal flare-up than move out of their comfort zones and accomplish their mission given to them by the bridegroom.  But real growth is going to happen when Christ works, not any pastor or person.

In other words, I work very hard on my messages each Sunday.  I hope people like them, and that I’ve communicated clearly the truths in Scripture.  But even if I speak with the a silk tongue, and someone comes back, that doesn’t mean their life is changed.

I’d take God changing someone over the numbers anyday.

Things I didn’t say:

Numbers in church are bad.
Low numbers in church are good.
Numbers in church are better than low numbers in church.
Low numbers in church are better than numbers in church.
You get the point.