The Measure of Success is Faithfulness, Not Outcomes
How should we measure success in life and ministry? For decades, churches have been fixated on numerical growth. Church growth experts, for example, often emphasize casting a compelling vision—usually tied to numbers—as a key strategy. But Jesus’ final command wasn’t about filling church buildings. He told His disciples to go into the world, share the faith, and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20).
Karl Vaters highlights a critical distinction:
In 2 Timothy 2:1-7, Paul urges Timothy, a young pastor, not to chase numerical success but to pass on the faith and make disciples—soldiers for Christ. This involves a generational handoff. Paul teaches Timothy, Timothy teaches faithful people, and they teach others (v. 2). If each generation trains the next, the Lord’s work continues; if not, every church is only one generation short of extinction. Facing martyrdom, Paul wanted to ensure his apprentice was ready to take the torch and carry on the work in his absence (2 Tim. 4:6–8).
How did the Apostle Paul define success in ministry? What would he say is a healthy church or a spiritually healthy Christian?
For Christian leaders, the only metric that should matter is faithfulness, as Tim Suttle puts it. Yet, churches often measure success by numbers—attendance, budgets, and campuses.
Karl Vaters, in his book De-Sizing the Church, challenges this obsession with bigness. I highly recommend Christian leaders to read this book. He defines “de-sizing” as assessing a church’s value without fixating on numbers—evaluating health and vitality beyond attendance figures. He explains that numbers inform us, but they shouldn’t define us. In Jesus’ kingdom, the first are last and the humble are exalted (Matt. 20:16). Still, for decades, pastors often ask the question, “What’s your church running?” as if numbers determines their worth or the health of a church. This mindset fuels burnout and dysfunction. Darvin Wallis notes, “Moral failures in church leadership aren’t anomalies—they’re baked into the corporate paradigms we’ve embraced.”
Church size matters to us far more than it should. From the pride it brings when the numbers are up to the shame and frustration it causes when the numbers are static or down, none of this provides a healthy foundation on which to build a healthy church body.
How do we fix this dysfunctional and detrimental preoccupation and obsession with numbers in the church? In summary, Vaters highlights the following corrective remedies:
How do we do discipleship?
Going back to 2 Timothy, the Apostle Paul uses vivid word pictures to show how ministers/disciple makers are to do discipleship and pass the baton of faith:
1. Disciple-making as Parents
2. Disciple-making as Teachers
3. Disciple-makers as Soldiers
4. Disciple-makers as Athletes
5. Disciple-makers as Farmers
Passion and strength for ministry flow from intimacy with Christ. We must never forget that ministry isn’t our first calling—intimacy with Jesus is. Ministry is the outflow of ministry.
Martha served busily but lost sight of Jesus and became frustrated. Mary, however, sat at Jesus’s feet and enjoyed His presence (Luke 10:38-42). When serving in ministry becomes a joyless burden, we need to step back and rest in Him. The joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh. 8:10), and spreading His joy is our aim.
After exhorting Timothy on what faithful and biblical discipleship is, which he was to devote himself to, Paul concludes, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (v. 7).
Beloved, let’s reflect on God’s Word, examine our hearts, and seek His grace to run our race—not for numbers, but to pass the baton. Our success is faithfulness in discipleship, reaching the next generation for the greater fame of Jesus.
-Pastor Marco
Karl Vaters highlights a critical distinction:
“The principles for attracting a crowd are not the same as the principles for changing a life. Ask a typical, numerically growing church for evidence that they’re discipling people, and they’ll point to their growing numbers. Not just attendance numbers, engagement numbers too. But always numbers.
This may be the biggest mistake the church has made in the last five decades. Pursuing numbers has been seen as an essential aspect of discipleship. But it’s not. Sometimes it’s the greatest hindrance to discipleship. Bigness can divert so much of our limited attention and energy away from discipleship that it quickly becomes a replacement for discipleship.
Discipleship is the means and the end of what Jesus called us to do. But when we’re obsessed with bigness, we see everything as a strategy for numerical growth. Discipleship is not a church growth strategy. Neither are prayer, fellowship, worship, or ministry. Even evangelism is not a church growth strategy. Whenever we see any of Christ’s commands and blessings as a strategic move, we’re no longer serving Jesus as much as we’re serving the endgame of growth.
Jesus calls us to be disciples, not church growth strategists. He wants worshipers, not performers. Servants, not celebrities. We can’t do both. As Chris Galanos wisely noted, ‘The late-20th-century church model, in so many applications, requires so much energy and attention that little to nothing is left for anything else, including discipleship.’”
In 2 Timothy 2:1-7, Paul urges Timothy, a young pastor, not to chase numerical success but to pass on the faith and make disciples—soldiers for Christ. This involves a generational handoff. Paul teaches Timothy, Timothy teaches faithful people, and they teach others (v. 2). If each generation trains the next, the Lord’s work continues; if not, every church is only one generation short of extinction. Facing martyrdom, Paul wanted to ensure his apprentice was ready to take the torch and carry on the work in his absence (2 Tim. 4:6–8).
How did the Apostle Paul define success in ministry? What would he say is a healthy church or a spiritually healthy Christian?
“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Tim. 2:2
For Christian leaders, the only metric that should matter is faithfulness, as Tim Suttle puts it. Yet, churches often measure success by numbers—attendance, budgets, and campuses.
Karl Vaters, in his book De-Sizing the Church, challenges this obsession with bigness. I highly recommend Christian leaders to read this book. He defines “de-sizing” as assessing a church’s value without fixating on numbers—evaluating health and vitality beyond attendance figures. He explains that numbers inform us, but they shouldn’t define us. In Jesus’ kingdom, the first are last and the humble are exalted (Matt. 20:16). Still, for decades, pastors often ask the question, “What’s your church running?” as if numbers determines their worth or the health of a church. This mindset fuels burnout and dysfunction. Darvin Wallis notes, “Moral failures in church leadership aren’t anomalies—they’re baked into the corporate paradigms we’ve embraced.”
Church size matters to us far more than it should. From the pride it brings when the numbers are up to the shame and frustration it causes when the numbers are static or down, none of this provides a healthy foundation on which to build a healthy church body.
How do we fix this dysfunctional and detrimental preoccupation and obsession with numbers in the church? In summary, Vaters highlights the following corrective remedies:
- Talk about church health non-numerically: Focus on faithfulness, not figures.
- Prioritize integrity over competence: Character matters more than charisma. We can’t allow numbers to hide or excuse the disqualifying character flaws in leaders. There’s are way too many examples of the collateral damage left behind in churches from fallen leaders not to mention the reproach it brings to the name of Jesus.
- Most importantly we must focus our attention not on numbers but on discipleship: It’s the foundation for everything. As Vaters suggests, discipleship fixes everything!
How do we do discipleship?
Going back to 2 Timothy, the Apostle Paul uses vivid word pictures to show how ministers/disciple makers are to do discipleship and pass the baton of faith:
1. Disciple-making as Parents
“You then, my child…” (v. 1). Good parents take responsibility for training their children to know God, not outsourcing it. Likewise, ministers must raise spiritual children, guiding them to spiritual maturity and ministry. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4:14-16, “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel… be imitators of me.” Are we taking this responsibility seriously? Like a loving parent are we assuming responsibility for the spiritual training of others?
2. Disciple-making as Teachers
“Entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (v. 2). Paul poured what he learned into Timothy, expecting him to pass it on. Ministers must teach the next generation by word and example. Timothy, a young man, represents those coming after us. Again, if we don’t intentionally reach and train them—especially youth and young adults—the church falters.
3. Disciple-makers as Soldiers
“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits” (v. 3-4). Soldiers endure hardship for their cause, staying focused on their mission. Similarly, servants/soldiers of Jesus must expect challenges and prioritize pleasing Christ over worldly distractions.
4. Disciple-makers as Athletes
“An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules” (v. 5). Athletes train with discipline and self-control to win. Paul says, “I discipline my body and keep it under control” (1 Cor. 9:27). Faithful servants are not halfhearted. They go all out for God. Remember, out race isn’t just a marathon requiring endurance (Heb. 12:1-2); it’s a relay race. Passing the baton of faith is the goal. We don’t win if we drop the baton.
5. Disciple-makers as Farmers
“It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops” (v. 6). Farmers work tirelessly, often without recognition. Likewise, ministers/disciple makers must labor diligently, not lazily. Paul said, “I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). Effort matters, but it’s grace-empowered, not self-sufficient. Remember, before giving his son in the faith these vivid words pictures to show what discipleship looks like, Paul writes, “Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (v. 1).
Passion and strength for ministry flow from intimacy with Christ. We must never forget that ministry isn’t our first calling—intimacy with Jesus is. Ministry is the outflow of ministry.
Martha served busily but lost sight of Jesus and became frustrated. Mary, however, sat at Jesus’s feet and enjoyed His presence (Luke 10:38-42). When serving in ministry becomes a joyless burden, we need to step back and rest in Him. The joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh. 8:10), and spreading His joy is our aim.
After exhorting Timothy on what faithful and biblical discipleship is, which he was to devote himself to, Paul concludes, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (v. 7).
Beloved, let’s reflect on God’s Word, examine our hearts, and seek His grace to run our race—not for numbers, but to pass the baton. Our success is faithfulness in discipleship, reaching the next generation for the greater fame of Jesus.
-Pastor Marco