By Chris Eaton
Associate Pastor of Student Ministries
First Baptist Church in Minot, South Dakota
How many of us have found ourselves in conversations with others in vocational ministry where the topic of numbers inevitably comes up?
“We only had five at our prayer meeting.”
“We had eighteen baptisms this past year.”
“We hit a new record of 200 students at VBS!”
While numbers can be helpful for measuring ministry, we must guard ourselves from becoming slaves to them. Let us not focus so much on large numbers that we sacrifice time for closer, more personal connections.
In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul instructs Timothy, “Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others” (NLT). How many of us can look back on our lives and point to one or two individuals who poured into us and helped spur us toward service to God?
One of the men who discipled me was my youth pastor. He used many opportunities – mission trips, conversations after youth events, service projects, and even going to the gym together – to intentionally help me grow in love for Christ. As he continues to impart wisdom, he recently told me, “Chris, you should always be discipling your replacement. God may not use them to take your current place, but as you build them up, he may use them to take another person’s place in his Kingdom work.”
We live in a fast-paced world where busyness and instant gratification are king. My family and I were staying in a hotel recently, and we let our kids turn on a cartoon. When it went to a commercial break, my 4-year-old said, “Ugh, ads?” This was quickly followed by my 3-year-old asking, “Why aren’t we skipping these?”
Discipleship takes time; it is not instant. It can be messy, and it is tiring. It’s easy to look at ministry ideas and add more to our plate because we could serve more people, but as the plate fills it becomes harder to commit hours each week to pouring into just one to three individuals.
I implore you: if your ministry schedule feels too full and you are not discipling others, sacrifice what is good for what is precious. Jesus ministered to the crowds, but he also stepped away from the thousands to pour into the twelve, with even greater intentionality with the three.
Each of us must humble ourselves and take heed of James 1:5 – “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” Pray for discernment in what to let go of and who the Lord is directing you toward for discipleship.