I recently had the pleasure of hearing from some missionary friends of mine how God has used their efforts to help many college students come to a closer knowledge of him. As someone who has worked in ministry with students for over 16 years, I have a particular affinity for their passion, and the numbers they shared were encouraging in many ways. These statistics, used similarly by many organizations/churches, can bring great glory to God when they accurately convey what he is doing. But they can also help us understand if ministry goals are being prioritized to the detriment of the glory of God. I had the privilege of discussing the use of ministry statistics-conversion numbers in particular-with one of these friends the other day, and he invited me to share my story with others. Hope you find it insightful!
And yet young people make up the vast majority of “conversions” churches publicize…right before they ask for more money, volunteerism, or applause.
Like some of you, I’ve had decades to discover what actually happens to young people attached to these numbers. Of course, there are some who genuinely convert and reflect ongoing discipleship of Christ. But many-even most-of them simply do not, and they openly acknowledge they are not Christians, whether years or even hours after “coming to know Christ”. This has prompted me over the past year or so to learn the stories of anyone I saw making a “first-time decision for Christ”. These conversations were all very positive and exemplified emotional moments of gratitude to God in some way, but every single person was unequivocally clear that they were not initially choosing to follow Christ or becoming a new Christian.
This may not surprise many of you, as we are all familiar with how commonly humans make decisions in emotionally amplified moments that do not reflect their desires or pursuits during the everyday, more typical circumstances of life. But now whenever I hear ministry statistics, I know it’s necessary to politely ask how they were obtained and what they actually reflect. Unfortunately, the responses of church leaders I’ve received have only further confirmed conversion inflation. Even worse, these leaders refused to acknowledge any room for improvement, claimed evidence was “unhealthy” and “unbiblical” (their actual words), and suggested multiple times that I worship elsewhere. This reveals how much pressure there can be to report the best-looking figures instead of a more honest assessment of where their folks really are with the Lord.
But when I contacted my friend to ask the same questions, the ensuing conversation was a breath of fresh air! He provided helpful insight on how to interpret such statistics a bit more optimistically. However, he was also open enough to truly assess how and why he, his organization, and all of us need to honor God’s ultimate goal for us over a ministry’s goals for itself. Together we processed some ways to do this, which resulted in the following encouragements.
First, Christian churches, institutions, and individuals must acknowledge that our salvation is not determined by a decision to follow Christ; it’s determined by actually following Christ. You don’t win life unless you stand firm to the end, not even Jesus’ disciples (Luke 21:10-19). You don’t share in Christ until you hold your original conviction to the very end (Heb. 3:14). You’re not saved until you’ve held firmly to the word preached to you; otherwise, you’ve believed in vain (1 Cor. 15:2). Only those who stand firm to the end will be saved, as Jesus tells us again and again (Matt. 10:22, 24:13, Mark 13:13). According to God and his words, one cannot be a convert unless they are a disciple (Click to tweet). That’s why Jesus must be our Lord, not just our Savior (Rom. 10:9). That’s why he commissions us to make disciples, not converts (Matt. 28:18-20). And that’s why the goal of Christianity in heaven is to be married to God, not to go to a place where we’re saved (Rev. 19:6-8, 21:2-4). There are many who say or even believe Jesus/God is their Savior who would consider it hell to be married to God and his perfection forever, never able to act apart from his own understanding of perfection. God didn’t create us to find salvation but to find him, knowing his perfection to be the best for us (Acts 17:26-27, John 17:3, Rev. 21:2-4). Only when we understand that the goal of Christianity is not salvation by Jesus-but marriage to Jesus-will we pursue both God and ministry outcomes in ways most accurate and honoring to him.
Second, we must teach others that Christianity is the pursuit of this forever marriage to all of who God is, not simply a selfish desire to be saved, to find freedom from baggage, or to embrace only the parts of God we like (Click to tweet). Our job isn’t to lure the masses on the first date or two; it’s to explain to them the marriage and let them choose. If those who have “prayed the prayer” are taught they’re now a Christian and that persistent discipleship is important-but not essential-for true conversion, they’ll believe they’re saved when biblically they’re not. They’ll misunderstand why ongoing, increasing commitment to God is necessary, making Bible-reading, prayer, moral uprightness, and social justice a post-conversion checklist rather than essential ways to embrace the God they’re marrying and the values/people he cares about. And they’ll evangelize this incomplete and ineffective gospel, exacerbating the perceptions of superficiality and hypocrisy that many already attach to Christianity due to this problem.
Third, we must be willing to define success in ministry by how many people are becoming disciples, not converts. In Acts, conversions are only tallied rarely and many years in retrospect, after disciples could prove persistence. And Jesus never tallied conversions, because he knows full well how many “converts” triumphantly proclaim that he saves, yet still crucify him as the week progresses. By the short-term parameters so often prioritized in modern ministry, he was an utter failure-only two followers with him at his death. By much less glamorous but long-term discipleship parameters, he has restored millions for millennia. Likewise, if we quantify and communicate statistics at all, they need to measure who has proven to increasingly value their relationship with God over time. Who are consistently reading God’s words and returning prayer? Who are better understanding the morals, causes, and populations God values and prioritizing them the same? Who are increasingly championing God’s hard truths in God’s gracious love? Yes, those numbers will be lower and take more time to assess, but they are the only statistics worth proclaiming. In the end, the first date doesn’t matter, only the marriage, so shouldn’t our celebrations of success reflect that? When we know who is ministering in ways that bring people to the wedding banquet, not to an altar, raised hand, or checked box, then we know where our money, time, and recommendations will most genuinely produce God-lovers and most truthfully honor the Groom.
If you’d like to further explore how God calling us into this marriage answers so many difficult questions about faith and Christianity, check out my free ebook series, Healing Hereafter, especially Booklet 2. You can be reading in just two clicks right here.
