Go back to the beginning…

By what metrics would you judge a local church to be successful? The number of people? The number of programs? The power of the preacher? Or is there a better way to measure?

Consider this: thirty years after the Apostle Paul penned his epistle to the church in Ephesus, another letter was written. This letter was not written by one of the church’s pastors, but by its founder–Jesus Christ (see Revelation 2:1-5). In this letter, Jesus commended them on the great things they were doing. He knew these things, and most likely anyone who looked at the church in Ephesus would also know of their works, labor, and patience. Some might even say that the church in Ephesus was successful because of them.

But the Lord Jesus Christ also knew things that no one else could see. Despite their good works, long hours of labor for the Lord, and patience in ministry, Jesus also knew that they had abandoned Him. In all of their work for the Kingdom, they had become too busy to be with the King.

The only metric to measure the success of a church is faith, hope, and love–and the greatest of these is love (see 1 Corinthians 13:13). Others might see our efforts, be impressed by those in attendance, or be enamored with eloquent preaching. But the only way to truly measure success in a church is faith, hope, and love. And these are directly related to spending time at the feet of Jesus–simply spending time with Him in fellowship.
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Why not start there? Why not start now? The greatest impact you can have for the Kingdom is to spend time with the King. Come to Him and be with Him, your first Love.