Pastor stop beating yourself up

This post is for pastors.

I want to ask you a question.
When you stand before God do you think he is going to ask you, "How many people did you get to come to church on a Sunday Morning?
What was your average?"

No.
I say that again. No. He is not going to ask you that. Because that is not your job.

It is not your job to go to their house, drag their butts out of bed, get them dressed, and to church on time so you can teach them.

It is your job to teach them and be their pastor. If you have some people that only come once a month, so be it. Let them only come once a month.
Quit stressing if they don't come. God is not going to hold you accountable for their actions.

 
How many people show up to your service is not an indication of how good or bad of a pastor you are. Just like wealth isn't a sign of spirituality or righteousness.

I often hear my pastor friends talking about how their church isn't growing. They are meaning the numbers this month aren't higher than they had last month.

But let me ask you this. Can you see the roots of a plant growing? No. Just because there aren't more plants doesn't mean they aren't growing.

Did Jesus ask how many were in the crowd after he was done speaking? No. He just taught the ones that came to listen.

The only times I can remember the number of people being mentioned was to show how big the crowd was. He fed 5,000 and 4,000. The rest of the times it says he taught the multitudes, or the crowd, or the room, or the person. We don't know how many people were in the temple, or on the hillside because it doesn't matter.

Counting the people probably started out as a way to make sure there were enough seats or to see what was working and what wasn't. While I am sure it still is being used for those purposes it has also morphed into a way to judge how well a church (or pastor) is doing or to compare it to the other church down the road.

Are you doing your best with what he has given you? He is in control. He also knows who is coming to the service too.
I look at it this way, those people who show up need the message God has given you.