This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.
Too Focused On Numbers?
We don’t go in for making disciples today, it takes too long; we are all for passionate evangelism—taken up with adding to the statistics of saved souls, adding to denominational membership, taken up with the things which show splendid success. Jesus Christ took the long, long trail—“If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself”—take time to make up your mind. Men were not to be swept into the Kingdom on tidal waves of evangelism, not to have their wits paralyzed by supernatural means; they were to come deliberately, knowing what they were doing. One life straight through to God on the ground of discipleship is more satisfactory in His sight than numbers who are saved but go no further.
From Conformed To His Image
When Jesus first called His disciples He simply said, “Follow Me.” They followed Him for nearly four years, learning from Him exactly what it meant to be disciples. There was not one “Aha!” moment of complete surrender to Jesus, but a long, gradual, sometimes stumbling and painful process to discipleship.
Jesus was focused on true disciples, not multitudes of fickle fans.
Why have we gotten this backwards in our churches? When someone asks, “How’s your church doing,” they are really asking, “How many people show up on Sundays?” Perhaps a better gauge of God-honoring success would be: How many disciples?
What do you think?
Craig T. Owens 
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