David wants a census and there are some pretty dire consequences Israel is facing because of it. Passages like this cause me a bit of concern. The visible church counts people! I'm not sure why we do. There are a few possible reasons. They have more to do with this kingdom; rather than the Kingdom of God.
1. Various denominations, that we might belong to, require us to turn in our numbers annually so that they can count their growth.
2. The states (countries) we reside in may require it as a part of our being registered as non-profit entitites. Oh, you thought only churches in "other" countries had to be registered? What would we call it then when we become non-profit entities in our respective states? Are we not registering - asking permission to be the visible church? How many building permits and health permits and other permits do we apply for in order to worship and fellowship together?
3. To adhere to our constitutions (required by states) we normally have set up guidelines to "count" our voting members.
4. And last of all, but not necessarily the least (or the worst excuse) is the fact that we count, we take a census, regularly (most churches every Sunday) in order to measure growth or loss. If the growth is good - then we might begin to sit back a bit as we laud our "good work." If instead of growth, we are seeing a loss, we gather together to try to figure out a way to make the census grow. We come up with grand schemes to do "evangelism," which often isn't evangelism (proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom through Jesus the Christ); rather we plan gimmicks to help our numbers grow a bit so that our offerings will sustain the visibility of the Christian community (in other words the church building) wherever we are.
I like numbers. I am a counter. Often, I feel guilty about it; but, I keep right on doing it. I try hard not to let the counting effect my ministry, what I do or how I do it. At Zion, we've intentionally set up a system - sort of (I'm not sure God likes systems or trying to work around what He might not approve of). We do not focus on making "members" of the congregation. We focus on discipling. We focus on sharing Jesus with others. We focus on feeding God's sheep - whether they are a member of this congregation, another, or no congregation. We minister to anyone and everyone - inside and/or outside of the church. We have people who have worshipped with us and have been members of the "Body of Christ" for years, but they have never "legally" joined the church. We don't care! It is not about the census. It is more about being family - children of a heavenly Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ our Lord.
No matter whether our numbers are up or down, all glory belongs to God. I think that was a main point in this story with David. Trust God. Don't worry about the census. God provides the growth. And.. when David counts in spite of advise against it; David and all of Israel receives God's mercy. Thanks be to God for His mercy is great.
1. Various denominations, that we might belong to, require us to turn in our numbers annually so that they can count their growth.
2. The states (countries) we reside in may require it as a part of our being registered as non-profit entitites. Oh, you thought only churches in "other" countries had to be registered? What would we call it then when we become non-profit entities in our respective states? Are we not registering - asking permission to be the visible church? How many building permits and health permits and other permits do we apply for in order to worship and fellowship together?
3. To adhere to our constitutions (required by states) we normally have set up guidelines to "count" our voting members.
4. And last of all, but not necessarily the least (or the worst excuse) is the fact that we count, we take a census, regularly (most churches every Sunday) in order to measure growth or loss. If the growth is good - then we might begin to sit back a bit as we laud our "good work." If instead of growth, we are seeing a loss, we gather together to try to figure out a way to make the census grow. We come up with grand schemes to do "evangelism," which often isn't evangelism (proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom through Jesus the Christ); rather we plan gimmicks to help our numbers grow a bit so that our offerings will sustain the visibility of the Christian community (in other words the church building) wherever we are.
I like numbers. I am a counter. Often, I feel guilty about it; but, I keep right on doing it. I try hard not to let the counting effect my ministry, what I do or how I do it. At Zion, we've intentionally set up a system - sort of (I'm not sure God likes systems or trying to work around what He might not approve of). We do not focus on making "members" of the congregation. We focus on discipling. We focus on sharing Jesus with others. We focus on feeding God's sheep - whether they are a member of this congregation, another, or no congregation. We minister to anyone and everyone - inside and/or outside of the church. We have people who have worshipped with us and have been members of the "Body of Christ" for years, but they have never "legally" joined the church. We don't care! It is not about the census. It is more about being family - children of a heavenly Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ our Lord.
No matter whether our numbers are up or down, all glory belongs to God. I think that was a main point in this story with David. Trust God. Don't worry about the census. God provides the growth. And.. when David counts in spite of advise against it; David and all of Israel receives God's mercy. Thanks be to God for His mercy is great.
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