What Our Monday Morning Reports Are Teaching Us
- Brent Madaris
- Jan 12
- 4 min read
I want to give you a pastoral word on faithfulness, metrics, and the long game
Monday mornings have a familiar feel in church life.
Social media fills with glowing reports. Carefully worded reflections. Attendance totals. Baptisms counted. Souls reported. Discipleship headcounts. Phrases like “God moved,” “the Lord met with us,” and “what a day” are often attached—almost reflexively—to visible outcomes.
Sometimes these reports are sincere. Sometimes they are meant as encouragement. Sometimes they arise from fragility, insecurity, or the desire to be seen. Sometimes they are ego-driven. I do not claim to know the motives of hearts.
But I do know this: the reappearance of a numbers-driven mindset should concern us, because we have already lived through the fruit of it—and the Independent Baptist world is still cleaning up the damage.
This is not about silencing gratitude or rejecting good news. It is about what we are training ourselves—and our people—to believe success looks like.
Numbers Are Not Neutral
The things we consistently highlight tell us what our hearts value and what we truly believe is important.
When preachers/churches consistently highlight:
attendance totals,
joiner counts,
baptism numbers,
discipleship participation figures,
“great days” defined numerically,
we are unintentionally discipling our people to think:
If the numbers are high, God was moving.
If the numbers are low, something must be wrong.
Yet Scripture does not permit that conclusion.
“For the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
Numbers are not sinful—but they are never presented in Scripture as the primary proof of God’s approval. When they are elevated, they begin to function sacramentally, as though visible growth confers legitimacy, authority, or spiritual success.
That is a dangerous shift.
Scripture Records Numbers—But Never to Market Ministry
Yes, the Bible records numerical growth. Acts does not shy away from reporting conversions. The Gospels acknowledge crowds. Growth is real.
But Scripture never uses numbers:
to validate leaders,
to silence critics,
to pressure other servants,
or to create momentum through visibility.
In fact, some of the most faithful moments in Scripture occur when the numbers collapse.
Gideon’s army was deliberately reduced.
Jeremiah preached for decades with little visible fruit.
Paul ministered to small, struggling, and divided churches.
Our Lord Himself watched multitudes walk away when His teaching grew hard (John 6).
“Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” (1 Corinthians 4:2)
Faithfulness—not scale—is the biblical metric.
A Word to Faithful Pastors in Hard Places
Before going further, a word must be spoken to pastors whose Monday morning looks very different.
If your church is small. If attendance is flat or declining. If no one joined. If no one was baptized. If the service felt ordinary, quiet, or heavy—
This does not mean you are a failure.
Scripture never promises that obedience will be immediately affirmed by visible results. In fact the Bible teaches the opposite!
“Be not weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9)
Some of the most faithful servants in Scripture labored in obscurity, resistance, and apparent barrenness—and were still approved by God.
If your ministry is marked by, sound doctrine, patient discipleship, prayer, integrity, and perseverance, then heaven is not unimpressed—regardless of what the numbers say.
“Well done, thou good and faithful servant…” (Matthew 25:21)
That commendation has nothing to do with statistics.
The Silence That Often Follows the Numbers
There is another pattern worth acknowledging honestly.
The same voices that speak loudly when the numbers are high often grow quiet when:
attendance drops,
momentum fades,
people leave,
or difficulty sets in.
Why? Because a numbers-driven framework only knows how to speak when things look successful. It is also because when one builds their presence on momentum, it goes against the narrative to report when things have taken a down turn or are not as impressive.
But Scripture prepares pastors for seasons of endurance, pruning, loss, and faithfulness without applause.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine…” (2 Timothy 4:3)
When ministry is measured primarily by outcomes, men are conditioned to celebrate only in prosperity and retreat in adversity. That is not a biblical posture.
The apostle Paul could write:
“As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” (2 Corinthians 6:10)
Faithful ministry speaks just as clearly in lean years as in full ones.
Scripture, Not Sentiment, Must Set the Emphasis
This concern is not rooted in cynicism or jealousy. It is rooted in biblical proportion.
The New Testament places its greatest weight on:
doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16),
character (1 Timothy 3),
endurance (Hebrews 10:36),
faithfulness (1 Corinthians 4:2),
perseverance through loss (Acts 20:29–31).
Excitement is not condemned—but it is never central.
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
When visible results become the primary evidence of God’s work, we subtly shift from faith to sight—whether we intend to or not.
And here is the sobering reality we must face:
We are experiencing greater loss across churches than at any point in recent memory. Across the spectrum, we are seeing greater doctrinal erosion, generational collapse, pastoral burnout, moral failure, shrinking congregations, and cultural hostility.
A brief surge of excitement—or a well-crafted report—does nothing to reverse these trends.
What addresses them is:
slow, careful discipleship,
doctrinal clarity,
long-term shepherding,
courageous preaching,
and churches willing to remain faithful even if the numbers never rebound.
“He that endureth to the end shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:13)
A Call for Maturity, Not Muteness
This is not a call to stop sharing encouraging news.
It is a call to grow up in how we frame success.
Let us rejoice—but not redefine faithfulness.
Let us give thanks—but not create pressure.
Let us encourage—but not condition joy on outcomes.
Above all, let us ensure that our public language reflects biblical values, not inherited habits from a numbers-driven past that has already proven incapable of sustaining healthy churches.
The long game requires more than excitement.
It requires conviction, patience, and faith.
And those qualities often look unimpressive—until the Lord returns.
“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness…” (2 Timothy 4:8)
That crown is not awarded on Monday morning.
If you would like to read more along these lines, please visit the following articles:
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