As guys, one of the first questions we will ask each other when we are just meeting is “what do you do for a living?” AKA- do you make more money than me and do you do something cooler than I do? All guys do it. It always cracks me up when someones demeanor totally changes when I tell them I am a pastor. Their voice goes up an octave, they start really being careful what they say. I always make fun of them for that.

But with being a pastor, how do we measure success? They same conversation happens between pastors. We don’t talk about what we make but want to subliminally leak how many people are members at our church. How many seats are in your sanctuary. We aren’t  businesses so we can talk about our profit in money, so we talk about or profit in people.

And thats dumb. Our main barometer should be disciple making. And not simply knowledge. Disciples that make disciples that make disciples. Knowledge and action together.

I was hanging out with some of our church the other night and I made a comment about something- I don’t even remember what it was. And one of our freshman in college called me on it. What I said was opposite of our vision and direction of the church.

And thats when it hit me! People are catching the vision! They understand that language matters because there is a heart behind that language. Its not just our leadership talking our heads off. Vision has leaked and soaked our people. And they are doing it.

This time last year, we had maybe 2-3 people that understood the vision of The Branch. Now, a year later, we have 10-12. That is a measure I am ok with. Because that means God is doing something. God is working. God is calling people to live in community and to live on mission! That makes me excited. So for me, I learned a huge lesson on the health of a church. Is the main core team in your church living on the churches vision? Is vision being pushed and modeled so people are actually doing it? I had never really seen or thought of this metric before. But I am grateful God is doing it in our midst.

And keep in mind…. this is because God is at work. God is doing this, not me. This is Gods church, not mine.

I am grateful God is working and leading our church to really follow him. I am glad I get to watch and play.