Peter Wagner describes an encounter with an individual who declared his disgust against numbers: “My Bible tells me to feed the sheep, not to count them!”
Later, Wagner read Philip Keller’s book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. Keller, a professional sheep rancher, says it is “essential for a careful shepherd to look over his flock every day, counting them to see that all are able to be up and on their feet.” Wagner points out, “I believe that counting sheep is such a natural part of the shepherd’s life that Jesus took for granted His followers would know that. It is biblical to feed the sheep, but also to count them.”1
In fact, the only way that the Good Shepherd knew that He had one lost sheep was because He had counted the other 99. “God Himself does a lot of counting. He even has the hairs on each person’s head numbered. When each individual comes to faith in Jesus Christ, that name is written in the Lamb’s book of life. Even the littlest person is important in heaven and gets individual recognition. There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:7), so somebody there must be keeping close track. As I see it, those who object to numbers are usually trying to avoid superficiality in Christian commitment. . . . I am vitally interested in lost men and women who put their faith in Jesus Christ and are born again. I am interested in true disciples who take up their cross daily to follow Jesus. I am interested in kingdom people who relate to Jesus as their Lord. I am interested in Spirit-filled people who have experienced the power of the Holy Spirit and are using their spiritual gifts. I am interested in responsible church members who continue ‘steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayers’ (Acts 2:42) as did believers in the Jerusalem church. When numbers represent these kinds of people, they are much more than a ‘numbers game.’ They become a game of life and death, a game of time or eternity.”2
When Jesus commanded His disciples to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, He was concerned about numbers—numbers of persons who would become disciples. To those who criticize, Bailey Smith has given an appropriate response: “Let’s never forget that numbers are all multiples of one. One hundred is a hundred ones; a thousand, a thousand ones; so it is possible to be honestly concerned about each one of several thousand ones. We need concern for all!”3
In the Great Commission Christ clearly mandates that His church should multiply, not simply maintain. The book of Acts is the story of rapid church growth—and it talks about numbers! “About three thousand were added to their number that day” (Acts 2:41, NIV). “The Lord added to their number daily” (2:47, NIV). “Many . . . believed, and the number of men grew to about fi ve thousand” (4:4, NIV). “More and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number” (5:14, NIV). “The number of disciples . . .increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith” (6:7, NIV). “The church . . . grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord” (9:31). “A great number of people believed” (11:21). “So the churches . . . grew daily in numbers” (16:5). The message is obvious. If the church is going to be interested in what interests Jesus, it will be interested in numbers—numbers of people for His kingdom!
Tom Stebbins says, “Someone has suggested that before we can win people to Jesus Christ we must win them to ourselves. Sharing the gospel is a very personal matter. We are probing the most intimate, private areas of the other person’s life so we must fi rst earn that person’s trust and build some measure of friendship.”4
Therefore, our evangelistic methods must transform unbelievers into friends, friends into believers, and believers into disciples—great numbers of disciples! If we embrace only one primary evangelistic strategy—prophetic-based gospel proclamation and doctrinal instruction—we face two dangers: We risk limiting those whom we could win and we risk losing those whom we have already won!
Friendship involvement may become our most effective strategy for evangelizing new believers, and group interaction is a proven method for making disciples. The principle remains. New members must have something more than head knowledge regarding what they believe. Meaningful relationships and ministry tasks are not only the fruit of a disciplined individual but also the methodology for accomplishing that discipleship. These relationships and tasks are the process! This process is the product!
1 C. Peter Wagner, Leading Your Church to Growth (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1984), 22, 23.
2 Ibid., 23, 24.
3 Bailey E. Smith, Real Evangelism (Nashville, TN: Broadman, 1978), 121.
4 Tom Stebbins, Evangelism by the Book (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1991), 218.
