THE DANGERS OF "NUMBERS" CHRISTIANITY

Zechariah 8:1-23; Revelation 16:1-21; Psalm 144:1-15; Proverbs 30:29-31

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: All this may seem impossible to you now, a small remnant of God’s people. But is it impossible for me? says the Lord Almighty. This is what the Lord Almighty says: You can be sure that I will rescue my people from the east and from the west. I will bring them home again to live safely in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be faithful and just toward them as their God. This is what the Lord Almighty says: Be strong and finish the task!”

‘Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their clothing ready so they will not have to walk around naked and ashamed.”

“Praise the Lord, who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle. He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my rescuer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in him. He makes the nations submit to me.”

“There are three things that walk with stately stride—no, four that strut about: the lion, king of animals, who won’t turn aside for anything, the strutting rooster, the male goat, a king as he leads his army.”

Being part of a remnant usually has a negative connotation. It suggests that, while we may have fought the good fight, the enemy prevailed. It may imply time and fashion have passed us by and made our mores obsolete. But if we look at Scripture carefully, it’s pretty clear that being part of a remnant is not necessarily all that bad a place to be. God has never dealt particularly well with majorities. Anytime the Lord’s people have had the upper hand, history teaches they begin to either turn inward to self-indulgence and pleasure, or they turn away, casting their lot with the pagan idols of the conquered. In turn, their foundations eroded, they make themselves susceptible to attack. There is a spiritual cycle to life, just as there are economic cycles. We should take courage from the fact that Christianity is not as mainstream as it once was. It’s pretty clear the Holy Spirit has always done His best work in small, vocal and passionate minorities.

This is certainly not a typical viewpoint, but I don’t find society’s current swing away from all things Godly as either surprising or particularly disturbing from an eternal perspective. Sure, it predicts a lot of people will perish without knowing or accepting Christ as their Savior. But Revelation tells us that much. The fact remains as it has been from the beginning: Christianity was never meant for everybody. Many are called, but few are chosen. Salvation is a free gift to be freely offered to all. Yet salvation clearly will not be accepted by everyone. Some willing choose another path. Thus, while we can certainly mourn their decision, we must not become discouraged. Lack of obvious results is no excuse for giving up on discipleship altogether; it’s more an indication we are focused on the wrong endpoint. Simply stated, our job is to inspire others to seek God. It is His job to actually shepherd them into the fold. Therefore, if we do not see immediate conversions as a result of our evangelism, it should simply inspire us to redouble our efforts. We also should remember that not all evangelism is a matter of salvation. We have just as important a call to encourage those who will help build the Kingdom to get started on their personal missions.

In today’s society, Christians may be a remnant, but that does not mean we have to be weak. Quite the contrary. Our strength has never been solely in numbers, but in quiet, confident commitment to simple obedience. We are to do what we are to do and not worry about end results. End results are Christ’s business, not ours. We are never stronger than when we act in faith upon those two facts. Because when there is no failure to fear, we are freed from our tendency to rely on our own strength and are free to act in fuller reliance on the power of the Spirit.

This concept is one of the toughest hurdles for the new disciple to clear. We all lose enthusiasm when efforts to bring others to Christ don’t bear obvious fruit. It’s enough to discourage the heartiest soul. But we should not be discouraged. Because conversion is the exclusive prerogative of the Holy Spirit, and not everyone is going to make the team, regardless of our efforts. The Lord will ultimately decide who will have ears to hear. Hard as it may be to accept, we are not to get bogged down in the details and, certainly, we are not to take spiritual scalps.

One of the most destructive things that can occur within the Body of Christ – other than the compulsion to seek a mainstream Christianity which, by definition, must be so watered down to appeal to the masses that it lacks any real spiritual power – is the taking of spiritual scalps. Every church has members who proudly point to the number of souls they have brought to Christ. They see others’ salvation as a human accomplishment they have a right to claim. This special breed of Pharisitism is not only disruptive to the Body and clearly contrary to Scripture; it is self-delusional. It gives us an inflated opinion of ourselves and our works. In short, it’s hard to be humble when one sees himself or herself as responsible for the eternal destinies of others. Yet many so-called disciples come to feel exactly this way, and they never realize they are only fooling themselves. Such lofty goals are completely beyond human capacity.

“Numbers Christianity” is a very destructive gospel in any iteration. Christ is looking for quality, not quantity. He requires commitment, not lip service. Talk is cheap. Only those dedicated to actually doing something with His Gift are likely to get it. Our main job is to encourage the members of that remnant to be strong and finish the tasks they have been given.