I Made A Mistake Yesterday

So, at the 9:30 service I was talking about all that God is up to these days at NLC and how our church is a GREAT investment.

I wanted to brag on God for how many people he has brought to first time faith in Christ in the six years of our church but my brain froze. I said something like "600 or maybe even 800 men, women, and children have placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ for the first time at Next Level Church".

Um...wrong.

I was immediately assailed after the service by all manner of knowledgable colleagues who said "Um, dude, it is more than 1,000".

I may be the only pastor in history to UNDERstate a church statistic.

I say that with a wink.

It is a mind-boggling number. And here's what you need to know about how we count.

I never, ever, ever, ever want to exaggerate the faith commitment number.

A person placing their faith in Christ is a spiritual miracle - someone coming from death to life - and I never want to cheapen that by exaggerating. Plus, exaggerating is lying which is, you know, one of the Ten Commandments.

We never count a person as having made a first time commitment unless they have filled out a card or talked personally to a leader and given us contact information.

The big reason - we are responsible to follow up, providing them with information and resources to help them grow in their new faith.

God has been incredibly gracious in allowing us to see new life at Next Level Church and we want to be good managers of that gift by always telling the truth and always following up promptly with new believers.