Should Churches Keep Track of Attendance?

 

Photo: Encyclopedia Brittanica for Kids

Are churches supposed to keep track of attendance?  

Two Extremes:

From growing up in the church to being in full-time ministry, I've been part of churches on both sides of the spectrum.  As a kid I attended a very large mega-church, with several thousand members, and keeping track of weekly attendance was a high priority.  Numbers were encouraged, celebrated, and analyzed.  However, when I first got hired as a youth pastor at a new church, the weekly attendance was about 150 members, and keeping track of attendance was not that important.  It just wasn't talked about all that often. 

David's Census: 

But as a rule of thumb, I was generally taught that keeping track of church attendance was a bad thing.  The story of David in 1 Chronicles 21 was usually cited as evidence.  As the story goes, Satan tempted David to number his army, but Joab his chief commander discouraged him to do so because it would bring God's judgment upon Israel.  

David ignored Joab's advice and after the census was taken, it was told to David that there were over 1.5 million who drew the sword in Israel.  No doubt David was proud of the large number in his army.  However, David's pride angered the LORD, and He gave David the choice of a punishment - famine, pestilence, or war.  David, in great distress, chose pestilence and 70,000 men of Israel fell.  

It was a terrible lesson David had to learn.  His strength did not come from his own might, or even the might of his army, his strength came from the LORD.  

I was taught that since David was punished for counting his army, churches could be punished for counting their weekly attendance.  

But is that the moral of the story?  

Joab's Census:

What's ironic about David's census story is that it's found within the book called 1 Chronicles.  Essentially, 1 Chronicles is a book about numbers.  A lot of numbers.  Anyone who has ever read 1 Chronicles knows what I am talking about.  It can be a tedious exercise as most of the chapters are either geneologies or numbers.  The Chronicler numbers the priests, the kings, the temple officials, the temple workers, and yes, even the soldiers and commanders of Israel's army.  

In fact, all of 1 Chronicles 27 is a count of the military......."This is the number of the people of Israel, the heads of fathers' houses, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and their officers who served the king in all matters concerning the divisions that came and went, month after month throughout the year, each division numbering 24,000" (1 Chron. 27:1).  

What's most surprising is in 1 Chronicles 27:24 Joab - the same Joab who tried convincing David to not number the army or else it would bring God's judgment - on another occasion was punished for not numbering Israel's army!  The verse reads, "Joab the son of Zeruiah began to count, but did not finish.  Yet wrath came upon Israel for this, and the number was not entered in the chronicles of King David."  Wow!  

Does God contradict himself?  Is the Bible full of errors?  How could God punish David for taking a census and then punish Joab for not taking a census?  

Why David Was Really Punished

If David was punished for simply numbering his army, then God was being partial to him.  But we know that God is perfect (Psalm 18:30), cannot lie (Numbers 23:19), and cannot show partiality (Romans 2:11).  

So why was David punished?  I believe it wasn't the numbering itself that got David in trouble, it was the motive behind it.  I believe pride was the reason behind David's census.  David had experienced significant military success in his lifetime, and he wanted to know how big his army had gotten so he could boast about it.  I believe Satan tempted David's pride, and he gave in by taking a census.  In other words, it wasn't David's census that angered God, it was David's pride.  

Interpreting it this way fits much better with what the Bible teaches.  God has always been in the business of humbling the proud (James 4:6) and David was no exception.  Also, interpreting it this way gives us clarity as to why God allowed and even encouraged numbering in other parts of Scripture (read, for example, the Book of Numbers).  

But most importantly, interpreting it this way gives us a new application when it comes to churches keeping weekly attendance.  I was always taught it was bad because of David's numbering, but now that I now it was David's pride that brought judgment, I can be more comfortable with churches that do keep weekly attendance.

Numbers in the Bible

A far more accurate gauge for churches and whether or not they should take attendance is to look at the early church in the Book of Acts.  No one doubts the fact that the early church exploded, multiplied, and experienced great power from God.  So did they take attendance?  Is there any way of knowing?  

Interestingly enough, the early church was interested in numbers.  I find it to be no accident that Luke, the author of the Book of Acts, recorded a few key numbers.  First, when Peter preached the Gospel to a large crowd in Jerusalem on the Feast of Pentecost, Luke writes, "So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41).  Why was Luke so specific?  Why not just say "a lot of people were saved that day" or something like that?  

On another occasion Peter and John preached the Gospel to a large crowd near the Beautiful Gate at the temple, and Luke writes, "Many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand" (Acts 4:4).  Again, why is Luke so interested in giving specific numbers?  If keeping track of numbers is so strongly discouraged in today's churches, why did Luke do it?  

In addition to these two examples, Luke gives some general numbers when people were added to the church.  In Acts 5:14 he writes, "And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women."  And again in Acts 16:5, "So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in number daily."  Even when Luke doesn't give specifics, he still makes it a priority to point out that the churches were growing in number!  

Jesus was even interested in numbers.  He fed five thousand men (not including women and children) using only five loaves of bread and two fish (Matthew 14:13-21); fed four thousand men using only seven loaves of bread and a few small fish (Matthew 15:38); raised up twelves disciples (Mark 13:14), and sent out seventy-two (Luke 10:1).   

Motive is What Matters

I do not believe that taking a weekly attendance is wrong.  Nor do I think encouraging, celebrating, or analyzing those numbers is wrong.  As long as the motive is right!  

If the motive for keeping track of numbers in the church is to boast, to compare yourself with other churches, or to build up the self-esteem of the pastors, then it should stop!  

But if the motive is to celebrate what God is doing and to motivate the church to make disciples, then it should continue.  

We are all called to be faithful to whatever ministry God has called us to - whether big or small, but we are also called to be fruitful.  Faithfulness should lead to fruitfulness.  Fruitfulness should lead to more faithfulness.  Now fruitfulness does not necessary mean outward accomplishments, but it does certainly mean inward transformation.  Lives should be transformed by the Gospel.  And transformed lives leads to multiplication.  And multiplication is the heart of God's will for all churches.  Jesus did say, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations."     

So let's celebrate, as heaven always does, when one sinner repents!