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Most of us know enough to say that size does not matter. And while we know it shouldn’t matter, let’s be honest, it actually does. We ask the size question in various ways. “So...how many attend your Sunday service now?” “What’s your program attendance?" Or, “How many staff do you have?” “What’s your annual budget?”

As soon as these kinds of questions are asked, our biggest task is to hide the wide-eyed look of insecurity to pretend we don’t care about being compared to something. Some of the thoughts that can go through our heads include “Maybe I’ll round up to make it sound better.” “Maybe I’ll give a range that includes the attendance at the Christmas Eve service.” Depending on who is asking, maybe I’ll say something about the good things happening in people’s lives.

Let me ask you a question. Could it be possible that a church (lower case “c”) might put too much pressure on its primary leadership? And, if that church is lucky enough to employ more than one individual to handle its various needs (its many, many diverse needs), is there a chance those tasks have been assigned improperly?

In Jesus’ first sermon, there are three verses that, for me, are the scariest things Jesus ever said. Apparently, it is possible to work for Him my whole life, have an incredibly effective and powerful ministry, change people’s lives, be used by the power of the Holy Spirit, and still not spend eternity with Him.

I don’t know of one great man of God in Scripture that would get hired by most churches today. He wouldn’t fulfill the profile nor meet the expectations that people have of the professionally religious. Abraham helped himself to the house help when he didn’t see how God was going to fulfill His promise. King David, a "man after God’s own heart,” wouldn’t make the short list because of his murderous and adulterous past. Moses had a temper issue that caused him to kill an Egyptian as well as an apparent speech impediment that would have made him a terrible preacher. John the Baptist was simply too weird. Peter was a loud mouth who wasn’t dependable and Paul, prior to his being transformed by Jesus, was guilty of killing believers and having little patience with people like Mark.