“Let us not measure the church by the number of its members or by its material buildings. The church has built many houses of worship, many seminaries, many buildings that have been taken from her. They have been stolen and turned into libraries and barracks and markets and other things.
“That doesn’t matter. The material walls here will be left behind in history. What matters is you, the people, your hearts. God’s grace giving you God’s truth and life. Don’t measure yourselves by your numbers. Measure yourselves by the sincerity of heart with which you follow the truth and light of our divine Redeemer.” –Oscar Romero (The Violence of Love)
Learn more about Oscar Romero in our ebook, Church Communication Heroes Volume 1: Lessons From Those Who Have Gone Before.
Tony Scialdone
January 3, 2014
Romero rightly points out that the church is not made of buildings…but wrongly suggests that the number of her members isn’t important. If we, as he suggests, measure ourselves by sincerity, we ignore the Great Commission in favor of feeling good about ourselves.
Numbers ARE important. Would you rather see two people in Heaven, or two billion?