Statistics

Statistics, by definition, is a branch of mathematics dealing with the collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of masses of numerical data.

It has been a year since the brothers serving the work of the Lord in India has been trumpeting the urgency and importance of maintaining the statistics of the church. I have to confess, I personally was not serious about the statistics of the church I serve, as my understanding of the need for statistics was so vague. My opinion used to be, quantity does not matter as long as we have quality. But the fact is, quality is derived from quantity. If there is no quantity, where will quality come from? Besides, the church in my locality is a small church and it does not warrant detail statistics. But that was my own view.

Now, through the help of brothers from Taiwan, I have been educated to see the importance of maintaining proper statistics. Statistics is not merely numbers on paper. Every number on paper represents the saints. With careful study and interpretation, the real situation of the church is spelled out. It is like the high priest reading the Urim and Thummim and interpreting God’s speaking concerning the Israelites.

By various real-life examples, the Lord has been educating me to maintain proper statistics of the saints in the church in my locality. The result of a student's mark sheet is a numerical record of his or her academic performance. It is a clear pointer to his academic caliber. All parents care for these numbers on the report card of their children. And this is a universal standard of grading in all works of life. So is with spiritual matter too.

God numbered His people, He even has a book called "Numbers". The Lord Jesus too counted His sheep, numbered them and even named them.

John 10:3
To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
Matthew 18:12
What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and seek the one that has gone astray? 

As per the definition of statistics, the statistics of the church is the report card of the church, it spells out exactly the real condition of the church. Number don't lie.

The number of the saints for the following reveals the saints and the church's real condition:

Those attending the Lord's Table Meeting, those who prophesies, those who attends the prayer meeting, those who goes out to preach the gospel, those who goes out to shepherd the saints and new ones, those who pursues the truth by reading the Bible and the ministry books; all these numbers reveal the true condition of the church.

At least, I have been made clear concerning the importance of maintaining proper statistics. 

May the Lord grace me to be a faithful servant-steward in my service to Him in my serving the church by maintaining accurate statistics.