When discussing the evaluation of church activities and personal spiritual growth, one can quickly see two camps: those who think evaluation on such topics is impossible and those who think it is possible. Those who reject evaluation of spiritual things think spiritual things are so personal that it is impossible to qualify or quantify them or that someone’s personal growth is simply not anyone else’s business. Yet, in the last ten years or so, committed Christian researchers are finding ways to evaluate church effectiveness and spiritual growth of individuals. I fall into the former camp, but I reserve the notion that while evaluation is possible and even spiritual, even the best social science cannot uncover every detail in the spiritual realm. But, much of what Christian researchers are discovering about believers is amazing and insightful.
Our Scriptures indicate many forms of evaluation including numerical counts, personal evaluations, and encouragements to be discerning. Evaluation is not equal to the prejudicial “judging” Jesus condemns in the Sermon of the Mount. In fact, evaluating is the highest level of cognitive learning. Therefore, we can and must engage in examining our kingdom efforts for effectiveness. We must stack our lives against God’s Word and the character of Jesus to ascertain our spiritual development. Evaluation should not only look for what is wrong, but should also consider assessment of successful and meaningful practices in kingdom work. Evaluation is not about condemnation but about being intentional in the planning and execution of our kingdom work.
Scripture:
“until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” Ephesians 4:13 (ESV)
Prayer:
Ask God to help you think critically about the effectiveness of your teaching and leading.
Dig Deeper:
Read Chapter 15, “Building the Equipping Ministry System: Equip,” in The Equipping Church Guidebook by Sue Mallory and Brad Smith (Leadership Network), Zondervan, 2001. ISBN: 0-310-23957-5.
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