An Argument for Quality over Quantity

Stemming from the same line of thought as "Misconceptions", I feel as though there is more to be said. I have seen too many churches, pastors, and Christian organizations determine their success and efficiency by the number of people within their ministry; that numbers are somehow the only way to evaluate oneself. I have never agreed with this, and since moving to the South where I feel as if everyone goes to church, numbers have become irrelevant to me. But the stress that I put on building up thinking/questioning Christians does not come from only a disliking of the way Southern Christianity operates. I'm going to go out on a limb here and state exactly how I see things, whether it be correct or not:

The church leadership or any Christian organization's leadership should be focused around building up the Christians they are given, and not worrying about this sense of evangelism/outreach. Church leaders should not worry about numbers, because if they are teaching their congregation how to be more like Christ, then they are doing all that they are called to do. Pastors and Christian leaders should be teaching other Christians how to witness to non-believers, how to show Christ to those around them, teach them to know what they stand for so when that time comes when teh members are questioned by non-believers, that they have an answer for any question. (Or if they don't have an answer, to be humble enough to admit it and not get into an argument so that they can win the discussion). God says that if you do what he asks, then growth is inevitable. Fruit bears seed to more fruit. Pastors and Christian leaders are called only to pass on what they know and to be a shepherd to the sheep that they are given. It is the duty of the followers to bring non-believers into the church, and then again their duty to bring those non-believers to the Lord. They are the ones that invite them, they are the ones with the connection, they are the ones with the contact. They are responsible for those non-believers...not the Christian leadership/pastors. If the follower does not know how to do this, then it reflects upon the ineffectiveness of the pastors and leaders of the church's teachings.

This is why pastors and leaders will be held to a higher standard than followers when it all comes to an end. God puts these leaders/pastors in charge of his people, and they are responsible for those people. If a follower degrades the name of the Lord because of a lack of teaching by the pastor, then the person who sees that "Christian" doing things that they shouldn't be doing, and then makes a judgement on all of Christianity and inevitably God...that reaction is caused by the inadequacies of the pastor.

And that is why when pastors and church leaders give me relative answers like "Well, no one can be sure" or "everyone has their own opinion", or is unwilling to help me with my questions regardless of whether or not they are taboo or controversial...that is the moment where that leader has failed and failed his duty to me.