Watch any group of pastors gather, listen in on their conversation, and you will most likely hear talk about numbers, particularly Sunday morning attendance. What’s the size of the auditorium (or sanctuary), how many weekend services, etc. Counting attendance is easy, along with the annual budget and size of the physical plant: bodies, buildings, budgets.

There’s not a lot of emphasis on counting things in the Bible, but as we finished John and transition back to the Pentateuch we find ourselves in…Numbers, so called because it opens with counting. Chapter 1 gives us 12 paragraphs that look exactly like this:

Now the sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, their numbered men of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500. (Numbers 1.20 – 21, LSB)

The only thing that changes in these paragraphs is the name of the tribe, and the number. Everything else is the same. Did you see what they counted?

“Every male from 20 years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war.” They counted warriors! Soon they would be going into the Promised Land (it turned out “soon” turned into 40 years, but that’s a story for another day), and in the Promised Land, they would have to fight.

We’re in a battle too:

Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. (Revelation 12.17, ESV)

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6.10 – 13, ESV)

Since we’re in a battle, wouldn’t make sense for us to count “warriors”? Those “able to go to war”? Trained disciples? As one pastor said,

We’re pretty good at counting those who come. I wish we could figure out how to count those who go.

If we could figure out how to count those who go, maybe we would structure our ministries for training and sending instead of just seeing how many we can gather on Sundays.