Metrics that Matter
Relearning money & church growth in the Kingdom
For a short while, during my transition from Texas to Florida, I worked as a career coach helping people find work in an uncertain economy. It’s something I’m really good at, because in our society, the metrics that matter are generally financial.
Each time I edited a résumé, I found the same common mistakes repeated over and over. The corrections were usually simple:
From:
Managed multiple teams that facilitated successful closes of over 50 transactions…
To:
Managing over 20 CEO & CFO client relationships representing approximately $10M in firm revenue and facilitating the successful close of 50+ transactions exceeding $50B in aggregate enterprise value.
In Babylon, one metric moves the needle more than any other: money.
I guess that’s why they say, money talks.
The Kingdom Economy
But the Kingdom is the opposite of Babylon.
Don’t get me wrong—money matters to God. But not for the reason you may think. Money matters to God because it’s all His.
The truth is, God doesn’t care how much money you think you can make for yourself or others. He cares about:
How many souls you share the gospel with
How many people you disciple
How many of those disciples become disciple-makers
And how much you’ve healed your relationship with money—so that you can give freely, whenever He asks.
The God of Multiplication
A former boss once told me, “Money begets more money.”
And in Babylon, that’s often true.
But in the Kingdom?
Not always.
Yes, the Bible says God is a God of abundance, prosperity, and multiplication. But first, God is Creator—the One who formed everything out of nothing.
He doesn’t need money to multiply. He doesn’t need wealth to produce wealth.
If you study Scripture closely, you’ll see that God grows and multiplies differently than man. While we invest a sum and expect exponential return, God subtracts before He multiplies. He prunes what’s unnecessary. He asks us to leave behind our baggage before stepping into the abundance of His promise.
Addition by Subtraction
Take Gideon, for example.
God strengthened Gideon’s army by subtracting from it. He removed the dead weight—and through that subtraction, He added victory and glory.
There’s another moment in Scripture when some of David’s men were too tired to fight. Instead of forcing them, David gave them rest. He allowed subtraction—and God filled the gap with strength and success.
Nothing Is Wasted
Let me be clear: God wastes nothing.
I recently shared some of my experiences managing my family’s apartment complex. I had big dreams of righting generational oppression, but things didn’t unfold the way I imagined.
I can’t say I added to the bottom line. In truth, the property had already been stripped bare out of greed. But God told me something profound: “What I added through you was far more valuable.”
He added dignity.
I bought a tenant a refrigerator out of my own compensation.
I removed illegal and unethical late fees that kept tenants in debt.
I invested in a safe staircase compliant with building code.
Most importantly, I challenged my father’s instructions and had a gas leak repaired—potentially saving lives. (You can read more about that experience here.)
Multiplication by Division
So what does all this mean for the Kingdom?
Metrics do matter—they just might not be the ones you’re used to putting on a résumé.
How about these instead:
Refrigerators bought for the poor
The number of people you’ve prayed for
Souls you’ve shared the gospel with
The amount of money you’ve sown into God’s Kingdom instead of your own
Rethinking Church Growth
I recently spoke with a brother in Christ who has experience in Biblical church growth. And we agreed—the American church has gotten its metrics all wrong.
Most churches measure growth like this:
Attendance numbers
Donation amounts
Views, clicks, downloads, and streams
These aren’t bad metrics. But they mirror Babylon’s way of thinking—and that should concern us.
We are called to be set apart.
So I began to reflect…
What if church growth was measured not by addition but by multiplication through division?
What if, instead of building mega-churches and hiring underpaid staff to serve thousands of attendees, we multiplied by dividing?
When a building fills, start another.
When a home group matures, launch another.
Keep growing—but do so in a sustainable, relational, and Spirit-led way.
This isn’t just theory. It’s the model in the book of Acts.
The early church grew exponentially by multiplying through homes and communities, not by building kingdoms of man.
Kingdom Multiplication Looks Different
Yes, we carry a covenant of prosperity as believers.
But don’t forget—our God is strong enough, wise enough, and good enough to grow through subtraction and division.
“Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”
—John 12:24
Please note:
This “division” is not about factions, denominations, or disunity.
It’s about strategic, Spirit-led division—breaking into smaller, relational, Spirit-filled expressions of Church that multiply and thrive without needing the machinery of modern religion.
This. Is. Awesome. 👏👏👏👏
I definitely think you're on point with the metrics for growth. I enjoyed this piece.