Counting is Wrong - Part 1

Life as a River
"When Counting is Wrong"
Part 1

"We live in a performance based culture and the American church all too often operates the same way. The success of the church is measured by counting - counting the attendance, counting the offering, counting the conversions, etc. But may I suggest that not only is this not a true measure of performance for God's Kingdom, it may actually make God angry." - Jay Link

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Over the next three postings I will be sharing a great article from Jay Link entitled: 
"When Counting is Wrong." 
If you want to download the full article you can do so at: Download pdf article.

TODAY - PART 1

"Even though King David was a man after God’s own heart, his life was riddled with periods of lack of self-control and deeply flawed judgments. One of the lesser known examples of his poor judgment is found in II Samuel 24 and I Chronicles 21. Recently, the Lord brought this story to my mind and how I and so many other believers still make the very same mistakes that David did. Let me tell you the story. 

David was undoubtedly the greatest king who ever reigned in Israel. His exploits before and during his reign are legendary. Towards the end of his reign, Satan appeals to David’s pride enticing him to take a census to find out how many able-bodied men he has available for his army. In demanding this count, David demonstrates three prideful mistakes that cause both David and Israel to endure a terrible tragedy.

Prideful Mistake #1: Ownership 

Numbering Israel was a precarious business. Exodus 30:12 emphasizes that God is the owner of Israel, not any king or prophet. In ancient times a man had every right to count what belonged to him. But Israel belonged to God and if God wanted His army counted, it would have been His prerogative to order it, not David’s – who only served as steward-king of God’s people. As soon as David commanded Joab to count what did not belong to him, Joab and all the top military commanders immediately recognized this order for what it was - a dangerous mistake. In fact, Joab strongly objects and boldly confronts David by asking, “Why should (you) be a cause of guilt to Israel?” 

So, what can we learn from this great counting tragedy? I think the lesson for us is quite profound. 

Our Counting is Wrong 
When it is Done to Measure How Much We Own 

Even though David wrote Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and all it contains. The world and all those who dwell in it,” he must have forgotten his own declaration and at some point began seeing himself as the owner of Israel and the one who had the right to count what he owned. You might question, “Wait, isn’t a careful accounting of our possessions just good stewardship?” Yes, on the one hand, it is. Solomon even tells us to, “know well the condition of your flocks and pay attention to your herds” (Proverbs 27:23). But on the other hand, if our counting is motivated by the “pride of ownership” and not by a humble accounting of God’s property, our counting, like David’s, will be wrong. 

I think we would all agree that there is a huge emotional and psychological difference between how an owner looks at his own, personal balance sheet and how his accountant looks at the very same balance sheet. And it was this ownership attitude that did David in and will do us in as well. 

This single issue of ownership is the central demand of the gospel. Are we willing to surrender everything – give it all up – return back to the rightful Owner everything we have wrongfully confiscated and claimed to be our own? When we do find ourselves tempted to count what we own, we must remember, it doesn’t take very long to count nothing! 

Do you count your stuff as the owner or as His steward? 

NEXT WEEK - Counting Mistake # 2

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