Measuring Your Children’s Ministry Success

I’m a huge sports fan–soccer, in particular (I even bought Women’s Euro Final tickets)–but don’t worry, this post isn’t about sports. However, let me start by saying that yesterday I watched an incredible soccer match. It was the final of the UEFA Champions League, perhaps the biggest tournament besides the World Cup.

Chelsea (England) played Bayern Munich (Germany). Coming in to the game, almost everyone picked Bayern Munich. They are a great team, but they were also playing in their home stadium, and Chelsea had four starters missing.

On paper, it looked like a sure Bayern Munich win.

Bayern Munich dominated the game. They had far more fans cheering for them. They had possession of the ball much more. They took way more shots and looked completely in control of the game. They had fewer fouls, and even got a penalty kick opportunity.

But they lost.

Why? Because the only thing that really matters is the final score. In the end, that’s all that’s measured in soccer. And Chelsea managed to win, in a shootout, and took home the trophy.

So bringing it around to our children’s & family ministries, we have to ask the question:

What really matters? What is the measure of our success?