Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. – Numbers 1:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 26, 2012): Numbers 1 & 2

Counting has become a bit of a hot topic inside of the church. The argument seems to be both whether to count and who to count. The idea seems to be that a focus on numbers is destructive to the spiritual emphasis of the church. Our purpose is not about numbers, it is about bringing people into a closer relationship with the one who created us. It is that element that is important. And the argument often continues that God was never concerned about numbers.

And, to a point, that is a true statement. But it was also true that God was concerned about numbers. As Israel prepares to move and take their first steps as a nation, one of the first things that God instructs them to do is to count the people. Counting was a logistic necessity for the continuation of the community. Every number needed support. Every number was a mouth to feed, a person who needed both a job and a purpose. Every number represented half of a marriage, and the possibility of children. Every number represented a problem – and it also represented a future citizen of the Promised Land.

The numbers were part of the story, but they were not the entire story. The truth was that sometimes the numbers meant something – they had a purpose. But other times they did not. Numbers were forbidden whenever the community of God began to rely on them rather than on God. And even in the original instruction from God was the reminder that every number had a name.

Numbers continue to be part of our story. From the mundane elements of how many bulletins we need to print to the how many seats we need and parking spots that will be required, all in some way come back to the counting of numbers. But it is only part of the story, and we also need to be reminded that every number comes with a name attached. And the name is also important. But at the same time we should never put our faith in the numbers. Our faith is in God and he sees beyond the numbers.

And as far as I am concerned, if someone is important enough to have a name, they are important enough to be counted - and important enough to experience God working through them.

   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 3