This has got to be one of the most hilarious times of the year, because it’s the time of year when different magazines and websites come out with their reported "Fastest Growing" or "Top 100 Most Attended" churches in America.

When I see these lists I have to laugh, because there are only a handful of churches that count accurately. Only in the church world do we get away with this. I don’t know why we lie about our numbers so much, but we do. We tend to exaggerate, elongate, double count and guesstimate. And we end up with numbers that aren’t reflective of who is really there.

So I’m going to start an "Accurate Counting List." That’s right…an accurate list of church attendance. The criteria are very simple. All you do is report:

          * Your annual giving (excluding building funds or other special projects)
          * Children, birth through fifth grade
          * Your attendance in worship services that present the same content

So many churches will add their midweek, Sunday night or special event services that don’t share the same content as the weekend.

Just the other day we went to a well-known church (one that pretty much everyone would know) and we asked them what their attendance was in that particular service. Then our staff counted and there were 1,500 less that what they said!

From the get-go we have tried to be ruthlessly and brutally honest about our numbers at Fellowship Church. Why? Because numbers matter to God. They represent lives. They help us in planning buildings and programs. And they let us know if we are being effective in reaching people.

There is a balance, though, between OD-ing on numbers vs. not counting at all. So it’s time that we all step up to the plate and be honest about our numbers, because the numbers don’t lie.

Happy counting!