We recently ran a carols night that loads of people said, “went really well”! But how should Christians and churches work out whether something “went well”?
The error is to assume that there’s only one measure of success… As if only one measurement matters, and no other aspects are valuable.
Here’s a few different lenses to consider if something is “successful”
– did people come?
– did people stay?
– did people understand?
– did people respond in one of the suggested ways?
– did we present the truth (about Jesus/church/motivations)
– did Christians serve Jesus through it? (Or was it only the staff?)
– did Christians invite their friends?
– did Christians pray about it?
– we’re the Christians godly while serving?
– did we create a helpful atmosphere?
– did we do things well for the type of people who were there?
– did we trust God with all our efforts?
– did we put in sufficient effort?
– did we do it better than last time?
– did people grow relationships with each other more?
– did people come back to other things (after 1mnth, 1yr, 10yrs)?
– did people enter heaven through it?

Not all of these are of equal value but they are all things to celebrate if we do do, and things to consider carefully if we don’t do.