Unlike God, who inhabits eternity, we mortals have a limited existence and often view things through the lens of immediacy, measuring progress with a short-term perspective. In business, data is collected and analyzed to evaluate growth, with companies highlighting upward trends while hiding downturns to appear superior to competitors. However, when such practices are applied to the church, serious problems arise because numbers cannot tell the whole story. While members, visitors, and subscribers can be tallied, no one save God can track the increase of faith or the building of character. No minister can report on the ratios of sheep to goats or wheat to tares, nor can quarterly reports measure the ripening of the fruit of the Spirit or the increase of the poor in spirit, the meek, or the pure in heart. Yet, these immeasurable matters are precisely what a church should be most concerned about. The Worldwide Church of God before its scattering boasted impressive metrics with over 140,000 members, millions of magazine subscribers, global media outreach, and stunning college campuses, yet these numbers proved to be poor indicators of spiritual health. Positive metrics can give a false impression that all is well, masking divisions, leader- and organization-idolatry, and the application of human solutions to spiritual problems within the church. While it may be natural to measure numbers planted or watered, such metrics fail to capture the true story of spiritual growth. The vital measurement is the spiritual increase in faith, character, humility, love, and unity with God and the brethren—a metric only He can track.

In these restless days within the church of God, we often seek to quantify God's work through numbers and visible growth, yet numbers are a poor measure of His outworking. The first-century church, despite the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ Himself, had only about a hundred and twenty disciples, and epistles mention mere households rather than booming congregations. God is not calling everybody at this time, and numeric growth is not a sure sign of His presence. Instead, His work focuses on creating men in His image, working salvation, and instilling belief in those He has called. This work cannot be measured or charted on graphs, as it deals with transforming the human heart through a growing relationship with Him. The carnal man may look for dramatic signs and miracles as evidence of God's presence, but those who belong to Him will recognize His voice, even if it seems still and small. God's work is evident in the lives of individuals He has called, seen in unity with Him and with each other, and in the fruit of His Spirit—love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Jesus Himself had an insignificant entrance into the world by human standards, and the church He founded is a little flock, designed by God not to become a physically powerful organization. He emphasizes that the way to eternal life is difficult and narrow, with few finding it, and that few are chosen, highlighting the laborers as few and God calling the weak and base of the world to shame the mighty and noble.