The prevailing culture, described as the Babylon we inhabit, measures worth almost exclusively through numeric growth—rising stock prices, expanding economies, and ever-increasing personal wealth. This obsession with quantifiable success has infiltrated Christianity, both true and false, so that a church's value is often judged by income, membership, and conversion numbers, despite these being unreliable indicators. The example of megachurches such as Lakewood Church, with its 30,000 weekly attendees, $55 million income, and millions more viewers through media broadcasts, illustrates how business-style market research and analysis are used to manufacture religious "success," blending commerce and faith without shame. Scripture, however, redirects the emphasis on growth away from numbers and toward personal character development. God's desire is for overcoming—growth measured against a spiritual standard, as reflected in the repeated promises to those who overcome throughout Revelation. God is not focused on unrestrained numerical expansion of His church; that fullness of knowledge will only come after Jesus Christ returns and establishes His Kingdom, when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Until then, the Father Himself restricts who may come to the Son, drawing only those He calls. This principle mirrors the physical creation, where every species has built-in limits to its growth—a mouse cannot become the size of a cat, nor a trout the size of a whale. Even remarkable growth, such as an unusually tall azalea bush, cannot exceed the design boundaries set by the Creator. God's church operates under the same principle: it is futile to expect the gospel to open the mind of someone God has not called, since only the Father can reveal spiritual truth, as Jesus indicated to Peter. This does not diminish the responsibility to preach the gospel, which Jesus Christ and the apostles modeled and which Paul described as a necessity laid upon him. Christ declared that the gospel would be preached in all the world as a witness before the end comes. Yet the gospel itself does not convert; it only bears fruit in those given faith by God, while serving as a future testimony against all others. As Paul explained, one plants and another waters, but God alone gives the increase—and it remains unknown whether that increase will occur before or after Christ's return. Consequently, numeric growth in membership or income cannot serve as a true measure of spiritual success. God alone knows the number who make up the Bride of His Son and controls the resources necessary for the work He assigns, as those who observe third tithe experience firsthand. Church size and income belong entirely within the sphere of God's sovereignty. What matters most, instead, is the individual growth of each person into the very character and image of God, with limits set at the highest possible level.

The founding of the church occurred with a small group of nineteen people, and over its thirty-four years of existence the number of core members has remained around four hundred. This limited size has not resulted from any failure to attempt growth but from a deliberate decision made at the outset to avoid entering what could be called the church business of increasing membership. The leader chose instead to position the organization as a resource for the churches of God, emphasizing teaching, study, and the presentation of truth in depth rather than seeking expansion through broadcasts or other means aimed at reaching large audiences. This approach inverted the pattern followed earlier, in which the gospel was preached first and the flock fed only with whatever remained. The change was made because the doctrinal shifts of the late 1980s and early 1990s revealed that the membership had not been sufficiently grounded in the truth, allowing many to accept alterations that moved away from the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Consequently the purpose was set to strengthen conviction among those already called, ensuring that any numerical increase would come only as God brought individuals to the group. Internet resources were added in the mid to late 1990s, yet these tools serve primarily to feed the flock, with any additional reach regarded as secondary. The consistent refusal to pursue radio or television programs stems from the conviction that such efforts do not align with the assigned work. God is understood to have placed approval on this restraint by preserving the membership at its present level of highly committed individuals supported by three ordained ministers. Numerical growth is therefore not an aim, because the goal remains the preparation of a little flock to enter the Kingdom of God. The guiding principle continues to be the study, practice, and clear explanation of truth so that those who receive it may live it fully, rather than the distribution of simplified teachings to thousands. Any future alteration in this path would require unmistakable direction, which has not yet appeared.

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.