Spelling S-U-C-C-E-S-S in Ministry

How do you spell s-u-c-c-e-s-s?  We 've assumed for way too long that "nickels and noses" are the key benchmarks to success in church life.  I say assumed, because for decades now, these are the things that we "report."  Whenever we talk with our colleagues, this is what we share; whenever we send information to the denomination, this is the information we give.

Could it be that we're measuring the wrong things?  After all, we've been measuring these things for a long time, and I'd be hard pressed to say that the Christ-follower movement is making progress toward Kingdom goals in America. 

So what should we measure?  My friend, and fellow blogger, W. David Phillips, has posted a column on this to make us think...and it did that for me.  Remember, neither he nor I are saying this is what we should measure, but rather these items are listed to make us reflect.  Click here to read it. 

What we measure says a lot about us and what we value.  And what we value often determinations our expectations and attitude toward others.

People will seldom perform above our expectations, so if we want different results, it seems to me that we must spell "success" better in the future than we have in the recent past. 

What do you think?  How should we spell s-u-c-c-e-s-s?