Do You Need A Big Audience?

(I’m posting this on both blogs today. Apologies to those who received it twice.)

How do you measure success?

For many speakers, lots of people = success and two people = not so much success.

Yesterday we scheduled a speaking gig, sort of last-minute, at Crossroads Coffee House in Cross Plains. Everyone was invited, and we spent the evening with the owner and one of her baristas. Failure, right? Waste of an evening?

We enjoyed a wonderful conversation with two lovely women. They were eager to hear our story, and we got to hear a bit of theirs. Becky and I both felt the folks in the room were the ones God wanted there.

Far from being a lost evening, we were blessed by a remarkable opportunity for which we’re both grateful.

I’ll confess that I’ve been trapped by the lure of the big crowd. I’ve counted heads and wondered what I’m doing wrong, why I don’t speak to thousands instead of dozens—or pairs.

In the time of mega-churches and mass marketed theology, “important” speakers sell books and get invited to big conferences. They’re far too busy for “small” crowds—I guess they have people for that. I’ve thought, at times, it would be pretty cool to be one of them.

Thankfully, I’ve mostly grown out of that silliness. This message of hope isn’t about me, so who am I to set expectations and decide how many people is enough?

I hope we go where God wants us. I’m not at all certain how to know for sure we’re doing that, but I’m pretty sure we’ll miss the mark if we use “audience size” as a guideline.

I don’t think Jesus ever walked away in search of a bigger crowd.

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