Quantity (i.e. attendance numbers) isn’t a bad thing, as long as the quality is good. But quantity is useless when the quality is bad. Who wants to eat a whole truckload of rotten apples? One good apple is more valuable.
In his letter to the Galatians the Apostle Paul gives us a list of the good fruits followers of Jesus should be looking for in their lives.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
These are the indicators of success. Does a kid love better? Is he joyful? Does she exhibit self-control? If you think filling out your denominational reports is hard now, try measuring fruit in a report!
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The problem is not just in ministry, it's worldwide. Our natural tendency is to measure success by the world's standards: money, career, possessions, marriage, kids, etc.
My husband and I constantly remind ourselves how successful we are at following God's leading in our life, and that we want that to be our definition of success.
If I hadn't been a volunteer at my last church, I would have been fired. Within a few months the youth group dropped down from 30 to 5, because I began a no tolerance policy on several hurtful behaviors. But after a year of investing in those five, they began bringing friends from school and when I left the church, it was a much healthier group of 50. I'm so thankful God gave me that opportunity to see those 5 become so fruitful.
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