how do you measure a win?

What does a win look like to you?
What is the win in your ministry?
What does a win look like to each of the volunteers in your ministry?

Many students?
A well controlled small group?
Finishing off a talk-sheet?
A well-controlled room?
A conversion?
A well crafted and well delivered message?
No complaints?
Happy pastor and elders?
A great conversation?
Fruitful prayer?

These are all valid wins. There's nothing wrong with happy parents and supervisors. The trouble enters in when we fail to identify the greatest win, the win we strive for at the expense of others. This win must be defined and demonstrated at every opportunity. It's what we promote, measure, celebrate and adjust for when missed.

Youth pastors would do well to take a lesson from Billy Beane and Moneyball when it comes to defining a win and changing a culture for everyone to recognize and strive for that win. Beane is the GM for the Oakland A's and one of the major implementors of "sabermetrics," a rubric used to identity and assemble players according to their particular definition of "win." Rather than play by the commonly accepted practice of buying wins by increasing payroll and purchasing flashy stats and stars, Beane focused on what other teams misunderstood, ignored and discounted. He measured win potential by bases, pitch counts and longevity. Together, his discarded players produced a team that would surprise and redefine the great American pastime.

What would it look like if we defined the big win by prayer? Could it be that inviting God to participate at every moment is far more effective than inviting kids to participate? I believe that prayer is the most misunderstood, ignored and discounted tool in most Christians lives. What would it look like if we prayed as much or more than we prepared? What would it look like if we spent equal time praying for students as we did hanging with them? What if our culture was marked by prayer rather than music, games, teaching or discussion? 

I'm convinced that a youth ministry that measured the win by prayer would find more fruit than it could handle. I think churches have measured the win by butts, bucks and baptisms for too long.
It's time for a new metric.
What do you think?