Good morning, my brothers! For years, I measured success by numbers. Then the Father gave me a different scorecard: one man. Two years later, I’m finally beginning to understand what He meant. How about you? Let’s go! 4-min, 41-sec read.

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Two years ago this week, I sat down and wrote the first More The Man newsletter. I didn't know what it would become, and I couldn't see where the Father might take it. I simply believed He was asking me to be His pen, so I started.

That same month, August of 2024, He redefined success for me. He told me clearly: One man. If you impact the life of one man through this newsletter, then in My eyes you’ve been successful.

For me, and many men I believe, that was hard to fathom. Numbers had always been a scorecard defining success. The bigger the better. More people in the Sunday School class, more money in the bank, more likes on a post, more…more…more.

God’s definition changes the equation. Obedience, not numbers, is true success.

Numbers matter, I’m learning, but only because every number represents a person. The danger comes when we stay focused on the size of our reach instead of obedience, and that temptation isn't unique to men who write newsletters.

Jesus Never Lost the One in the Crowd

The crowds around Jesus were enormous. Thousands came to hear Him teach, to see Him heal, or just to see what everyone was talking about.

What strikes me in the Gospels is how unfazed He seemed by the sheer numbers. He kept seeing the one, the individual amidst the crowd. Zacchaeus climbed a tree hoping to catch a glimpse of Him, and Jesus stopped beneath it, called him by name, and stayed at his house.

Then, in Luke 15, Jesus told a story that shows us why. It begins with a shepherd counting his sheep.

Ninety-nine were accounted for. Being the only one missing didn't make that sheep any less valuable to the shepherd, and a few verses later, Jesus tells us why that matters.

Think about what that says about the heart of the Father. Heaven rejoices over one. We're tempted to ask how many men we're reaching, while the Father may simply be asking whether we're faithful with the one He's already put in front of us.

Andrew Brought One Man

There's a small scene early in John's Gospel I keep coming back to this week. Andrew met Jesus, and almost immediately went looking for one specific person.

He didn't organize an event or gather a crowd to tell them who he just met. He found his brother and walked him over.

We know what happened next. Simon became Peter, and Andrew had no idea that a rough fisherman would preach at Pentecost, or that we'd still be reading his letters.

Andrew only knew Who he had found, and he wanted his brother to meet Jesus. His assignment wasn't to become Peter. His assignment was to bring Peter to Jesus.

Jim Helped Bring Me To Jesus

I met Jim Leone in high school. After I graduated from college, and a few years before I came to Christ, he became my barber. His calendar was packed, but in that chair I was his only focus, and I’m sure others felt the same way.

Jim had a way of weaving Jesus into everything. He talked about Christ the same way he talked about family, work, and sports, and sometimes he preached outright, but it was always Jesus.

Then I gave my life to Christ, and here's what I remember most. Jim didn’t stop. Haircut after haircut, year after year, he kept building me up in the Lord and still does today. Even this week, he dropped an encouraging word in my Facebook feed.

His pulpit was a barber chair. He never had a platform or a title, and he’s stayed faithful with one man for more than forty years.

We don't have to have a title or be some super-Christian. We just have to keep showing up in obedience.

The Father Measures Differently

I still get caught up in numbers from time to time. But He’s teaching me to remember the man behind the number. The one man.

He's reading early Saturday morning while the house is quiet, and maybe his marriage is struggling, or his son isn't speaking to him, or he's wondering whether the most meaningful years of his life are already behind him. Or maybe he just knows there has to be more to life than what he’s currently experiencing. Sound familiar?

That's the man I want to write for, because that's the man the Father sees.

Paul described our role in a way I find freeing. He put himself and Apollos in their proper place:

The result has never belonged to us. Our responsibility is obedience, and the outcome belongs to the Father. One faithful man pouring into another has always been how the Kingdom multiplies.

Who Is Your One Man?

On this second anniversary, I'm grateful for what the Father has done. I'm also asking Him to keep His definition of success planted deep in my heart. The one man.

I think there's an invitation here for each of us. Who is the one man the Father has already put in your life?

Maybe he's your son, your brother, your neighbor, or a guy you see every Sunday. Maybe he's a man you work beside who has never once let you see below the surface.

You don't need a ministry to disciple a man. You don't need a title, a seminary degree, or all the answers. You just need to care enough to step toward him.

Pray for him and call him. Invite him to coffee, open the Bible together, share what the Father is teaching you, and listen when he tells you what's really going on. Then leave the results where they've always belonged.

Jim kept cutting my hair. Andrew stayed faithful as Peter rose to leadership. And Jesus is still looking for the one lost sheep.

What about you and me? Let’s be faithful with whoever He puts in front of us, wherever and whenever.

So ask Him a simple question this week: Who is my one man? When He brings that man to mind, go love him well.

 -Will

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