You see these come-ons all the time—

The best restaurants in every state.  The best small towns in every state.  The best town for retirees in every state.  The best beaches, best whatever.

So, don’t be surprised if you look up one day and someone has compiled a list of the best churches–best small churches, best mega-churches, whatever–in every state.  People are so shallow as to think such a list could be compiled and many will buy into it.

I’m by that the way I am the college football rankings.  Today, as I was driving back from a ministry assignment, for an hour or more I listed to the Sirius XM station where spots guys discussed last night’s college football rankings. LSU was one, Ohio State two, and so forth.  Back and forth they went: Shouldn’t Alabama be lower than 5th? Shouldn’t Baylor be higher than they are? Wisconsin too?  People called in and for an hour or more they argued.

For absolutely nothing.  Next week there will be a new ranking, based on this weekend’s games, and they’ll start all over again.  It’s what these sports-talk guys get paid to do.

But it’s so much foolishness.

The single ranking that counts is the last one when four teams will be chosen for the playoffs.

In the same way, if anyone compiled a listing of the top churches in an area, in each state, of certain types, the bickering and bellowing would be intense.  For good reason.

Only God knows which are the best churches.  Jesus said they are His and He will build them (Matthew 16:18).

Acts 20:28 says the Lord bought the church “with His own blood.”

And here’s the thing: No one church can be or has to be “the best.”  They can all be great.

There is no competition between lighthouses.

Let us make our church strong and healthy and let the leadership labor to keep it that way.