Yet, it need not be. Indeed, this agenda serves the larger theme of God's restoration of Israel through the mission of the church. There is a theological motive behind Luke's fondness for statistics. The growth of the community is grounded in Luke's theology of restoration. Just as Israel multiplied and increased in number in the Old Testament, so restored Israel would multiply and increase.
Numerical growth is a covenant blessing.
A secondary purpose of this paper is to argue that reliance on covenant blessing for numerical growth does not entail that the church reject or ignore the pragmatic, rational, and rhetorical aspects of its ministry. Rather than the focus, these must be seen as tools of the Holy Spirit through which God provides blessing. While these tools are always secondary to the One who blesses the covenant community, they are to be sharpened and used in service to the kingdom. Before I proceed into the substance of my argument, I wish to lay out several assumptions. I will not defend these points, but assume them for the purpose of this paper.