Church Planting for the Rest of Us

For any theologically driven church, sound preaching is at its apex.

Here is a GREAT discussion from Mike Bullmore, Bryan Chappell, and David Helm on this important topic.

Let’s face it.

Pastors are notorious for not taking care of themselves.

Occasionally, something will happen to get their attention and they will make some major changes in their lives. (I know, because it happened to me. But I’ll tell that story later).

Today, we let Ed Stetzer tell his.

And it is a good one.

Our enemy has many weapons in his arsenal.

In ancient times, Satan deceived God’s people to prize their knowledge of the Scriptures more than the One behind them. Today, he lures God’s people to fall more in love with their theological system than their Savior—a particular danger for our tribe.

To be clear, I am for careful study, theological reflection, and sound doctrinal teaching throughout the church. But let me also caution us in defining ourselves by what we believe—not in a historically “confessional” sense, but in an I’m better than you because I’m Reformed and you’re not sense.

How we know this is happening:

• If there is a disagreement, we defend Calvinism before we seek unity in the Gospel.
• When asked to describe our theology, we define ourselves as a Calvinist more quickly than as a Christian.
• And perhaps the worst of all…when our hearts are more captivated by the points of TULIP than with the person and work of Jesus.

We know this is wrong and damaging, so why do we do it?

One word: Pride.

I believe this manifests itself in two ways:

All of us want to be known for something.

Serial killers for their killing, athletes for their athletics, and theologians for their theology. When we perceive ourselves as anything of any degree, we feel that we have a right to be known to that degree. When we aren’t, we fight to make sure we are not overlooked.

We like thinking we have God and the Bible figured out and captured in a tidy little system.

It makes us feel strong and in control. But there isn’t a single person writing or reading this post who is right about everything we believe. It is impossible to capture everything about God in any theological system.

We would be well-served to know and live these truths in humility. You see it. You feel it. You, like me, want to change. What do we do?

1. Repent of our theological idolatry.

While theology is a great thing, it is not an ultimate thing. It is a means to an end to know God and make him known. In what ways have you made it an ultimate thing? Confess them to God. Claim gospel promises. Ask God to help you not make a means an end.

2. Believe the gospel is enough.

We are justified in our theology, not by our theology. Pray, study, be faithful; but at the end of the day, rest in the fact that it is Jesus’ blood that covers our sins, not how doctrinally savvy we are. Occasionally, take a break from the “big ideas” and go back to the simple gospel truths of Scripture to encourage your heart in who Jesus is, what he has done for us, and who we are in him.

3. Be on guard in the future.

1 Cor. 8:1 tells us that knowledge puffs up but love builds up. Those of us who are more theologically minded need to keep this verse close at hand, especially when we study. We need to consistently engage the humility of Christ seen in Philippians 2 to keep us balanced. If we don’t, we may be in danger of becoming just another angry theologian with a big brain and a small heart.

How are you justifying yourself by your theology?

*A few months ago, I had the privilege to assess Don Dudley and his wife for the Acts 29 Network. I appreciate his desire to help other men and his willingness to share part of his story with us. Thanks, Don.

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I was hired to help a struggling church replant.

I had about 25 people in my core group who seemed eager to do anything it took to keep their church alive. Unfortunately, I discovered some unscrupulous behavior going on behind the scenes. When I confronted those responsible, I quickly lost about half of the group.  I was bound and determined to replant the church and thought I could hold out a few months until we were assessed by the Acts 29 Network.  It was not until after we were assessed that I really discovered we really had no committed members other than my wife and me. After this realization, I started to whisper dangerous prayers.

Was I supposed to pull the plug on this church plant?

I was meeting with Pastor Kevin Jamison from The Oaks Community Church.  He asked me if I would end the church plant and join the Oaks. My gut feeling was to say an emphatic “yes” but I was afraid. On one hand, my pride was about to be crushed. On the other hand, I was relieved. The seemingly endless cycle of frustration was coming to an end.

I swallowed my pride and called it quits.

For a couple of months I had a hard time seeing any good coming from my situation. I realized later how merciful God was to me.

• He saved me from planting a toxic church.
• My pride and anger were controlling our church plant.
• I was spiritually unhealthy and not a good leader.

If you find yourself in the same position, let me share a basic “exit strategy.” Before we do, I want you to know that

Ending a church plant does not make you less of a Christian.

You have probably spent months or years listening to the glorious tales from other church planters. You may be sinfully comparing yourself to others. Like me, you need to know that ending what could become a horrible situation for everyone involved is not a sign of weakness but strength.

The “Exit Strategy:”

1. Pray. Let the Holy Spirit counsel and guide you. Ask God to minimize the damage and hurt relationships which are sure to follow.
2. Repent.  Chances are you have been disobedient to God and have sinned against others.
3. Seek wise counsel. Ask questions and get advice from the godly men in your life on how to glorify God during this transition.
4. Keep all your actions out in the open. Make others know exactly what is happening to all the resources (money, sound gear, supplies, etc.). Leave a paper trail. If you experience any backlash, allow someone else to take care of the resources. Make sure you have signed over the property to them. It might be worth it to seek legal counsel.
5. Get away. Clear your head. Spend time with your wife and kids (you will probably need to repent to them for ignoring them over the last few months while you tried to keep the ship from sinking).
6. Join a Gospel -centered community. Let them love on you and your family. Submit to their authority and use their resources to grow as a husband, father, and leader in the church. Join their mission and serve your community.
7. Seek God’s will for your life. Pray, read your Bible, and pastor your family while you wait for God to reveal to you the next steps in your life.

The last thing you should do – though you may want to – is curl up in the fetal position and die.

It’s not the end of the world, just the end of a season.

One thing is certain – you do not have time for self loathing and whining.

There is a world out there in need of the Gospel regardless of your title or position; it is your job to spread it.

- Don Dudley

At the recent Advance the Church Conference in Raleigh, NC, I sat down with Ed Stetzer (Missiologist Extraordinaire) to talk about a number of topics. In part one of this conversation, we talk about his concerns and excitement about the recent rise in popularity of church planting. As always, Ed has good things to say.

At the recent Advance the Church Conference in Raleigh, NC, I sat down with Matt Carter, Pastor of the Austin Stone Community Church in Austin Texas to talk about his battle with cancer and all that it taught him. Powerful words.

Listen. Learn. Tweet.

At the recent Advance the Church Conference in Raleigh, NC, I sat down with Matt Carter, Pastor of Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, TX, to talk about something close to his heart–pastoring his family.

Matt shares some great counsel from the Scriptures and his own life to help us do just that.

Listen. Learn. Tweet.

So I took my family to Bruster’s Ice Cream last night.

It’s one of our favorite places because they give kids free “baby cones” just for stopping by. Being a young church planter with four little ones, we will take as many freebies as we can get! Though I usually don’t get a cone (blood sugar issues), today I did.

And it was glorious.

No sugar-added chocolate caramel swirl.

Even with fake sugar it was still awesome.

And I believe it made the single greatest mess in adult ice cream eating history.

And in the midst of the drips I began to think of ministry.

Like good ice cream, good ministry is messy.

While there will always the typical mess that the enemy and the fallen world make in our midst, faithfully preaching the Bible and bringing the Gospel to bear on daily life brings creates a mess of its own.

• Sin and idolatry surface.
• Selfishness and pride are revealed in ourselves and our people.

And we have a mess on our hands.

But as Paul Tripp and other remind us, God is more than willing and able to help us clean up the mess that preaching His Word creates.

Ask yourself a couple of hard questions today:

Is there any of THAT kind of mess is being made in your ministry today?

If not, what needs to change?

How are you partnering with God to clean up the mess that is being made?

How are you equipping others to aid in the process?

Praying for you today as you think it through and serve the King.

This is a direct “repost” from Ed Stetzer’s blog but it strikes so close to what we are about here, I had to go ahead and post it.

Ray Ortlund, who provides most of its content, is a good friend, and Pastor of Immanuel Church (A29) in Nashville.

He has some great thinks to say about smaller churches planting churches that I believe you will find both challenging and encouraging.

Way to go Ray and Ed!

FROM ED’S BLOG:
Today’s post comes from Ray Ortlund. Ray is lead pastor at Immanuel Church here in Nashville. Immanuel is only a few years old and still small, but they have already planted The Axis Church in a different part of the city.

In Viral Churches, the book I co-authored with Warren Bird, we state that “Planting new churches is the best way for Christians to demonstrate love and intentionally make disciples.” Often, however, small churches will consider themselves unable to multiply, believing they are limited by size and resources. Immanuel has not been held back, and I am glad that Ray is here to write about the greater vision behind their decision to plant.

Right now, I am trying to profile some smaller churches here at the blog. And, when I had the chance to speak with Ray at a conference here in Nashville, I was impressed by his passion for and involvement in church planting. So, this seemed like a great opportunity.

So, let me turn it over to Ray:

Immanuel Church is small – growing but small. We’re about two years old and averaging around 150 people on Sunday morning. And we are involved in a church plant. Jeremy Rose is pioneering The Axis Church, another Acts 29 church, in downtown Nashville. Jeremy served with us at Immanuel the second half of 2009, and now we are committed to his new work in prayer, fellowship and money – 10% of our regular offerings. At Immanuel, we’re stoked about this.

Why not wait until we’re bigger before committing to another church plant? Well, why not wait on every aspect of obedience? I don’t know about you, but I almost never feel ready to obey the Lord Jesus Christ, except in those routine areas of obedience I already have some handle on, like “Ray, read your Bible and pray each day” – and I’m not even good at them! But real obedience, new risks for the name of Christ – that’s part of the “newness of life” the Bible calls us to (Romans 6:4). If all the obedience I offer the Lord is stuff I’m already okay at, where’s the newness? What am I, what are we, doing in obedience to him that we’ve never done before and that we don’t feel entirely ready for? That’s newness. That’s our real growth. We always want to be out there on that edge. Church planting is one way to stay there. So it doesn’t matter how small or how big our church is. If we believe that church planting is a matter of obedience to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for his greater glory in our time, then right now is when we should start taking steps toward jumping in. He will be with us.

Plus, it’s a joy to help give birth to a new church. It fills our own sails at Immanuel with a larger sense of purpose and fulfillment. Every church has a purpose. The stated purpose is almost always gospel-centered, expansive, outreaching. That’s great. But sometimes churches also have an unstated purpose, a functional purpose not in writing but in routines. The functional purpose is the pattern the members default to without thinking. And the functional purpose always wins out over the formally stated purpose. The real purpose of some churches might be something like, “Your best comfort zone now.” But it isn’t comfortable. It isn’t even alive. It’s death.

But when a church’s stated purpose and functional purpose converge as one, and that church really is reaching out in sacrifice and innovation and solid accomplishment, it’s thrilling! That church starts feeling like God’s kingdom coming and God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven. An awareness comes over that church, “Wow, by his grace we are involved! We’re not just talking big. We’re actually doing it. What a privilege!” It’s one of the ways a church’s corporate conscience and sense of responsibility ease into a settled happiness. Not complacency, but real happiness in Christ. A small church can get traction for growth when everyone can see they mean business about unselfish kingdom expansion.

We live in such a great time for church planting. Practical guidance is now available to churches of all faithful denominations and non-denominations. Ed’s blog is itself a tremendous resource. Hey brothers and sisters in churches small, medium and large, let’s go for it – now!

If you would like to interact with Ray about church planting, smaller churches, and ministry, head over to Ed’s blog today.

As you can tell by the last couple of weeks of posting, life and ministry is starting to find its rhythm here again in Louisville and I hope to start rolling out at least one (and likely more than one) post or video interview clip each week.

Upcoming shortly: Matt Carter, Ed Stetzer, Tullian Tchvidjian, Johnny Hunt, JD Greear, Tyler Jones and others.

By the time those are finished rolling out, it will be time for the A29 Seattle Boot Camp and we will try to get another batch there.

I am also back into the swing of writing my own posts so those will start rolling out soon as well, God willing.

Just wanted to give you a heads up.

Thanks for your encouragement along the way.