How not to Church Plant

Our goal is to start a church that will reach the city of Boulder with the Gospel. And, we are doing it the wrong way. The books I read talk about raising support, having a strict launch schedule, etc. What is our brilliant plan? We don't have one. We are just taking it one step at a time. What's are secret fund raising technique? Don't have a clue. We don't have many real strong churches backing us. We don't have a brilliant strategy. We don't have one dime of money promised to us. I am just taking it one day at a time. I work for a good company. I am building friendships. I beginning to leverage those friendships to make disciples.That's it. Don't you have to live it before you can teach it? Don't we have to figure out how to live as missionaries with real jobs in real life before we can help other believers do the same? Some times I think we are crazy. Often I wonder if we are going to crash and burn. We might. But, Jesus brought us here. He's here with us. Maybe, just maybe He will help us figure this thing out. And, that's what we are going to do. That's our brilliant strategy.  Try real hard to stay close to Jesus, hear His voice, and then do what He says. Probably won't make much of a cool church planter book one day will it?  Oh yeah, please don't make fun of me because I wrote a few blogs on "developing a strategy" earlier. Please.

Success? Does it Matter?

I went to bed and woke up with a personal struggle. How important is success to me? How much do I do because I want others to be impressed? Should success be important?

Just like anyone else who grew up in church, I heard great quotes like this one from William Carey, "Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God." A tear probably rolled down my cheek the first time I heard it. But, is that right? Should we want to be great? Even if it is being great for God? Should I want success even if it success for the Gospel?

One thought gave me clarity this morning. It was a thought birthed by reflecting on Paul's prayer is Romans 1. In his prayer, Paul unabashedly admits to asking God for "much fruit" in his ministry. And, it wasn't the first time or the last time, he asked to have a big, flourishing ministry.

Of course, he meant legitimate fruit and success according to God's standards, but he also meant having impacting a lot of people. As we start this process of planting a church, I don't want one ounce of glory or honor to be for me, my family, or my friends who help. But, I do hope we will be immensely successful. And, like Paul, I hope we reach a ship load of people. I guess if Paul wasn't ashamed to admit it, I shouldn't be either.

How Jesus Built a Discipleship Community

A few days ago a friend and I were chatting about planting churches and the idea dropped into our chat about Jesus and church planting. The thought was pretty basic. A church is community of disciple making. Jesus created a community like this. How did He do it? Here are a few ideas:

1) He met people where they were. Most people who followed Jesus met Jesus at there hang outs or their jobs. He made connections and deepened connections around the interests of his followers. How many times do we read about Jesus in a boat while his followers fished? Jesus did their thing with them.

2) He had authentication from other people. Some of the first followers of Jesus followed because of the suggestion of John the Baptist. The big three were definitely this way, John, Peter, and James.

3) His community grew virally. Similar to the previous comment, Jesus group got bigger and bigger because one follower asked another potential follower to join. That was the marketing strategy. "I have been hanging out with this guy Jesus and His friends. You should try it to."

4) He had authentication from God. It helps when God Himself speaks audibly in front  of a crowd telling them you are the Messiah. It also helps when you can heal people with a word. But, don't overlook how this might play out in your life. Of course, God might heal through you, but most likely it will be the testimony of answered prayer, godly living, and changed lives that others will see God's presence in your community. 

5) He asked for people to follow Him. This isn't to be overlooked. Some personality types (myself included) are tempted to believe good things only come to those who wait. We need to be willing to challenge people to join our community. "Hey Dude, you need to be a part of what we are doing."

6) He served others with them. Whether it was healing or feeding people, Jesus lived His life for others. He led His community by example AND He got them involved in the process.

7) Similarly, He let them hang out and watch Him as He did His thing. They watched Him heal. They were there for the sermons to the masses.

8) He took them (the core) deeper. I love it when Jesus would pull his boys aside and explain a truth with a little more clarity.

9) I think you could say that He also started His foundation with seekers. People who were looking for the Messiah.

10) He was full time. Jesus doesn't seem to swing a hammer to often after He started building His community. He devoted His life to spending time with the disciples. At some point, do we all need to make this jump? 

11) He was willing to forgo the niceties of life to invest in this community. Most scholars suggest that Jesus was raised in an upper middle class home. OK, by most scholars I mean Dr. David Black, my Greek prof in seminary, but he knows his stuff. He abandoned that lifestyle to invest in these men. Would it have looked different had He been married with children? (Sorry for subtly comparing Jesus to Al Bundy) Would He not have a place for his kids to lay their tiny heads? I guess the point is... be willing to abandon the American dream for the gospel, for the sake of the community. 

There are probably more comparisons and better ones too. These are the ideas that came from our discussion. It was a helpful for exercise for me. I had never thought of Jesus as a church planter before. (I know, I know, I'm on the church planting short bus.) I hope some others contribute to this list in the future.