Two Types Of Church Planters August 25, 2011

This year in preparation for NLC (which is going to be AMAZING) I received a couple of different emails from church planters…

#1 – The first one basically said that they were so excited about coming to NLC…that when they first saw the conference they didn’t think they could afford it; however, after putting their heads together they decided to sell an old van they had and through the sale of that van had the money to come to the conference.

#2 – The second one said that they were a new church plant that didn’t have a lot of resources and wondered if we would give them tickets.

We can argue about this all day…but if I were a betting man I would put my money on church #1 succeeding and church #2 achieving, at best, mediocrity.

Church number one has what I refer to as “The Victory” mentality…they are willing to do what it takes to advance things forward.

Church number two has what I refer to as “The Victim” mentality…they feel “trapped” by their circumstances and are expecting a handout.

Am I being hard on church number two?  NOPE!  Because…church leaders that cannot get past the entitlement mentality and seem to want to make excuses as to all of the reasons they cannot do what God has said to do NEVER achieve their full potential.

Honestly, it takes me back to when we started NewSpring Church…

We didn’t have money in the bank (you do not have to have a certain amount of money to begin a church!!!)

We didn’t have an org chart

We didn’t have a sound system or lights

We didn’t have a conference budget

What we had was vision…and knew that “if it’s God’s will then it’s God’s bill!”

When it came time to bring in a consultant that we felt the Lord wanted us to bring in…we didn’t lecture him about how poor we were (AND WE WERE)…we paid him!

When it came time for us to go to a conference we didn’t call the church and ask them for a handout…we registered EARLY (so we could get the discout) and PAID THE PRICE to go!

Let me be very clear…a church that has “the victim” mentality simply is in trouble…because if that is how THE LEADERS think then how in the world will their people EVER be able to step up and achieve an Ephesians 3:20 life!

Church planters…you are either a Victor or a Victim…which one are you?

AND…if you are a church planter you may want to check out these other articles…

• 13 Things I Would Tell Church Planters
• Four Questions Church Planters MUST Answer
• Five Tests A Church Planter Will Face – PART ONE & PART TWO
• Seven Reasons Your Church Plant Might Fail

Five Tests A Church Planter Will Face – Part Two of Two February 5, 2010

Continuing yesterday’s post…

#3 – The Faith Test

Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.

SO…if your vision seems “impossible,” if failure is absolutely certain unless God somehow gets involved…then I would say that you are probably on the right track.

(Please remember that there is a fine line between faith and stupidity…which is why it is SO essential to make sure you have heard from God and didn’t just eat some bad pizza!)

AND…church planter…the further along you get in the process the larger the steps of faith He commands us to take.  Don’t EVER make the foolish assumption that one day the decisions somehow “get easier.”  If we are walking with God He will always lead us to the place where we are desperate for Him!

#4 – The Commitment Test

There is a HUGE difference between a group of people who LIKE your church and then those who are actually committed to it…and sooner or later (usually better if you do it sooner) you’ve GOT to ask for commitment.

So many pastors are scared to do this because of a fear that they might scare some people away.  Let me make you a promise…YOU WILL!  BUT…as pastors and leaders in the church it is not our job to DO all of the ministry…but to train and equip the body to serve the body (see Ephesians 4:11-12.)

Too many professional church attenders are used to going somewhere where they “have their needs met” rather than being involved somewhere that allows Jesus to use them to meet the needs of others.  Don’t be afraid to ask for a commitment early and often…Jesus wasn’t!  (See John 6)  Yes, He did lose some…but the ones who stayed with Him were able to see more happen and accomplish more than they ever dreamed possible.  (See the entire book of Acts!)

#5 – The Focus Test

As the church grows there will be a temptation to do “more.”  Questions will begin to arise such as…

• “When are we going to start a mid week service?”
• “When are we going to start a school?”
• “When are we going to start a mens/womens/singles ministry?”
• “When are we going to (FILL IN THE BLANK.”

For some reason church world has fallen for the lie that as a church grows it needs more programs and activities…which is why SO many churches get stalled out and stop growing.  NOT because these programs are necessarily evil…but because they are simply not in the vision of what God wants for that particular church.

Every church planter/pastor needs to ask themselves this question, “Can God trust me with success?”  BECAUSE…having success in ministry often leads to people completely losing their focus and they lead the people into being busy rather than being godly.

That is why a church planter has to KNOW what God has called him to do before he ever launches…because EVERYONE who walks in the doors of a church plant has a vision for it…and if you don’t KNOW what God wants (or if your scared to say no) then your vision will get hijacked and you will eventually be the pastor of a church that you hate!

He saved you…He called you…He has equipped you and He will sustain you…so focus on HIM and do what HE says!

Five Tests A Church Planter WILL Face – Part One of Two February 4, 2010

I love being able to chat with/dream with church planters…and one of the questions often asked by them is, “What is the one thing you would have wish you had known before you started?”

My answer is simple…I wish that someone had told me that the decision to launch the church was actually going to be the easiest decision in the process, that during the next year or so I would face five critical tests that I believe every church planter goes through…and failing these tests is NOT AN OPTION if I really wanted to see the church achieve its maximum potential.

Test #1 – The Financial Test

I believe that God tests every church planter when it comes to money within the first 12-18 months.  I cannot tell you the number of conversations I’ve had with people who have said, “Things were going great until the biggest giver in the church got upset…and now I don’t know what to do because what he wants isn’t the direction I feel that God is leading the church…but he gives a huge percentage of the budget.”

First of all–EVERY church planter/pastor needs to understand that GOD IS THE BIGGEST GIVER IN YOUR CHURCH!  If it’s God’s will then it is God’s bill…He knows how to take care of what belongs to Him.  AND…if you sell God out and put your trust in a dude with a HUGE checkbook (and usually an ego to match) then you are nothing more than a prostitute.  (Someone who is paid for a service in order to make another person feel good.)

We faced a financial test EARLY on when we started NewSpring Church.  The people who were literally giving 65% of the budget and who were fully on board at the beginning began to back off as the vision of what we were going to do as a church became more and more clear.  One night they asked me to come to their home, shared their feelings with me and let me know that they were no longer going to be a part of the church.  (BTW…they did this in the godliest way possible, there were no hard feelings and verbal jabs on either side…and I still highly respect them to this day!  AND…another btw…we hadn’t even had our first official church service yet!!!)

I would be lying if I said I didn’t have an “Oh crap” moment while hearing them share their hearts; however, I had made a decision early on that the vision of what God had placed in my heart was not for sale…it never has been and never will be.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen so many pastors fail this test because they depend on people way more than they depend on God.  When your biggest desire is to keep the biggest givers in your church happy you have ceased to lead and are actually being led!

Test #2 -  The Critics Test

One of the verses that has always amazed me is found in the book of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah is a guy who gets broken by God…who gets full of vision and passion…who risks everything to do a great work for God and provide help to a group of people who had all but given up.  He wanted nothing more than to see the “impossible” happen and people have their hope restored…and yet some people had a problem with it!  (See Nehemiah 2:10)

Dear church planter…you are foolish if you actually believe that everyone thinks that what you are doing is a good thing.  SO…you had better learn early to develop thick skin and not lead through reacting to everything but rather by being proactive and moving on with what God has said…no matter what “they” say.

Your dream will be criticized…early and often.  BUT…if God has set your heart on fire then DO NOT let those who have never actually done anything for Him define what they believe you can or can’t do in His name!

Seven Reasons Your Church Plant Might Fail December 15, 2009

Church planters are a RARE breed…no one in their right mind would EVER choose to do it…it MUST be a calling.  AND…no one WANTS their church plant to fail…yet here are seven reasons I’ve seen that some have…

#1 – The Church Is Planted Out Of Bitterness Rather Than A Divine Calling From God!

What some people call a church plant…God actually calls a church split.  When a group of bitter, angry, self serving people with a lot of money find a hirling who will do all that they want him to do…that isn’t necessarily a church plant.  AND…usually within two or three years it goes REALLY bad.  Let me be VERY CLEAR here…when bitterness and anger are the root of the plant…then the church is in deep trouble right at the beginning.

#2 – The Leadership Has A Desire For Imitation Rather Than Seeking Revelation!

We’ve seen it before…a group of guys go to a conference and see a church…and then come back to their community and try to be just like the church they saw at the conference.  There is NOTHING wrong with receiving inspiration and ideas at a conference…but when one church tries to be just like another one in every area…then I believe the leaders are spending way too much time studying methods rather than the Scriptures.  God calls every church to be unique in some sort of way…and that will never be found if the leadership isn’t desperately seeking God for His direction.

#3 – The Pastor Has A Desire To Be Known Way More Than He Desires To Fulfill The Great Commission!

When a leader is more obsessed with how many hits he is getting on his blog…or how many people follow him on twitter…and because of those things loses sight of reaching people for Christ–it’s over.

#4 – When The Leadership Allows The Vision To Get Hijacked In Order To Keep Everyone Happy!

EVERY church planter WILL experience SOMEONE trying to hijack the vision of the church…MOST of the time before the church ever officially launches.  Pastor..BEG God for HIS vision, let Him BURN it in your heart…and then go for it and don’t let anyone talk you out of what God has clearly spoken into you.

#5 – The Pastor Isn’t Willing To Call People To Commit.

The last thing we need in the body of Christ is a room full of people who are more commited to watching their favorite TV shows every week than they are to following Christ.  Pastors…you can’t be afraid to ask people to commit to Christ, to volunteer, to give and to read their Bibles.  If you back down from this then you will do nothing more than raise a co-dependent group of people who learn to depend on you rather than Jesus.

#6 – The Pastor Lacks Courage!

This sort of goes along with #5.  I believe that every church planter will be tested early in the process…usually within the first six months…and also usually it will relate to finances.  A big giver will begin to list out his or her demands…and then the leader must decide whether or not he is a prositiute (paid for a service) or a prophet (someone who belongs to God.)  Pastor…leadership requires courage.  People WILL take shots at you.  People WILL take what you say out of context.  People WILL lie about you.  You are NOT going to be loved by everyone…and to face that reality takes courage.  If you lack it then you won’t make it.

#7 – The Pastor Tries To Do It All By Himself!

Dear pastor…you are NOT that good!  You can’t do it all (even though some will expect you to.)  You’ve GOT to delegate ministry to others.  You’ve GOT to listen to the people God intentionally places around you.  You’ve GOT to admit when the load is too heavy so those who care about you can take things off your plate.  You’ve GOT to understand that Jesus cares WAY more about the church than you do…and He will send the right people along side of you to make sure HIS vision becomes reality.  We are NOT called to do it alone!!!