#1 - Am I planting this church because I am angry and/or bitter?
You may know of some exceptions…but on the whole I have not seen the Lord bless too many church splits long term. AND…nothing that is sown in bitterness and resentment can grow into something awesome and life changing.
#2 - Do I have a white hot vision from God in regards to what the church needs to do?
You WILL have people show up when you first begin, you WILL have people say they have been praying for a church like yours to come to the area…and you will also have people who say they are fired up about the vision of the church; however, the vision they are fired up about is theirs and not yours. Which leads to the next question…
#3 - Will I be obsessed with reaching people or keeping people?
If you deeply desire to reach people far from God you will always offend those who think they are His favorite child. (See Matthew 12:1-14!)
#4 - Do I love it when people show up at my church planting meetings and bash their former church/pastor?
BE CAREFUL!!! It will only be a matter of time before they are at another church planting meeting with another pastor saying the same things about you!
#5 - Am I ready to face opposition?
I once heard my friend Craig Groeschel say, “if you are not ready to face opposition then you are not ready to be used by God.” Read through the book of Acts, specifically chapter 13-20 and notice the number of times that Paul planted a church and then faced incredible opposition!
#6 - Do I have another pastor I can confide in, whom I can trust to walk with me through good and bad times?
Pastors, PLEASE listen…this person CANNOT be your wife!!! She does need to be on board (and if she’s not then you really need to examine as to whether or not you should pursue church planting.) BUT…only a pastor can understand a pastor. You will have tough days and every pastor needs a pastor! (If you have not read “The Pastors Pain” yet I would URGE you to do so, this was a lesson the Lord taught me several years ago.)
#7 - Are you willing to take continual steps of faith?
Where in the Bible did the Lord ever ask anyone to do anything that was easy or that made sense? If you are going to plant a church that constantly pursues the Lord and what He wants then I really do believe you are going to have to be willing to take larger and larger steps of faith (Hebrews 11:6).
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