I often have the privilege of getting to have lunch with a pastor/church planter. (By the way, Steven NAILED IT with this post in regards to meetings like that!) One of the things I am often asked is, “What do you wish someone would have told you before you began?”
I’ve thought about that a lot…and I can’t say all of this in one posts—so here is a series of posts on this. Beginning with…
#1 - Your Primary Objective Should Be To Be Faithful To Jesus And His Vision.
Sounds simple…but trust me, it isn’t that easy to follow—and there are two reasons for this.
You’ve got to understand that everyone who comes to your church, especially in the early days, will have a vision they feel you need to adapt to. You can identify these people by the phrase, “Well, at my old church we used to…” From the very beginning I have always suggested to people who say that to return to “their old church” because we simply are not heading that direction.
If Jesus has called you to plant a church, if He has birthed a vision in your heart then you MUST be faithful to Him. From day one I have understood than one day I will stand before God and be held accountable by Him for how I led…and I am trying desperately to hear His voice. I want to be faithful.
The second reason for this is that there is so much advice out there on how to begin a church. Just recently I had lunch with a church planter who began discussing their “preview services.” When he asked me about NewSpring’s preview services I said, “We didn’t have them.” When he asked as to why I simply said, “God never said to.”
If you are planting a church then PLEASE—do read books, go to conferences, ask questions…BUT PLEASE, at the end of the day don’t try to do what someone else has done…and don’t try to become something you are not—even if something is a GREAT idea…if God isn’t leading you to do it—DON’T, I can promise if you do it will be a HUGE waste of time.
You and I are called to be faithful to Jesus. How has HE called you to do church? You’ve GOT to get a WORD from HIM…and when you do—pursue it with relentless passion and do not apologize or alter your course for ANYONE!