Last week, I was in Minneapolis, MN for the Desiring God 2011 National Conference. This year’s focus was on local and global missions. I had a chance to hear from quite a few excellent speakers, one of which was Ed Stetzer.
In his break-out session, Stetzer spoke on The Essential Strategy of Planting New Churches. Here are my notes from that session.
First, Some Reasons We Aren’t Planting Churches
We want to revitalize dying churches
- We want to rescue dying churches. Church revitalization is not bad within and of itself, unless it takes the place of church planting.
- Consistently, church revitalization is often tried, but seldom successful.
- “It’s easier to birth a baby than to raise the dead.”
- Are we revitalizing a church or actually just not planting new churches?
- This is a both/and situation, rather than an either/or. We need people to revitalize churches as well as plant new ones.
We have a “Parish” mentality
- “If there is a gospel-preaching church in that area, then it must be reached.” This is not necessarily true.
- There are lots of people to reach.
Groups have become territorial
God’s people don’t want to sacrifice
- We create a bubble that we’re comfortable in.
- We should be pushing out on mission into uncomfortable areas as we share the Gospel.
- It is hard to live in community on mission.
- Too many Christians want to be customers rather than Christians.
- One of the biggest challenges of church planting is getting people to leave great churches to plant churches.
Too many people believe the “already reached” myth
- Some believe that North America is already reached.
- Don’t make the mistake of saying, “it’s just as lost here as it is over there. That distinction is not helpful.
- However, North America does need to be engaged by church planting.
Why We Should Plant Churches
The Commission Reason
- In Matthew 28, Jesus calls his disciples to go, make disciples, baptizing them.
- Since baptism is a function of the church, you cannot fulfill this commission without first planting a church.
- Church planting is an effective way to make disciples.
The Hermeneutic Reason
- Upon hearing the teachings of Jesus, the disciples decided that Jesus was telling them to do something.
- Interpreting Jesus’s teachings, they acted by planted churches.
- Paul, Peter, and Thomas planted churches.
- They did not just make disciples.
The Example Reason
- Historically, the Jerusalem church does not end well. Note that they did not send out church planters, but church inspectors.
- Sidenote: When you’re not actively engaged in mission, you can become focused on your own practices and methods.
- Antioch was a “sending” church.
- Don’t miss the character of God, who “sends.”
- Sidenote: If you want to become a church planting church, celebrate church planting. You become what you celebrate.
The Congregation Reason
- God desires that we would be part of a people, a congregation.
- For your church to multiply, the components of your church should also be multiplying (groups, ministries, etc.).
- If you do not build it into the DNA that churches multiply, your congregation will just feed and feed and feed…
The Lost Reason
- The scriptures call us to do mission both for the glory of God and because of the perishing.
- Consider the parables of Jesus concerning the lost and the value he puts on them, searching em out (Luke 15).
- “Some of you are feasting with the fed” when there are those who are lost and need to hear the Gospel.
Ed Stetzer is President of LifeWay Research and is LifeWay’s Missiologist in Residence. You can read his blog here.