Course Correction
As a Director of Missions in a local Baptist Association of churches perhaps I have a different perspective on Church Planting. To start, let me share with you that I am overwhelmingly in favor of Church Planting. We are a financial supporter of Church Planting. Our association has partnered with multiple churches to plant seven new churches over the past seven years, and we are currently partnering with three church plants. The lostness of our area is staggering! A recent in-depth study performed by iicm.net indicates that Mississippi is between 60-70% lost. This is a higher percentage than most would imagine but the overwhelming reality is that Evangelical Christian’s are quickly losing ground. In light of these facts there are several thing I would like to mention.
Cooperation Minded
As Southern Baptists we believe in cooperation. We always have. In a sense, this is how our local associations were formed. We identified that we could do more together than we could separate. In pooling our financial resources, our different giftings and expertise we become much more efficient in spreading the Gospel and planting churches.
Today, it is very important that we maintain this spirit of cooperation. There should be no Lone Ranger churches within the Kingdom of God. We are all the Bride of Christ and must seek to work together to herald His coming. The enemy is an expert at creating division where there should be unity. We must pray for unity as in Acts 2, lock arms with our brothers and sisters in Christ and advance the Gospel!
Also, the vast majority of churches across the SBC are 100 members or less. It is easy to understand why our smaller churches have limited financial resources and personnel. This however does not mean they are any less valuable. Bigger does not always mean better! Less people leads to limited resources, however, when these resources are pooled together by cooperating churches we now have an overabundance of resources. It should make no difference the size or age of the congregation in the spirit of cooperation. We all have something valuable we can bring to the table through the Lord’s Grace. The problem often comes when we care who gets the credit for the success.
Finally, this is why we believe strongly in local associations and the cooperative program. We can do more together than we can separate. True, there are some extremely large churches that can fund their own programs but this is the exception and not the rule. Again, the vast majority of our SBC churches are 100 members and fewer. There is a danger here as well. We must constantly seek the Lord and His direction. As Local Associations, State Conventions and the overall SBC we must be good stewards of these resources our churches have entrusted us with and use them on Kingdom Growth ministries. We fail and create dissension when these resources are used to cater to ourselves and neglect the lost. We must also be laser-focused on the Great Commission. If the Lord Jesus and the Great Commission are our focus then our financial budgets must reflect as much. We can no longer waste resources supporting ministries that play no role in the Great Commission of our Lord.
The Principle of Having Kingdom Vision
Next, it is vital to have vision. Most people immediately think of the passage in Proverbs 29:18 ….. “where there is no vision the people perish.” Sadly, many have no vision for their churches. One of the roles an association can help with is to encourage pastors and their congregations to have a Kingdom Vision. Where will your church be next year? Where is the Lord leading you to be in 5 years or 10? It is easy to slip off into a humanistic business management principle which we must avoid but we must have vision!
A captain at the helm of a ship always has a destination as to where he is going. He uses his navigational tools, maps, and compass to organize his crew accordingly. However, if the boat’s captain has no final destination or purpose for sailing then the boat will drift off course. It will be easily pushed into complacency by the wind and waves. Today, our denominational leaders, pastors, staff and lay leaders must pay close attention to drifting. We must focus on advancing the Gospel and the Kingdom of God. We cannot get caught up in good things that lead us off course.
Also, vision isn’t always clear. In Genesis 12 the Lord told Abraham to “go to a place that I will show you.“ In this case Abraham’s vision wasn’t focused on a destination but a person. However, Abraham did make preparations, organized his family for the journey and started walking. His vision was on the Lord! Sometimes our vision is not as clear as we would like. What we must do in this case is to focus on what the Lord has already commanded in Matthew 28:19-20. We have already been commanded to “Go and Make Disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teach them to obey all the Lord has commanded us.”
So how does all of this tie in with church planting? Today, we must lead our pastors, congregations, local associations, and state conventions to advance the Lord’s Kingdom. In light of our significant shortfall of churches in Mississippi we must seek to partner to plant more churches. With a bulk of resources we will be able to plant a number of churches that will reach the communities around us. This means we should not spend the bulk of our resources on items other than what fulfills the Great Commission. By design, church plants reach the lost significantly more than plateaued or dying churches. If they do not reach the lost, the church will die within the first two years. We must stop spending the bulk of our resources in areas that do not promote Great Commission Growth. We must trim the dead branches and make way for new growth in order to advance the Lord’s Kingdom through church planting. Our existing churches have an exciting role to play in sponsoring church plants, training church plant pastors and even sending families to help start a new work. Ultimately, church planting isn’t as much about starting a new church as it is about spreading the Gospel of Jesus. We cannot be held up by bureaucracy, trivial preferences, or apathy. The Lord is coming, and we must advance His Kingdom as the bridegroom awaits her coming King!
“…….Even so, Come Quickly Lord Jesus….”Rev. 22:20
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