If I was starting over again as a church planter, and honestly I am, here is a list of things that I would and am doing differently this time around. The following list by the way is in no particular order.
1) Pray more. By this I mean serious, down on my face prayer time. I don't think I would pray specifically for anything except maybe holiness on my part. You see God naturally places lost people in front of you daily. So there is no need to pray for people to reach. People are naturally drawn to God. There is a supernatural pull within all of us toward Jesus, so holiness on my part is the probably the best tool one could have.
2) Spend less money on facilities. I am not saying don't spend money on facilities. If you have been given a resource with real estate attached, it would be silly not to thank God for it, and to use it to its best and fullest extent. What I am saying is that before I built new buildings and acquired the funding needed for that, I would do my dead level best to try and think of how to use what I already have been given in strategic and clever ways. I would spend money making sure that what I have been given is at its utmost best.
3) Start more worship services. People need to worship. We were created to worship, and we will always have an emptiness unless we do so. Today's culture though is different. There are varied work schedules. No longer is everyone a farmer and milks their cows first thing in the morning. No longer do businesses, schools and other things that involves our time shut down on Sundays, so instead of fighting the culture on this one, and complaining about the good old days when sports, school, and work schedules bowed down to the church's calendar, why not just offer more and more times of corporate worship, so people can worship with a little less stress on their lives. Yes, I know that the building will be less full, but what is wrong with worshipping corporately in a smaller more intimate setting?
4) Start more small groups off the church's campus. I would also cap their size somewhere around 15 to 20. A smaller size is conducive to better discussions, and by the way, most homes, cafes, or coffee shops can only hold about this maximum number comfortably. I would also keep the members of the group limited to only one or two families or individuals from the church. The rest of the group members should come from outside the church's membership roles. The groups could be of any kind: Women's groups, Men's Groups, Single's Groups, Divorced Groups, University Employee Groups, Student Groups, Immigrant Groups, McDonald's Employees Groups, Currently Unemployed Groups, Left-handed Groups. You name it. The sky is the limit on these types of groups. But the groups should have only one word that keeps them unified - Jesus. I also wouldn't purchase curricula for these groups. I would just use the Bible. That's all we need. I mean why read someone's explanation of the Bible when you have the Bible? Read it for yourself. To teach the Bible though, I suggest breaking the Bible up into stories, verses, poems, songs, or chapters and ask just three questions to teach the lesson as it is being discussed:
5) Spend more money in the community and the world. Spending money on ourselves and our own comforts is nice, but honestly its quite selfish. The Gospel is never selfish. It is all about sharing.
6) Start more prayer services. Corporate prayer is a powerful thing, but I honestly feel that most of the time we don't pray for the right things. In some of the prayer meetings that I have attended over the years, often it felt more like we were gossip praying. "O Lord, fix so and so's marriage." "O Lord, the Smith's boy has gone and gotten that girl pregnant. Be in that situation Lord." "O Lord, We haven't gotten time to mention everyone's name on this list, so help them if you can." Yeah, it just doesn't feel right, and it definitely doesn't feel real, at least to me.
7) Insist that everything done by the church has at it's heart a discipleship purpose. The church has done thousands and thousands of things for the betterment of mankind. It has built hospitals and orphanages. It has painted schools, cleaned parks, held fall festivals and fed the hungry. Those are real good things. Great even. But often painting a school or cleaning a park or hosting a fall festival has not changed a life for Christ. Hear me clearly now, because I am absolutely NOT saying DON'T do those things, because often those things open doors for the members of the church to be able to disciple others, and that is a real good thing. What I am saying is that the church should EVALUATE everything that the church does. Rethink everything, and if something is not successfully leading to discipleship then the church should seriously question why it is involved at all. Ask these questions: Are we doing this because of tradition, or is it to keep up with the church down the street. Is it because it is something the membership likes to do? If it is not leading to discipleship, then is it worth time and effort? It might be, who knows? But in any event those questions beg an answer.
8) Spend more time with fewer people. Jesus' example was that he did preach to the masses, but that was not His aim. The groups just seemed to find Him. He spent his best time with the fewest people. He had 12 men that he spent solid time with. He even broke those 12 into smaller groups. Peter, James and John received most of his attention. I would also hand pick the people with whom I spend the majority of my time. Honestly though this might anger the status quo, because they might be very surprised with the ones that I select.
9) Have less programs. Unless of course by programs you mean small discipleship groups.
10) Talk about money more. What? Am I crazy? Probably, but where your treasure is, there also lies your heart. Honestly, we all do what is in our heart. If there is a sin sitting in my heart then I sin. If I am greedy and my heart wants to hold onto my possessions then my heart is on stuff and not the things of God. I didn't do the research, so I am not completely sure, but Randy Alcorn, who I admire and is a stewardship guru, wrote this: Throughout the entire Bible there are roughly 2,350 verses concerning money. This is roughly twice as many as faith and prayer combined. Fifteen percent of everything Jesus said related to money and possessions. He spoke about money and possessions more than heaven and hell combined. The only subject Jesus spoke of more often is the Kingdom of God. Why? Because the Scriptures make clear there is a fundamental connection between a person's spiritual life and his attitudes and actions concerning money and possessions. Often we divorce the two -- Christ sees them as essentially related to one another. And you can find that and more here: Randy Alcorn's Research.
11) Talk about the Kingdom of Heaven and Hell more. You may say, Hell is an unnerving topic. Hell disturbs people, and most people don't believe in Hell. Well, apparently Jesus believed in Hell. Jesus told this story - Luke 14: 14-31. If you read that, now I ask you, "What does the story say? What does the story teach you to do?" Here is some more research on the topic: Does the Bible Speak More about Hell than Heaven
12) Only allow those who truly disciple others be leaders in the church. Since discipleship is the church's mission, this only makes sense. Why allow those who view church as something with a lesser purpose be in charge? It NEVER works out well, and it just confuses things.
1) Pray more. By this I mean serious, down on my face prayer time. I don't think I would pray specifically for anything except maybe holiness on my part. You see God naturally places lost people in front of you daily. So there is no need to pray for people to reach. People are naturally drawn to God. There is a supernatural pull within all of us toward Jesus, so holiness on my part is the probably the best tool one could have.
2) Spend less money on facilities. I am not saying don't spend money on facilities. If you have been given a resource with real estate attached, it would be silly not to thank God for it, and to use it to its best and fullest extent. What I am saying is that before I built new buildings and acquired the funding needed for that, I would do my dead level best to try and think of how to use what I already have been given in strategic and clever ways. I would spend money making sure that what I have been given is at its utmost best.
3) Start more worship services. People need to worship. We were created to worship, and we will always have an emptiness unless we do so. Today's culture though is different. There are varied work schedules. No longer is everyone a farmer and milks their cows first thing in the morning. No longer do businesses, schools and other things that involves our time shut down on Sundays, so instead of fighting the culture on this one, and complaining about the good old days when sports, school, and work schedules bowed down to the church's calendar, why not just offer more and more times of corporate worship, so people can worship with a little less stress on their lives. Yes, I know that the building will be less full, but what is wrong with worshipping corporately in a smaller more intimate setting?
4) Start more small groups off the church's campus. I would also cap their size somewhere around 15 to 20. A smaller size is conducive to better discussions, and by the way, most homes, cafes, or coffee shops can only hold about this maximum number comfortably. I would also keep the members of the group limited to only one or two families or individuals from the church. The rest of the group members should come from outside the church's membership roles. The groups could be of any kind: Women's groups, Men's Groups, Single's Groups, Divorced Groups, University Employee Groups, Student Groups, Immigrant Groups, McDonald's Employees Groups, Currently Unemployed Groups, Left-handed Groups. You name it. The sky is the limit on these types of groups. But the groups should have only one word that keeps them unified - Jesus. I also wouldn't purchase curricula for these groups. I would just use the Bible. That's all we need. I mean why read someone's explanation of the Bible when you have the Bible? Read it for yourself. To teach the Bible though, I suggest breaking the Bible up into stories, verses, poems, songs, or chapters and ask just three questions to teach the lesson as it is being discussed:
- What does the story say?
- What does the story tell you to do or obey?
- Who are you going to teach this lesson to?
6) Start more prayer services. Corporate prayer is a powerful thing, but I honestly feel that most of the time we don't pray for the right things. In some of the prayer meetings that I have attended over the years, often it felt more like we were gossip praying. "O Lord, fix so and so's marriage." "O Lord, the Smith's boy has gone and gotten that girl pregnant. Be in that situation Lord." "O Lord, We haven't gotten time to mention everyone's name on this list, so help them if you can." Yeah, it just doesn't feel right, and it definitely doesn't feel real, at least to me.
7) Insist that everything done by the church has at it's heart a discipleship purpose. The church has done thousands and thousands of things for the betterment of mankind. It has built hospitals and orphanages. It has painted schools, cleaned parks, held fall festivals and fed the hungry. Those are real good things. Great even. But often painting a school or cleaning a park or hosting a fall festival has not changed a life for Christ. Hear me clearly now, because I am absolutely NOT saying DON'T do those things, because often those things open doors for the members of the church to be able to disciple others, and that is a real good thing. What I am saying is that the church should EVALUATE everything that the church does. Rethink everything, and if something is not successfully leading to discipleship then the church should seriously question why it is involved at all. Ask these questions: Are we doing this because of tradition, or is it to keep up with the church down the street. Is it because it is something the membership likes to do? If it is not leading to discipleship, then is it worth time and effort? It might be, who knows? But in any event those questions beg an answer.
8) Spend more time with fewer people. Jesus' example was that he did preach to the masses, but that was not His aim. The groups just seemed to find Him. He spent his best time with the fewest people. He had 12 men that he spent solid time with. He even broke those 12 into smaller groups. Peter, James and John received most of his attention. I would also hand pick the people with whom I spend the majority of my time. Honestly though this might anger the status quo, because they might be very surprised with the ones that I select.
9) Have less programs. Unless of course by programs you mean small discipleship groups.
10) Talk about money more. What? Am I crazy? Probably, but where your treasure is, there also lies your heart. Honestly, we all do what is in our heart. If there is a sin sitting in my heart then I sin. If I am greedy and my heart wants to hold onto my possessions then my heart is on stuff and not the things of God. I didn't do the research, so I am not completely sure, but Randy Alcorn, who I admire and is a stewardship guru, wrote this: Throughout the entire Bible there are roughly 2,350 verses concerning money. This is roughly twice as many as faith and prayer combined. Fifteen percent of everything Jesus said related to money and possessions. He spoke about money and possessions more than heaven and hell combined. The only subject Jesus spoke of more often is the Kingdom of God. Why? Because the Scriptures make clear there is a fundamental connection between a person's spiritual life and his attitudes and actions concerning money and possessions. Often we divorce the two -- Christ sees them as essentially related to one another. And you can find that and more here: Randy Alcorn's Research.
11) Talk about the Kingdom of Heaven and Hell more. You may say, Hell is an unnerving topic. Hell disturbs people, and most people don't believe in Hell. Well, apparently Jesus believed in Hell. Jesus told this story - Luke 14: 14-31. If you read that, now I ask you, "What does the story say? What does the story teach you to do?" Here is some more research on the topic: Does the Bible Speak More about Hell than Heaven
Very insightful Steve. You have been a great mentor and example in my young life in Ministry
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteI like the way you titled the blog, if you HAD to start over, not if I could. Your life and experience have given you insight and shown areas of improvement. Who knows, you may change/improve your strategies again. When you HAVE to start over- 2nd Corinthians 4:16 Shine like the Son :)
ReplyDeleteYou my friend are the only one to catch that slight word.
DeleteInspiring,may the Lord Grant you wisdom to continue doing this to the glory of His name. As a young Christian you have set the tone for me and am blessed to have seen this blog.
ReplyDelete