Planting Churches that Plant Churches

Before I get all theological on you, I thought I would update you on our live out here in Amherst. We are all pretty good. Kiera is turning a year next week, eating solid foods, and running around. She is into everything. We also went away this weekend, which is what got me thinking about today's topic. We went to visit friends out in Eastern Massachusetts.

A few things struck me. First is that the country side looks the same as where I live, but the culture was completely different. It was almost eerie. There definitely is a difference even in the 2 hours difference, or 80 miles.

Second, our friends are having the toughest time finding a church. And the question is why. Are they too picky? Possibly, but after talking with them, it doesn't seem like they are being difficult. It seems like there just aren't good churches that are close. I will even quote them as saying "...at this point we are ready to sacrifice quality for locality."

How many others are doing the same? This is why dying churches just won't die already, or get their act together and follow Jesus, reaching out to the community, loving sinners, and calling all of us to repentance. Because there aren't good churches close, we are forced to drive a long time to find a good church, or settle for the best that's around. Now I am not saying that the church should accommodate everyone and no one should have to be inconvenienced by a little travel, but at some level the church should be meeting people where they are, both spiritually, and physically.

The solution to this problem is churches that plant churches. We need to stop being content with a 500 person sanctuary that reaches the people near it, and start having a kingdom view of the church. we need to start think globally, even on a local scale. What does this mean? Well, for starters, it means thinking not just about the town we are in, but the next few over, and the ones after that. It means that we start seeking the lost, and stop expecting them to just show up where ever is convenient for us.

The problem that my friends are facing is that the churches 30 minutes or more away are not thinking about people outside their Jerusalem. They are doing well numbers wise, financially, and even growing where they are. They are running small groups, multiple services, and trying to be as biblically faithful as they can. They feel like they have made it. How can I say all this? Because that is how many people at this church felt for a while. We bought a building, had 200 plus on any given Sunday, and were multiplying small groups. But we were only doing it in one place.

I think these other churches feel the same way. It is scary planting new churches. You take your best and kick them out, and then rely on God to fill that void, both personnel and financial. But if we want to make an impact for Jesus, and obey him, this is exactly what we must do. There are people 30 minutes away that couldn't find a church if they wanted, and there are cultures 10 minutes away that aren't going to come to the churches that are here.

Just like Eastern Ma. was different that Western, so are all the towns in between different from each other, the change is just subtler. A church that plants churches can study the culture around it and make their new plant local, organic, and culturally relevant. There are people 30 minutes away just waiting for Jesus to show up in their communities, and it is on us to bring it to them. If we don't they will sacrifice quality for closeness (you can debate the merits of this all day, but it is what is happening, right or wrong), and in so doing, possibly loose their souls.

I believe that my friends problem is pandemic. There are entire regions with no church. We need to get the local churches to reach out to the communities just out of sight. Sure we need to send missionaries to Asia and Africa, but if we are also not sending them to where we are right now, can we really say we are following the great commission? We need the local churches to multiply, plant other small groups and large celebrations. We need to re saturate North America with living, growing churches. The only way that this is going to happen is if the local church does it. The local church knows the flavor and temperature of the area around it, and is therefore best suited to this kind of work.

This is the hardest option to be sure, but I don;t think that Jesus lives in the easy, no matter what t he Prosperity Guys say. He is there most when things are hardest. It is in the struggle and turmoil that we can learn to depend on Christ whole heartedly, and at some level, this is what the modern church is missing.

So let's go plant churches. Let's invade culture first as students, getting a feel for the people, and then as teachers, leading them to Salvation. If we don;t do it, who is going to? If the church is not faithful in the seemingly small things of the next town over, how can we hope to be faithful in the larger goal of the world? What we need now are men and women convinced that this is how to reach the globe, and then ready top sacrifice all to make it happen. What is God calling you to do?