The Sacrifices of Church Planting

It is a hard thing to plant a new church where one does not currently exist. It is hard for a number of reasons not the least of which is the sacrifices that have to be made to make it all happen.

We, North American Christians, have become used to doing church in a certain way. That "way" colors all our thinking about what is a "real" church. We are used to padded pews and large choirs. There are pianos and organs and arranged music and power point presentations. If any of these elements are missing then we really don't feel like we have been in church.

But a church plant is another kind of experience altogether. Often you sit on what you have. You meet in people's homes, or in unused garages, or in rented buildings. You sing out of left over hymnals given to you by other churches who have worn them out and moved on to buy new ones. Your offering plate is sometimes a cereal bowl. The pews, so called, are not padded. The music is not well rehearsed and accompanied by a multi-piece ensemble. You make due with what you have. You learn to work with what has been given to you. As Clint Eastwood said of his Marines in Heartbreak Ridge ... you learn to "improvise, overcome, adapt."

A lot of people are not willing to give up the safe and comfortable church buildings in order to see a new church raised up. But then again, there are some who are willing to make those sacrifices. They are willing to sit on a floor and sing A Capella and put an offering into a cereal bowl and still call it "church." Jesus promised where two or three were gathered together in His Name, there He is among them.

Church planting is hard work. But it is the type of work that makes one entirely reliant on God. And it is very satisfying to see a new local body arise where one was needed and where it did not exist before. May the Holy God be praised for His Spirit bringing His people together.