Why do people need to know everything upfront? I mean, as a church planter, it seems that many people "think" they can be part of a church plant but when things are not definitive as in not "figured out just yet" people get frustrated. Is it me or isn’t that what happens in the emerging stages of a new church? Why is this discussion important? For me its important because it is easy to just do what you’ve always known and sometimes, that is not always a bad thing (i.e. my home church was a worshipping church and we are working to be that as well…not because they were but because God loves for us to praise Him). Yet, when you want to introduce something new, you just don’t do it 1) because everyone else is doing it or 2) because it sounds like a good idea and you read it in a book or worse 3) because all you know is that you want to be "different".

As spiritual leaders, we have the souls of other people in our charge. As shepherds we HAVE to discern everything. Including when to do introduce something to the congregation. The first stages of developing a church you are still figuring out what you are going to become. Yes, you may have a mission/vision, yes you have ideas about what you think is important foundational items for the church but you still don’t have it down to a science. I venture to say, you’ll never have it down to a science.

Yet, there are people, even people who believe they are called to journey alongside with you, that want to know everything up front…your theology (which for the most part for me has some non-changing beliefs but I have noticed that as I know God more, it changes..isn’t that what is supposed to happen? We think we "know" God and then we find out we didn’t "know Him that much at all"?), some want to start a million ministries and there are only a handful of bi-vocational leaders (as is our case) and feel if you can’t do something for everybody then you are no use to anybody. I come from a pentecostal tradition that had pastors burning the candle at both ends, losing their families to please the church. Is that pleasing to God? We don’t think so. Thus, as we go into our 2nd year of planting a church, we continue to strive to hear God’s voice amongst all the other voices that want to tell us what to do. Some that even say, we are not "people-oriented" enough because of the lack of multiple programs. Hello, we are a small church with a small leadership team at the moment. 

With all ‘that’ going on, STILL God is doing something in our lives and in the lives of those who have given themselves fully to what God wants to do in their lives. Those who have been coming and the people they’ve been bringing have been sharing how they feel God’s presence, how they are challenged to rethink many things they thought was a done deal in their lives and how sadly, they’ve been in church but they’ve been frozen. Hiram as the lead teaching pastor has been preaching every Sunday and I gotta tell you, God has been using him tremendously. Today was Pow-er-ful. I wanted to jump out of my seat but opted to PRAISE…since its a visual/audible commandment.

Definitive while in the beginning stages of a church plant is hard to do. I mean, the basics are the basics…LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE, DO JUSTICE and 365 WORSHIP & PRAISE your creator. Beyond that, why can’t we see what God is doing? Now understand that for me that statement is a miracle. I am an organizer. I like to control and know things in advance. But in church planting, you just have to trust God. Yes, you still plan. Yes, you still develop a team and meet around your plans for the year but we always have to remember, God has the last word.

The funny thing is this, and read this really well all of you out there that believe God is calling you to plant, most of the people that think they are called to plant are not. Most of the people that you think will flow will not. Most of the dream team people you think will just blow your socks off in ministry end up being lackluster. So all that to say, you don’t know how you are really going to be, what you are really going to be capable of doing, and how you are going to do what God called you to do until you ar actually doing it…as either the lead or as part of the core team. Other than that, all you have is an opinion and they are a dime a dozen. God doesn’t run his Kingdom on any of our opinions.

I say, can we just commit to authentic worship, learning more about the God we serve and being healthy disciples? The rest, will happen…naturally and it will last long because it will be strong. And you’ll look back and what the Lord has done and say "at first we thought it was taking too long but it was just the time we needed to build strong people of God". Can I get a witness?