I can see it – a roll of the eyes, a little toss of the
head, perhaps a sigh…“Great. Just what we need - another book on church
planting.” I would concur with the words, though not the spirit, tone, and
intent of such a statement. While I readily admit there may very well be a fair
amount of unhelpful material on the subject, the same could be said about any
subject and I think it is great that people are at the very least thinking,
speaking, and writing about issues pertaining to evangelism and missions and
encouraging the starting of new churches. In fact I would go so far to say that
if someone does not recognise the need for resources that encourage and warn, inspire
and humble, then they are not ready for the task. It is vitally important that
the church planter be teachable, and ready to learn both from Biblical exhortations
and historical/contemporary examples.
With this perspective, I recently read through a book that I
first came across in 2010 but hadn’t gotten around to until now - Church Planting is for Wimps: How God Uses
Messed Up People to Plant Ordinary Churches that do Extraordinary Things.
The author is Mike McKinley, who was sent out from Capitol Hill
Baptist Church Guilford Baptist
Church in Sterling Park , Virginia UK some things never change: people
are still lost, the gospel should still be preached, and it forever remains the
power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, so the principles within
the book remain true and quite valuable. Below are just a few of the many
excellent quotes to be found in this book. Read them. They will benefit you.
From the Preface, by
Darrin Patrick
"Church planting is not a physical
war, but it is most definitely a spiritual war. In this spiritual conflict,
just as in a physical battle, there are enemies, weaponry, danger, fear, and a
lot of pain. But the way to win this spiritual war isn’t by powering up and
being a 'tough guy,' but by surrendering your will and becoming God’s guy. Your
city’s battlefield doesn’t require churches planted by men who are known as
heroes. What we need today are churches planted by men who are known as humble."
From the Introduction
"The small victories and slow
progress of the gospel in our lives and churches are actually spectacular
evidence of God’s grace and exactly the things that make up part of his
wonderful story of redemption."
"God uses messed-up people like me
and you to plant churches that look utterly unremarkable to the world. The marvellous
thing is that, in his kindness, God does amazing things through those churches."
From Chapter 1
"Slums may well be breeding
grounds of crime, but middle-class suburbs are incubators of apathy and
delirium." – Cyril Connolly
"Niche marketing works. So plant a
church that gives off an intelligent, slightly rebellious, funny, hipster vibe,
and you will attract pre-wealthy twenty-somethings, since that’s how they want
to feel about themselves...That would be great! But I don’t think you would
have a very healthy church. The Bible
seems to assume that a church will express diversity in age."
"In John 13:35, Jesus tells us
that the world will know we are his disciples because of our love for each
other. But if we only hang out with people who are the same age, who like the
same kind of music, and who share our taste and politics and preferences, how
are we any different from the world? Doesn't every non-Christian you've ever
known hang out with people who are just like him or her (Matt. 5:47)?"
"When we start churches
intentionally designed to appeal to a certain kind of person, we fail to heed
the biblical mandate to become all things to all people (1 Cor. 9:22). It seems
like many churches want to embrace the first phrase without the second. We want
to become all things to some people. The problem is, becoming all things to
some people – say, by rocking the tattoos and turning up the music – often keeps
us from reaching all kinds of people. After all, wooing one demographic (for
example, urban young people) often means alienating others (such as older
people or foreigners)."
"I know a lot of guys who say they
have a “burden” when in reality what they have is a “personal preference” or “a
level of comfort” with a certain location."
From Chapter 3
 |
| Mike McKinley |
"Without the Word of God, a
preacher, especially a young preacher with little history, has no true
authority."
"It requires humility to build the
church on the preaching of God’s Word, because it’s not particularly glorifying
to the preacher. But that’s part of God’s plan. As it turns out, he’s actually
not all that interested in your glory or mine."
From Chapter 4
"If Christians are supposed to be
different from the world, and if the church is meant to be a group of
Christians committed to each other for the glory of God, it’s essential that we
know who “we” are. The members of the church are supposed to care for each
other and pray for each other. How can they do that if they don’t know who “each
other” is? The leaders of the church are supposed to care for the church. How
can they do that if they don’t know who “the church” is?"
From Chapter 5
"God intends for every member of
his one heavenly people to be part of a local church on earth…"
From Chapter 7
"Don’t invest all your efforts in
bringing in more people before you have done the hard work of cultivating
leaders."
From Chapter 8
"Many pastors appear to use their
church to move up the professional ladder, going from small to medium to large
churches that pay them well in money and prestige. Our goal as pastors should
be instead to plant ourselves in the lives of our people, to put down deep
roots in the community, and to grow in the pot in which we’re planted. If you
are finding it difficult to be faithful, joyful, and fruitful in your current
context, it’s doubtful that a change of scenery will cure that."
"Through books, television, the
Internet, and the ever-growing culture of celebrity in evangelicalism, we have
essentially defined successful pastor
as one who pastors a giant church. As a result, many church planters are
tempted to water down the gospel in order to draw a crowd (and let’s face it,
it is not too hard to draw a crowd; brothels and methadone clinics are packed
full on most days). Meanwhile, the pastors who don’t want to build their
churches on something other than a robust gospel are left feeling like failures
if the church doesn't grow quickly."
"I’d rather pastor a church that
stays relatively small but plants ten other churches."
"The local church is God’s plan to
extend his gospel of grace to the whole world. He scatters unimpressive
clusters of believers everywhere to extend his saving reign. The local church
proclaims the gospel, lives out the gospel, and gives evidence of the truth of
the gospel by its love and service to those inside and outside the
congregation."
"Who really cares how many people
are standing in the room with you at that time? Who cares how unimpressive and
ordinary your gathering is to the eyes of the world? Your congregation’s
reverent and awe-filled praises come before the living God, who is a consuming
fire! Besides, if you count all of the angels and believers in heaven that join
their praises to yours, your attendance numbers actually exceed those of the
mega-church down the street, humanly speaking!"
The book can be purchased at
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