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It's very easy as a church planter to focus inward instead of outward; to focus on your own church instead of focusing on God's Kingdom. The pressures, uncertainties, challenges and demands of church planting have a tendency to scream so loudly that it becomes very easy to get tunnel vision.
I noticed this pressure in my own life just a few months ago. It came in the form of this thought: “I’m not sure we can take an offering for this missionary because our regular budget offerings have been down a little bit lately.” When I began to think this way, it was very clear that I had forgotten the priority of the Kingdom of God. As pastors, teacher and leaders we must always remember what it’s all about: the Kingdom of God. God called me to build His Kingdom by starting a church, not start a church to build MY kingdom!
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I always knew that being a pastor would be awesome. It's definitely something I really enjoy, but I don't think I ever realized that you had to be an expert at so many things. You've got to be a great motivational speaker, a professional counselor, a chaplain, a visionary leader, an excellent administrator and an all-around nice person. Not that I'm complaining; I really do love what I do and couldn't picture myself doing anything else. I'm just pointing out the fact that I'm realizing daily how much I still have to learn.
Ministry in any setting is a time-consuming and daunting task. But I believe that starting a church adds many elements that make ministry a bit more challenging; the need for entrepreneurial skill and the difficulty of limited resources are just a couple of challenges that come to mind.
So why would anyone start a church? Well, I can’t speak for anyone else but the answer is really simple for me. I started a church because God called me to do it. I know that many of you will discount that response as “pseudo-spiritual” and “churchy” but it’s simply the truth. I didn’t start a church in reaction to the traditional or established church. I didn’t start a church so I could be a revolutionary trailblazer and ignite a movement. I just tried to be obedient to God’s call (as well as I can understand the Spirit speaking to my heart).
Before we began, I said that through this process God’s desire would be to grow me more than to grow a church. This has proven to be true innumerable times. God will grow His church; it’s my responsibility to seek to grow personally and it’s my duty to seek to invest in people. The first few chapters have been written but the rest of the story is still to come. It has been an amazing ride!
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