If you ever want to experience the greatest stress imaginable, plant a church! We are only in the very beginning phases of our 1st meetings, planning, etc but it is literally the ONLY thing that I can think about. The mental and spiritual stress that we have experienced has put a strain on my marriage, my family, my spiritual life and my sanity. The other day I was thinking about this and giving myself the “pep talk” in my head that I have fine tuned (Troy, you’re called, God will provide, people will come, it’s in God’s hands) and I stopped in mid thought and asked myself “WHY?” Why am I doing this to myself? Why do I feel so much pressure? If I truly believed that this is in God’s hands, then why am I so worried all the time? And after a few minutes, it finally dawned on me: I’m trying to plant someone elses church!
I have made the mistake of reading tons of blogs of these dudes that started last year with 6 people in thier living rooms and now they have 2,000 people in a state of the art building with the coolest lights, rocking worhsip team and fog machines that envelop it all! They preach relevant messages and hundreds of people are “coming to Jesus” each week. Their small groups are multiplying and some of them are even having to go multi site already!
Now, all of this is fine and dandy…if people are “coming to Jesus”, then I celebrate with them. What stressed me out the most was what it took to get these church plants up and running. From the many different sources I’ve read/talked to/been coached by, to plant a church that “launches large” and has a good crowd the 1st Sunday, you need to raise at least $75,000 -$100,000 before you even start! That pays for the sounds equipment, the video projectors, lighting, chairs, childrens ministry material, insurance, salaries and a big freaking trailer to haul it all around in.
So, after 2 years of reading this and hearing this and believing that this was the only way to do it, I finally woke up one day and asked REALLY? SERIOUSLY? You need $100,000 to plant a church? And what does that $100,000 get you? At best, it will get you a high impact Sunday morning service where people can bring their friends and experience moving worship music, quality childrens ministry and relevant preaching. At worst, it will buy you a cooler version of the already existing church down the street…a place where people come to hear the good music, have their kids taught and get their ‘word’ for the week. In other words, you (as a church planter) kill yourself to gather a group of people, inspire them, pour thousands of hours into advertising, rehearsing and planning and spend $100,000 so you can get people to come to a building on a Sunday morning in the hopes that some of them may possibly find community and a relationship with Christ. WHEW!
After reading all that, the only thing I can think is that THERE MUST BE AN EASIER AND MORE EFFECTIVE WAY THAN THIS! Especially when you consider the fact that 8 out of 10 church plant fail within the first year, this all just seems unnecessary and almost irresponsible. The more that I think about, the more I am realizing that $100,000 gets you a good Sunday morning show and I am sick and tired of the show…and I know that I’m not the only one. Over the past 2 years, we have visited many, many churches in hopes of connecting and finding true Biblical community but in most cases, all we experienced was the show. These well meaning Pastors did enough to get you in, make you feel some goose bumps and keep you coming back. And as we drove home, the same sad scene repeated itself over and over and over again. We would look at each other and say “so, what did you think?” We would try to put a good spin on what we just experienced but eventually, the truth would come out and we end up with the same conclusion: WHAT’S THE POINT? Is this seriously what church is all about? Did we push this same poop on people all those years and called it “community” and “church”. We did! In hindsight, our motives sucked! We would never admit it but we were obsessed not with people but with the ABC’s. Attendance, Buildings, Cash. In our eyes, if you came to church consistently, gave in tithes and attended a small group, then you were cool in our book and hopefully in God’s also. What a crock! I see it now and I have repented of my crappy motives every day since then.
I don’t want the show any longer! I will finally admit that you can have the most mind blowing Sunday morning service and 1 million people can come and jump up and down and fall down in the aisles and speak in tonuges but 999,998 of those same people will leave unchanged and model an uncaring, unloving and irelevant Jesus to everyone around them. I refuse to perpetuate that garbage any longer…I refuse to allow my family to suffer so I can get that…I refuse to subject 1 person to the false idea that coming to a building and singing a song and hearing a sermon makes you a follower of Christ. I SO long for something simpler, more pure, more Biblical. I crave community…not small groups or cell groups or community groups. Just to grow with a group of people that I would give my life for and vice versa…to embody the love of Christ to everyone we come into contact with…to laugh together, cry together, eat together, pray together and follow Jesus together. Simple! It doesn’t take $100,000 to do that…
