*Disclaimer* – These are my brief thoughts. These are not intended to be the “final word” but rather the “beginning of a conversation”

Church Planting is highly romanticized and is the “sexy” thing to do within the sub-culture of the American pastor. If you are truly revolutionary, edgy, a rebel, then you, my friend, need to plant a church… or at least that’s what we’re told.

But there are not only one, but multiple elephants in the room. Everyone is thinking it, discussing it at their local trendy coffee shop (or, as in the case of the newest “cool place” to hang – Panera Bread) and talking about it on Twitter. And, yet, nothing is changing. The peer pressure is just too great for most.

Church Planting is a heavy endeavor not for the faint-hearted. It truly is a difficult task that needs to be for the truly called (which, sadly, knocks about 1/2 of you reading this out). I don’t know what the current statistics on the survivability rate for church plants is, but a few years ago it was 20%. That means that 80% of church plants failed. That means that either A) God didn’t know what he was doing or, B) 80% of those who planted weren’t really called.

So what is the future of church planting? What needs to change within the church planting circles in order that we may see a new breed of planter emerge? I hope this begins the discussion on the right path.

Church Planting and the Status Quo

What Joe didn’t know when he asked me to do this was that I have been working on this for quite some time. This is just a brief outline of my total thoughts on the subject. I hope that this brief synopsis begins a discussion about some serious elephants in the room.

Most planters would be violently opposed to me saying this seeing as how many are disgruntled people who want to simply “buck the system” and start something “fresh.” But “fresh” is not what most planters end up with. Many end up just Febreezing the old fabrics of the organized institution and making it smell better, for a time, and organizing other disgruntled people. Let’s face the facts, most new traditional church plants (by “traditional” I mean the, “If you build it, they will come” mentality) just initially attract people who have left the church because they “weren’t being fed” (an infant mentality) or they like the “edgy new church in town” (a carnal response). Now, don’t get me wrong, reaching those people are just as important than reaching those who have never stepped foot inside a church before. But as I mentioned above, most new churches are just a perfume-covered version of the old institution.

Everyone Has to Pay the Bills

I once read Andrew Jones as saying that seminaries are partially responsible for the consumer mindset of the western church. Follow me on this – most seminaries (at least the ones I am most familiar with) do not have student loans available. Most do not have an abundant source of scholarships and grants. This makes students rely on credit cards and personal loans with high interest rates to complete their education. In turn, when they graduate, they are so deep in personal debt that they can’t plant a church because the thought of the possibility of no stable income is more than their families can bear. So, they seek out an already existing church with a promise of a stable income in hopes that “someday” they may be able to chase this vision of starting a new church. Sadly, someday almost never arrives. I call it new church abortion.

But that is just one aspect of paying the bills that affects church planting. Another aspect is the fact that most church planters spend an enormous amount of time raising money for this new work – and rightly so – only to jump into bed (apologies for the euphemism) with anyone and any organization willing to give a few bucks. We have seen it over and over again where a planter raises funds only to have to pay back upwards of 25% of their tithes and offerings back to 10 to 15 different organizations. If this doesn’t kill the forward momentum of the church, it severely hinders it. It’s this mindset that we have to be big quick along with the fact you have to pay the piper that drives this model.

Everyone Is the Next Big Thing

There are several terms in the church world that get on my last nerve. Mostly because those saying these terms are either A) copying what someone else said at a conference (we’ll discuss this matter in a moment), or B) they don’t truly understand what they are saying. Here are just a few examples of terms that drive me crazy: “Authentic” – As in, “I just want to be authentic.” or “We strive to be authentic in our worship.” As if every other church in the world is trying to be un-authentic. Really?

Another term is “community.” I know. I know. Community is desperately needed and is the fundamental building block of new churches (only if it is built with true disciples and not merely consumer minded “lay-persons”). Why this term community invokes a knee-jerk, baby-throw-up-in-the-back-of-the-throat reaction from me is because, like authentic it communicates that every other church is not about community. Even in the most traditional and dead or dying churches, I have found some form of community.

Both of these terms convey an anti-kingdom mindset. NorthWood has taught me a lot, but hands down, the largest lesson learned is the idea of the kingdom. I hear many preach, teach and talk about the kingdom but very few live a kingdom context.

Living a kingdom context means it’s not merely about you, your church, your people. It’s about all believers all around the world being the body of Christ… with HIM as the head, not the preacher. I completely believe in Hebrews 13.7 “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” The role of the pastor as a leader to be followed, respected, and imitated is key. But when that role goes to their heads, it’s a death knell for kingdom expansion. Too many want to be “THE guy.” The guy who everyone in the city calls pastor (but rarely do they want to actually pastor a city). They want to be the guy who is called to speak at all the cool conferences, the guy who writes all the cool books, the guy who has the coolest and most downloaded podcast… the list goes on and on. In short, they want to be the next big thing and they see church planting as their means of getting that prestige.

But to live in a kingdom context means that you are willing to share the limelight – even give it up – so that Jesus gets the glory. It means that you are willing to admit that there are other churches in your city who have strengths. It means you are willing to admit you have weaknesses. It means that your people have the freedom to create new ministry opportunities in their neighborhoods and workplaces… and invite others to join them! Living in a kingdom context is the most free way to live, but it costs more than most are willing to pay. Remember, to GOD be the glory and the great things HE has done.

Trapped In the Copy Room

For a while, I was seeing too many people come across my attention that had a recycled version of someone else’s vision. I would usually see that phenomenon sometime within a few months of a large conference somewhere. Guys would come in with a well polished prospectus and convinced that I had never seen or heard of anything like it (c’mon, I was at the same conference for cryin’ out loud!).

I am seeing, though, more and more people coming to me who have truly spent time with God getting a fresh vision and a true passion for their city. It’s been a breath of fresh air for sure! But I still see people trying to use someone else’s values and vision as their own. Very seldom does that work… ok, I’m being generous here… it NEVER works! They may draw a big crowd, but are they producing true disciples? Here’s the other thing about this, when I ask them what a disciple of “X” church looks like, I rarely get an answer of any kind. More often than not, I get the deer-in-the-headlight look.

So, with all that being said, what kind of planter will it take to see a real Jesus movement happen in the U.S.? Here’s my answer: It doesn’t take a “planter”… it takes a true disciple who makes disciples. I would love to hear your answers for this!

In the end, many Haitians will profess Christ and turn to him. However, in this repentance, there is a turning to Christ in the sense of “adding on to the deities who can be called upon for favors and blessings” rather than “turning away from evil and false past beliefs and practices.” If there is to be spiritual maturity, if there is to be a movement to entrust spiritual formation to indigenous pastors, then there must be increased awareness of sin and the personal responsibility each person has for their sin as Scripture reflects. Missionaries who are concerned with the qualitative value of their evangelistic work as much as the quantitative value will do well to bear these issues in mind.

First, it is imperative each individual begins to see him/herself as culpable of sin. The Apostle Paul indicates in Galatians 3, as well as the rest of Pauline literature, that individuals are responsible for the choices they make. Prior to conversion, rural Haitians engaged themselves in sinful idolatry, removing God from the center of their thoughts and replacing him with selfish desires to manipulate lwa (supernatural spirits). The Haitian’s thinking needs modification in understanding him/herself as responsible for reprehensible or sinful behavior and not the lwa. The Christian Haitian experiences regeneration and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Spirit enables the new convert to choose to act in obedience to God. Although they view the lwa as the guilty party, it is commonplace to understand one is able to “sin” against another individual or the community. The biblical account of sin incorporates this dynamic into its description of sin, but ultimately all sin is seen as offending God. If Haitians are to come to a biblical view of sin, they must realize they not only are they responsible for their actions, but they are also responsible for their attitudes, thoughts, and unbelief as well.

Secondly, this new insight into personal responsibility will lead to an evolved idea of confession and forgiveness of sins. The view of confession and forgiveness of sin as some type of ritual leading to accessing the power of Christ does not evidence a proper understanding of repentance. Genuine confession and repentance results in the forgiveness of sins and demonstrates an understanding of personal blameworthiness on the part of the repentant sinner. In addition to teaching biblical principles regarding sin, confession and forgiveness, missionaries would also strengthen the Haitian Christian’s understanding of sin if the missionary would be vulnerable enough to discuss battles with sin in their personal lives. Too often missionary workers are unwilling to confess their sins and shortcomings for fear the indigenous people will lose confidence in them and reject the Gospel. Instead, missionaries try to maintain the status of a type of “saint” in the eyes of the Haitians rather than a “saved sinner.” This mentality exacerbates problems of failing to be accountable for one’s sins. While there are certain limitations, missionaries would serve their populations well to model confession and forgiveness of sin to the believers in Haiti.

While basing claims of the Gospel of Christ upon Scripture, the missionary fails to consider what presuppositions he/ she might bring to the Biblical text. In addition, the missionary, as well as the recipient Haitian listener, make assumptions that one another categorize and conceptualize ideas about sin and salvation in similar ways, which leads to more frustration and confusion. The Protestant church is growing in rural Haiti, but not without significant problems. Many appear to be converting for the purposes of gaining more power and adding Jesus to a list of other deities they can manipulate to appease the spirit world. Even individuals who renounce voodoo after conversion find themselves rooted and based in voodoo beliefs and thinking. A fatalistic outlook dominates their view of reality as they attribute everything that transpires to the control of the spirit world. This attitude leads to a severe lack of understanding concerning personal moral responsibility. In order to move towards a more Biblical understanding of sin and moral responsibility, missionaries must attempt to fix these mistaken ideas about sin by overcoming many cultural presuppositions as well as teaching the Haitian about the true nature of repentance and acceptance of responsibility for one’s actions.

I know it’s no different than anyone else who converts to Christ-followerness. Supernaturally, through the blood sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, we have become co-heirs and have responsibilities that go way beyond “take care of the earth” stuff. I mean, that’s a no brainer. Every one knows that if we don’t take care of the earth, we will suffer the consequences – we are suffering the consequences of wrong doing throughout the ages and what we do now will affect those who go behind us. Here in Vienna, the state has done a pretty impressive job of that. It’s nice to breath clean air and for many people to have jobs.

But, I’m starting to understand better about how God wants something more. More than good behavior here on earth. He wants heaven on earth. He wants to be reconciled to his creation. That’s why Jesus came: to make it possible for God to call his children home once and for all.

All Christians have something called a ministry. I used to think this meant official church good deeds, but I’m starting to get that it’s how Christ-followers act like Christ every day. We show and remind people what our God is like and how He wants the world to love Him as much as he loves us. Man, if we only understood…

I read the story of Jonah for the thousandth time Sunday night. I was praying for a two friends who have created a rift between each other, for A. because his mother died, for N. in Haiti, for a church going to South Africa, and for the people who came to my house on Friday… so I was only half reading. But then the end of the story caught me. You know, the end of the story that everyone forgets because it’s after the ticker-tape parades in the city that God spared.

Jonah’s sitting there expecting the city to be destroyed, even after they repented from their oppressive and corrupt ways, because Jonah didn’t like them and he wanted God to take them off the map. They were morally repugnant to him. Plus, he was really annoyed because there wasn’t much vegetation where he went to watch the show of Nineveh’s demise. God made a tree for Jonah’s comfort, but God sent a worm to take away the tree the next day so Jonah wasn’t comfortable. (I sometimes wonder why God did that – to give a tree for comfort and then a worm to destroy that comfort. There’s a tree motif throughout the scriptures that’s a little complex for me sometimes.)

But, then God asks his reluctant prophet, “‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’ ‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘It is right. I’m angry enough to die.’”

“So the Lord said, ‘You cared about the plant, which you did no labor over and did not grow… Should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot distinguish between their right and the left, as well as the animals?’” – End Book

God really cared about the people of Nineveh and he was annoyed by this guy who knew the scriptures, knew God and yet didn’t understand God’s heart. He wanted to spare them, but He also knows what evil can do to his world and was willing to do what it takes to bring balance in the world – even if that means ending lives. Sometimes, I want God to send a lightening bolt after the last sentence to teach Jonah a lesson about insensitivity, but then I realize that I’m a little like Jonah for thinking that.

God wants to show his mercy to the earth. The Bible says that, “creation waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed.” And it also says that we will be revealed by our love.

So, my job here on this earth is: to aid in the discipleship of people into sons and daughters of God who are known and tested by acting like Him. The best way to do this is to openly live out my own transformation and to explain the teaching of Christ that promoted the the changes and pray that this Spirit would indwell in our hearts and change us from the inside out. I think I’ll do that best by doing what I already do, but with a more defined underlying purpose, and take things to the next level when I get the opportunity. Like, I really what to start a new Bible study with some of the people I’ve met lately who are agnostic or whatever, but are interested in Jesus – and I think it’s because they get that creation is longing for Something.

—————

Am I becoming more:
loving
joyful
peaceful
Patient
kind
faithful
gentle
self-controlled?

Because of God’s work, I think I am. But after watching Francis Chan’s video about the persecuted church I am more than ever convinced that this is all that my life truly comes down to. My singing may be enjoyable, but only valuable if if points to joy in Christ. My writing may be enlightening, but only if it points to faithfulness and peace with Christ. I want my life to be a reflection of Christ, the redeemer of the world, so that others will come to him and be spared from the falling apart of this world and come to God now and for eternity.

If a church starts with over 5000 people, is it a church plant?  I’m sure this is dabbling in semantics and wordplay, but I do see a difference between planting a church with a core team of about ten or twenty people and starting a church that runs an attendance of 1000+ the first day.  The difference isn’t so much in the numbers for me; it’s in how it all begins.  And hooray! we have biblical precedents.

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. [Acts 2:37-42, ESV]

Three thousand people decided to follow Christ after Peter’s sermon, and immediately began exhibiting the actions we consider the foundation of a church: devotion to the apostles’ teachings and to each other, eating and praying together. On that day, the Church in Jerusalem was planted (eventually led by James until his martyrdom, but that’s another story). Paul, on the other hand, took three missionary journeys and Luke (the author of Acts) records something like thirty cities across the eastern Roman Empire. In none of those cities do we hear of thousands responding to the Gospel in the way we saw in Jerusalem. Most of the churches planted by Paul were very small, sometimes just a handful of people.

So in the book of Acts, there are two types of church plants. The shared identity in both is that they started with new believers. In some cases Paul encountered believers, and he gathered them together with new believers. Peter’s believers were already gathered (and maybe questionable to consider Peter their pastor, anyway).

Open discussion time:

• What do you see as the difference between church planting and church starting?
• Are Peter and Paul church planters or does their apostleship make them more?
• What can we conclude from the Peter-to-James handover of the Jerusalem Church?
• Does any of this even matter?  Am I just getting caught up in words?
• Any other thoughts?

Go at it.

Last year I made a series of posts on Missional-Incarnational and Evangelistic Attractional Church ministry. Ultimately, I ended up conceding that there is a time and place for both sorts of ministry, but that Missional-Incarnational ministry influences the latter.

I have decided to create a brief follow-up series to last year’s series as a way of working out the practical elements of missional thinking, living and ministry. This comes from another year full of researching and of doing the hard work of starting a missional church.

Missional Made Practical:

• Missional: A Primer
• Missional Thinking (or, “All I ever needed to know about missional church planting, I didn’t learn in seminary 3 years ago.”)
• Missional Living (or, “Oooohhh… so that’s how you do it!”)
• Missional Ministry (or, “Uhh, yeah, we’re a missional church… I think.”)

Then I quickly said, “if I weren’t a Christian, I mean, if I weren’t in the ministry full time.”

And I knew at that exact moment that somewhere along the way, I’d missed something. I’d just said I’d rather not be doing what I am doing now, and that I could think of something I had more passion for.

Huge. How many times have I heard someone say, “If you think you could be doing something else right now, you should go now, and do that, and leave the ‘full-time’ ministry.”? Plenty. And I always agreed with the statement, and acknowledged that indeed, this was what I am called to do for the rest of my life, without question. But I could easily ask, “What counts as full-time ministry?” If it’s a pastorate, then I already admit it’s probably not for me. So what is?

I know I’m called to “full-time” ministry. I doubt that I have the same definition of most people (maybe they’d surprise me, who knows?), but I know that for me, I cannot seem to do anything else. I followed everything up, in my conversation with the church planter, by explaining that I intended to sort of mix ministry and travel, since I had an intense passion for missions (global and not). I said that it was my desire to mobilize people (in particular, college students) to see the world, and in doing so see the need for us to take Christ to all we visit. And I’ll be honest, that means with medicine, food, shelter, construction crews, diplomatic workers, and anybody we can go with. To help as many people as we can before we die.

Tonight I was telling one of my friends about St. Francis Xavier, the Catholic missionary to East Asia. He took Christianity to Japan, and before it was eradicated (literally exterminated) from the islands, there were Christian samurai and peasants alike. My friend said that Xavier was insane. I responded, “EXACTLY.” The conversation went a little something like this:

HIM: he’s insane

ME: EXACTLY

HIM: which is the point of loving like Jesus did. love so much that ppl think you’re crazy. not really a bad idea.

ME: it’s what i’m going for…

You know, I get that I’m known for being blunt. I know that I’m especially renowned among certain Baptist bloggers for being to the point and often harsh. I don’t mind calling out those who’ve already been called out by God. I have very little patience for Christians who don’t act like them. And I have less for those who claim Christ but completely deny Him by their lifestyles (Kevin Bussey is doing a wonderful job hounding one such group). But I want to be known for more than just a sharp tongue.

I want my friends to tell their friends, “I know Joe Kennedy, and he’s the craziest son of a b**** I know. He’ll go anywhere and meet anyone.” I want to change the world; I want to show the world what it means to love God and love people. I don’t care if I’m famous, but I want those who know me to see me as an example of how to live as a Christian, not as someone with the knowledge to live right and no actions to have ever lived it out. When I die, I want my friends to gather at my funeral and say, “It was a good death…” and mean it.

We were allowed to go. That’s why we went. It’s that simple, and it’s just as complex. I could tell you all the reasons we went- the lack of a substantial Christian witness in Village S, among the Buryats, and throughout Siberia. To go to an extreme location. To see people God created- on the other side of the world. To help the team over there. To provide relief for our brothers and sisters. To experience the mission of Christ. All legitimate reasons. All good reasons. All REAL reasons.

But we went for the kids. Village S has a large orphanage and school, and many kids come from surrounding villages during the summer when the Buryat team holds its week long camp. The last couple years it’s been Olympics-themed. About a hundred kids came in, some from Village S, others from the surrounding villages, every morning to spend the day learning English and singing songs, making crafts and getting art lessons, and playing some wicked sports out on the field where cows previously roamed.

These are among the first generation of kids born outside the reign of the Communist Soviets. Where the state was god and Shamanism was practiced quietly in the shadows, there was no Christ. But now there is freedom. These kids have freedom. No longer are they forced to eradicate religion from their lives. They have a choice. But they don’t know what their choices are. They do not see true Christianity- they barely see the Russian Orthodox Church outside of the larger cities- and those aren’t exactly next door. They have only as many choices as they are offered. And we brought a new one. A life of love, compassion, and community. I’ve told you about these kids before- some are abused and most boys will grow up to become alcohol-dependent. This is not a bright future. We were there to show the kids a different way of life. Even if it was only for a week.

This was part three of the Siberia Series.

1. Siberia: The Final Frontier…
2. Siberia: The People of Village S…
3. Siberia: Why We Went…