I Am Not A Church Planter
In the course of editing this issue of Faith & Fellowship, I found myself reading the words of our friends in the North American mission field as though I’m a distant observer. I’m cheering for their success, of course, and I feel deeply awed by their perseverance, but… I am not a church planter.
Church planting is hard. So I assume that it takes a certain kind of person, with a clearly defined calling, to be able to do what they do. I might wish I was a church planter, and even feel guilty that I’m not able to do what they do, but in all my reasoning, I’m unable to shrug off the feeling that I haven’t gotten it quite right.
When I think of a church plant, I think of a pastor, a couple, or a team, going to a location that is predominantly unchurched and working to make connections, finding or winning new believers, in the hopes of establishing a self-sustaining, organized church. This is indeed what they do, but what is a church? Not the building, especially considering most church plants are not operating out of their own building initially or even for some time. The church is the people they gather. And what is the action of planting? “Sowing the seed” is one of several plant-based parables Jesus gives us. But this analogy is not pointing toward physically building a church, rather, we plant the seed of the Word in the hearts of our friends and neighbors and trust that the Holy Spirit will work to bring them to God.
Church planting might feel like a calling for a prestigious few, but it is what we are all called to, and it is what we are all already doing. This isn’t a matter of spiritual fortitude, but of perspective. I am a church planter, I just didn’t realize it. The process of church planting is the calling of every Christian as we partner in the mission of God. In sharing Christ with others, we are planting little churches of our own. Our commissioned church planters are surely on the front lines of the physical effort of planting, a notably radical living out of the calling, but we share with them a single, unified mission to reach people with God’s love.
Paul said of the Church, “...we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16b). At its heart, church planting is about an overflow of love for everyone around us―that’s what’s on the mind of Christ. We may not be formally called, but in Christ we have been gifted with a church-planter’s mindset.
In this issue, our church planters share with us their practical goals in the struggle of church planting. In living out our own callings, we can rally around them, supporting them in their practical needs and encouraging them in their faith. They also speak to us in their heart for the mission. Here we can be humbled and inspired to live out our own calling to sow the seed, knowing that our brothers and sisters in Christ are likewise paving the way for a fruitful harvest.
Dan Juliot is a Copy Editor for Faith & Fellowship. He attends and volunteers at Living Hope Church, Menomonie, WI.