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A CHURCH THAT'S ALREADY PLANTED
By Sean Dietrich

MODERN CHURCH PLANTING

Before we left traditional church, we were part of a “church plant.” The pastor came from another part of the country to build a church in our city. The methods he used are the regular methods of modern day church planting. First, he rented a large facility to hold service in. Then he advertised by newspaper, flyers, and road signs to get the word out. He then hired a guitar-playing singer to lead the people in worship. Me. He also bought a fairly expensive sound system to amplify things. Hundreds of flyers, business cards and bulletins were then printed to help things along. Large mail-outs were also frequently sent out to request financial support to fund everything.

GET YOUR WALLET OUT

The above church planting method is neither biblical, nor effective. The whole process requires a huge amount of money just to start with. This is the very reason many church planting efforts expire within the first year. When any organization needs big amounts of money to stay alive, there is always a pressing need to drum up more support. Traditional churches are constantly trying to rally additional financial support and get more people to dig into their wallets. Doctrines are created. Money becomes foremost important.

IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS

The above church planting method also centralizes the wrong issues. Buildings, musicians, and pastors are the leading light instead of the church itself, which includes everyone. The church isn’t a place at all the church is people. Jesus says: “…where two or three have gathered together in my name, I am in their midst.” (Matt 18:19) Jesus did not say: “Where two or three people, a pastor, and a worship leader have gathered together in a building I will be at their pulpit.”

SUNDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Many people in the church never build anything more than a “Sunday relationship” with one another because they only see each other in the sanctuary. The sanctuary is not a place to build relationships, any modern pastor will even tell you that.

WHY PLANT WHAT’S BEEN PLANTED?

Jesus already planted a church on the earth, and we’re it! So why go and plant a church? Why not just stay planted in God instead? It’s really foolish to think that we as humans can carry out what we think the “work of the Lord” is without even consulting the Lord to make sure he’s the one who initiated it to begin with.