I Started My Church Like A Plumber Starts A Business
When a plumber goes to work for himself the whole business is built around his expertise. He might be a great plumber, but he probably won’t be a great at billing, scheduling, payroll, hiring, etc.
His business can be enough for him to make his own living, but there certainly won’t be anything remarkable about the BUSINESS. He may be a remarkable plumber, but the business will never really become much more than a little organization built around his expertise.
The Hub Of Our Churches
Most guys now, including me, are starting churches around their skill and passion. Their church thrives on their ability to skillfully do their work.
When people ask us why we are planting a church, we will probably say something about lost people or something, but what we really mean is we want to put our skills to the test to reach people. Nothing is wrong with this because men should seek out an avenue to use their skill, and if they can’t do it in an established church then, by all means, start a new one.
But that leaves lots of pitfalls. Many of us are discovering that our skill can only get us so far. Some self-employed pastors make it farther than others in their church start, but ultimately the church will plateau. It’s just a matter of when, not if.
But maybe a guy like me who started a church and organized it around my gifting can find a new way. Maybe my skill and expertise don’t have to be the hub anymore. Of course, I don’t think I made my gifting the hub intentionally, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t do it.
The New Way
And the new way is to make the need of a certain group of people in your area the hub of your church. Your church should thrive or die on everyone’s ability to meet that need. And if everyone is involved, and meeting that need better than anyone else, then the results are incredible.
I would think that planting a church would have to be one of the most daunting tasks anyone could take up. I also feel that it would be tempting to make it MY CHURCH, or OUR CHURCH, and sharing power and influence would be really difficult.
Finding people to share your vision is perhaps the key, rather than trying to tailor the church to the needs of the community. The common focus should be the growth of the individual, the rest should follow right behind.
Too many times, churches seem to tailor their focus onto real felt needs (outreach! the poor!) and individual growth tends to be placed second. But, there are other examples when the pastor refused to dilute the focus, taught his message (hard and meaty as it was) equipped his flock, and just left the growth and community need-meeting to a Sovereign God who will provide, as He has promised.