Reasons NOT to Plant a Church

There are good reasons to plant a church and there are also bad reasons to start one. 

Church fights or splits are NOT a good reason to plant a church. At times I have seen groups split from a church and declare themselves church plants. If you can’t forgive and get along with your brother that believes in the same Gospel than you, then how are you supposed to reach those who believe differently. How is God going to bless your efforts to expand his Kingdom if you are unwilling to be obedient to his Word? These church splits often time wonder why they are not growing, why they are not reaching anyone and why is their church culture toxic. Why? Because they weren’t born with the idea of reaching anyone in the first place! 

We do not need “cooler churches”, we need truer churches. Churches that are true to the great commission that God has called us to. True to the needs of people regardless of where they are in life, their beliefs, their ideology, race, social status, sexual preference etc. If you are wanting to plant a church that suits your needs and presences then you got it all wrong.

“The church is one of the few organizations that exists for the sake of its non-members”,  Carey Nieuwhof. 

It is NOT a good idea to plant churches exclusively for a specific ethnic group unless there is a language barrier. Churches tend to be one of the most segregated places in our country. There are no other areas of life that work this way. There are no white only, black only, or hispanic only cities. We don’t experience segregation in the work place, in school,  or in our play areas in our neighborhoods (or at least I really hope you are not experiencing this!). This was never God’s plan for his church. In fact it was exactly the opposite. When the Holy Spirit filled the first church it gave the church the ability to communicate in many languages to all people from all races could listen to the story of Jesus!  If language is not a barrier churches should be inclusive of all people of all races. That is the Jesus way! When we come together with people that don’t talk, eat, think, dress like us we come closer to God’s plan for his church. Two powerful things happen. First we have to depend on the Holy Spirit way more and second we have a clearer picture of God as we are all created at his image. Come on now, let’s get planting but let’s make sure we are doing it for the right reasons!  What are the right reasons you say? Well, I had to leave something for the next blog! Talk to you there! For more all things church planting make sure to check out our Urban Church Planter Youtube Channel.