Chapter One: “Mistake Number One: In pursuit of the Great Commission, church planters neglect the Great(est) Commandment.” (Griffith and Easum, 8)

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” (Revelation 2:4)

The church of Ephesus had remarkable works, labor, and patience. They hated evil and loved good. They were able to discern between false and true apostles. They were hard laborers for the Kingdom of God. They knew the truth and denounced lies. They persevered in strength through trials and labored in the Lord for the sake of His name. Nothing could be said against them by the Lord, but one thing. They had left their first love for the Lord. His jealousy over this issue was so strong that He would remove their lampstand (influence) over this issue. (Revelation 2:1-7)

Throughout a day, a week, a season, seasons, and sometimes even years Christians, and Christian missionaries and workers alike, may find their spiritual health waning. They are in over their heads with family and work needs. In caring for others, they cannot seem to get care for themselves. In representing the Lord to others, they cannot seem to find the Lord for themselves. The cross and resurrection, ever before us, we must constantly seek to reset our hearts and gaze towards Christ. There is no standstill; we are either moving towards Christ or away from Him. This is one reason why we may keep hearing the same messages about the cross over and over again, and yet it always be relevant. As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.” (Philippians 3:1)

It is safe for us to continue to hear about the simple Gospel because we must continually be re-aligned to Christ as life throws various seasons, trials, challenges, blessings, successes, and promotions at us. There are many pitfalls along the way, some which even seem positive to us, where Christ may lose the first place in our lives. Ironically, though it is the job of pastors and spiritual leaders to assist their congregants into the love of God, it is often they who lose sight of the very thing they are preaching. Even preachers and ministers need to re-set. No works or Christian service will ever replace one’s first love for God. The simple first love for God, where prayer: sitting at His feet and hearing His voice is enough.

The bottom line is that evangelism, gifts to the poor, corporate worship services, prayer meetings, writing books, going to seminary, and planting churches in no way whatsoever replaces the First and Greatest Commandment. Instead, these works ought to flow out of that restful place of the love and grace of God. . Being a servant of God can easily serve as an illusion to loving God. As Jesus himself said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

Neglecting the Greatest Commandment is overlooked all the time. Think of this. If a pastor confessed his sin of stealing before the church there would be an uproar. But where is the uproar if a pastor confessed to not keeping the Greatest Commandment? Yet, it is there, at the feet of God, in loving God before all things, that we may hear His voice and enter into grace and rest to do his works. Works for God ought to flow out of the Greatest Commandment. This is a sign of health, where one’s ministry belongs to God who does the heavy lifting and work. We merely partner alongside Him.

Hours spent evangelizing and leading worship never replaces one’s personal time and relationship with the Lord. Thinking about one’s problems in one’s head never replaces prayer, the Bible’s primary means of connecting and talking with God.

In Jewish thought, the day begins in the evening. This means a day would begin with rest and end with rest. Rest is not a negation or emptiness or numbing from a long day, but a place of being recharged in order to enter into the day. Abiding in God is not a one time activity or something we run to when we have exhausted all of our energy. Abiding is a way of living. Our works must flow from the rest that Christ has won for us. Ignatius spirituality offers a myriad of spiritual exercises to continue in a life and ministry that abides in the love of God. These kinds of exercises are often overlooked. Spiritual depth in God has been replaced in by works. The Great Commission has overtaken the Greatest Commandment.

A lopsided spiritual life is often the biggest mistake a church planter can make. And this is just the beginning. There are other bad motives behind church planters. An over abundance of money can inspire people with independent spirits. Planting churches can be a way of evading submission to correction, church leadership, or other important relationships. It can be a way of being right, successful, or great in the eyes of others. It can and is often a pursuit of power and honor.

The symptoms of these lopsided motives and spiritualities will cause every cart to go before the horse. Eventually wrong motives and a decaying spirituality will lead church planters to burn out, become disillusioned, and, often, will lead many to be hurt or offended. As Griffith and Easum write, “Church planting is a spiritual enterprise that can only be effectively accomplished by deeply spiritual people . . . effective and faithful planters lead from a heart overflowing with a love for God.” (pg. 7)

Another pitfall: Between the Greatest Commandment and the Great Commission is your first ministry: your marriage and family. In all the pitfalls of working for the Lord, it is not surprising that so many marriages fail.

P.S. A pastor or church planter must keep the spiritual formation of their congregation at the front of his church planting goals.

Chapter 2: Mistake Number Two: “Failure to Take Opposition Seriously” (13)

a. “Institutional Opposition” (pg. 14) – A new church plant may pose as an opposition to other churches in the area. It’s unique call may be compared to what others are more familiar with and think is right. Tip: “We suggest you and your supervisor make a “courtesy call” on any affiliated churches already in the area of your new church plant, to speak to the pastor and lay leader(s) together — never just the pastor. Introduce yourself, share your heart and call, articulate your vision and style, and follow with a time for Q and A” with reference to Romans 12:18 to live peaceably with all people as far as possible. Engage in ecumenical events but “refrain from taking any responsibilities for events for three years.” (pg. 15)

b. “Cultural Opposition” (pg. 15) – “unchurched inhabitants” may cause much opposition to a church being planted in their area.

c. “Spiritual Opposition” (pg. 15) – “Spiritual resistance is inevitable.” Paul prayed for an open door for the Gospel because he knew it was dependent on the empowerment of the Spirit and the prayers of the saints. Church planting isn’t a joke or even a serious job. It will be met with spiritual warfare as you attempt to bring Christ into a war zone that is occupied by the enemy.

The solution? Have an intercessory prayer team who can keep you in prayer. Those who are “willing and able to keep praying until they have a sense that they have “prevailed.”(pg. 17) These intercessors must be able to operate in total confidentiality and must be separate enough from your church plant to not have any agenda and to be completely objective. You should be able to call them to pray for anything and it not come back around in the form of gossip or rumors, etc.

“Resist the Resistance” (pg. 18) – Anticipate much resistance in many forms, and understand that it isn’t about you but about the Kingdom.

Chapter Three: Mistake Three: “A Love Affair With One’s Fantasy Statement Blinds the Planter to the Mission Field” (21)

Your formulations for success may not match the needs of the mission field, resulting in wasted work and wasted time. Methods must be adapted to the needs of the field. “Church planting is about going out and getting more and more people. And after that it’s about gathering those people and gradually forming them into a redemptive community. Planting a churhc is a process of experimentation, innovation, and replication, but always within the realities of the mission field and how it’s responding. The planter has to be constantly adapting and modifying the vision to the mission field. . . . God doesn’t baptize the details or the strategy, only the goal” (Pg. 23) Don’t get caught up on being like the other church you saw and don’t build a fantasy. Hard work and genuine care for people will overcome a lack of innovation or ideas and not vice versa. Do not ignore the unique aspects of your mission field. Have a focus so you can have a consistent strategy that doesn’t change with every new person who walks in with a new expectation and demand. If you seek to baptize your method instead of the real people who make up your mission field, at most, you will end up with a small niche with little impact in the world around you. Understand the people’s “lifestyles, challenges, socio-economic status, world views, voting preferences, musical preferences, etc.” (pg. 31)

Chapter Four: Mistake Four: “Premature Launch” (33) – “quickly moves from the “euphoria” of birth to the nightmare of realizing, “Sunday follows Sunday, follows Sunday, follows Sunday, follows Sunday.” The birth of a new church without a sufficient body infrastructure and development to survive on small resources results in full on survival mode. Why do they launch too soon? Enthusiasm, a “burden” to declare the Gospel, contacts only promise to come when there is a church building, the need to take an offering, misplaced enthusiasm, and fear of missing out on a window of opportunity.

How a church grows?: Church Planter < A Few People < Some People < Some More People < Critical Mass < A Crowd < A Bigger Crowd Starting a church without critical mass will be more expensive and time consuming. Starting with a few people will lead to a glorified small group that is not attractive to newcomers.

Your church plant should be able to show it’s critical milestones before launching. It should have financial ownership, be able to reach a critical mass of people, have the right ministries in place to meet people’s needs, have spiritual formation goals, have certain leadership, and more.

Chapter Five: Mistake Five: “Evangelism Ceases after the Launch” (45)

Just as we are prone to navel gaze and become couped up within ourselves, not wanting to leave the house, so too is the church prone to become self involved. Yet the church is made of living stones waiting to be activated and sent outwards. Naturally, sleeping in begets more tired-ness. We are all prone to giving into the flesh and settling with what is most comfortable.

Much of growing a healthy church is activating the members to be leaders, themselves. As remarked many times in recent years, in anticipation of another revival, how will we lead so many new believers? Think of the Jesus Movement where young hippies came to the churches in droves only to be met with rejection and a lack of leadership. Further, the Lord calls his people to not only be led, but to lead. He gives them His very Holy Spirit and sends them out.

Griffith and Easum write, “Evangelism is NOT a “phase” of church life; it’s the “LIFE” of the church!” Evangelism should be part of the very culture of the church. It is not only an issue of obedience but also an issue of the success of a church plant. Instead of becoming everyone’s personal chaplain (someone who ministers in various settings outside of the church), the church members themselves ought to be trained to meet the needs of those outside of the church. If all outreach depended on the church planting pastor, then you can count on the church members becoming ingrown and closed off to the rest of the world. Don’t allow your feeling of needing to love people to ruin your chance to make disciples and cause your church members to mature. ” . . . your role is to equip the saints, not take care of them.” (Griffith and Easum) The church is a body of Shalom in God whose mission is to fulfill the Great Commandment where people outside are called inside to experience the Shalom of God.

“. . . over 80 percent of those who visit a church and return . . . do so on the elbow of someone already connected to that church.” (Griffith and Easum) Instead of thinking of the intimidating word “evangelism” what if we thought of it as “elbowing” people alongside us to come to church? It helps for the church to have events wehre people can come and see what the church is all about, and it is even more helpful if that church is a friendly place when they arrive.

Often a church’s first question in learning how to grow their church in their community concerns marketing and advertising instead of evangelism as though neighbors will pull into their church when they see their church signs. It is easier to pay for advertisements and flyers than it is to get out and be personal and go to the people. To invite your own networks and your congregants networks. Make sure your church has both greeters and connectors who have a spirit of hospitality, who can help newcomers feel welcome and not margianalized. Remember, church is about new converts and not filled pews. Maturity comes when the church births other churches.

Chapter Six: Mistake Six: “No Plan for the Other Six Days of the Week”(61)

Even when your church plant has the number of congregants you are looking for, if those congregants are not activated to serve and to connect to God and one another, they will become dependent on the church planter. Sometimes this will look like the congregants only experiencing the corporate expressions of worship, where church becomes an event.

Allowing gifted and mature people to be designated leadership will help the church grow from being ” . . . one gigantic small group, with the pastor as the small group leader” to a spiritual community (63).

It is all too common for so much attention to be around the pastor. Soon even evangelism and networking and missions becomes a threat to the congregation who is afraid to lose any of it’s pastors attention. Further, the church plant reaches a number around 150 in which it cannot grow any more because there isn’t enough attention that the pastor can give out to any more congregants. Easum and Griffith call this a “codependent model . . .” that “doesn’t connect people with God. It connects them with the pastor. The pastor is mediating the relationship. Is that what you want?” (65) The growth of the congregation depends solely on the pastor, and if he ever were to leave the church plant falls apart.

Instead, mobilize people to create communities and home groups. Have a foundational course, and small groups and events where people can meet one another. Don’t let Sunday be the main event or be the only person on the platform. See who can replace you and disciple him or her. Train people who train people. Learn how to multiply.

Codependent pastoral models stifles church growth from becoming a movement. Griffith and Easum write about a story in which, “a very effective pastor who unfortunately began to behave as a chaplain. Due to the massive people influx in his mission field, his church grew from 300 to 800. Because he lacked the capacity to manage that many relationships and failed to come up with a plan to equip and hand off, he chose to leave. The pastor who replaced him hada quite similar DNA – very strong at nurturing, wtih little in the way of administrative gifts. However, this pastor had acquired the “multiplication gene” somewhere along the way, and had a plan to hand off hte care and feeding to others. In less than two years, that same church increased to 2,000. The 15 percent of pastors with the right DNA get past the 200 barrier with little to any training.” (67) There’s nothing wrong with a small church unless it is small due to co-dependent behaviors . . . or those who “don’t want to go beyond their own relational capacity.”(69) Easum and Griffith write, “So, if you have a church of 150 people, take 50 of them and hand them off to a shepherd you’ve trained and trust. You’ll find it doesn’t take a whole lot for him or her to take those people and in two years turn them into 150.” (69)

Remember, discipleship is not a class someone takes but a person one becomes by actively serving and following Christ. Don’t promote someone because they took a course. Promote someone because they exhibit the qualities of a disciple.

Chapter Seven: Mistake Seven: “Fear of Talking about Money until It Is Too Late” (73)

A church planter can get everything right, and have a huge amount of membership, but without the strength to talk about money and offerings, the church will fail. Too many church goers give tips instead of tithes. Coupled with growth, the problem only worsens as funds must go to various needs in order to sustain the expansion. People of faith make matters worse when they see this as a faith issue rather than a wisdom issue – one in which you count the cost before building (Luke 14:28-30).

When the church begins to fail, suddenly desperately asking for money can make many people feel like they are being tricked. It’s better to be upfront with partners and congregants in taking offerings.

Chapter Eight: Mistake Eight: “Failure of the Church to Act Its Age and Its Size” (93)

Be careful not to take on too many ministries and learn how to tell people with great ideas that the church plant is new and is not there yet, even if it means losing some people along the way. Easum and Griffith compare church plants that take on too much to girls playing dress up in a grown woman’s clothes. (94) It is cute until they are walking around the mall like that. Then it is a spectacle. Learn how to do the small things well before branching off into various ministries and departments.

Chapter Nine: Mistake Nine: “Formalizing Leadership Too Soon” (101)

Often church planters rush into appointing a board or team of elders right when they start. Some of these are new converts. New converts will cause congregants to become frustrated with the amount of catching up and training that must happen so that they may be led well. As for appointing leaders or directors, Easum and Griffith write, “The New Testament says you should give leadership to people who have proven themselves in yoru churhc, not because they’ve proven themselves in someone else’s chruch. People must earn the reputation of being a leader within your churhc plant.” The congregation itself will be able to affirm this person and see them as a leader as well.

Keep in mind, just because you are a new church planter does not mean that you must form a board immediately. Take your time to see who proves their character for leadership.

Griffith and Easum sum up 1 Timothy’s criteria of elders as such:

“The person * is not a new convert, * has self-control-over emotions, tongue, drink, and money * is a proven manager (manages his or her household well)

When it comes to selecting the first board members of a new churhc, two more non-negotiables are best required: *loyalty to the planter *a tither, not a tipper to the work. Jesus reminds us, “where your treasure is, there will your heart will be also” (Mt. 6:21). Anyone worthy of serving on a board should exhibit financial commitment to that church. (105)

Further, the process for electing the board or elders may include allowing the congregation to sumbit names for consideration, but not nominate within a certain time frame. To keep the board small in number and not add more members until a few years in. To give the congregation, after announcing the members under consideration, a time frame to submit feedback or apprehensions about the board member to be elected. Eassum and Griffith give many helpful details surrounding this topic on pages 106-107.

Chapter Ten: Mistake Ten: “Using the “Superstar” Model as the Paradigm for All Church Plants” (111)

Rather than choosing a church planting model allow the mission field to determine the plans/models. Don’t steal someone elses model because they have become a celebrity to yourself or others. Be true to God’s leading you and go off how you have already bore fruit in the ministry’s direction. Otherwise, your partners will be “funding a fantasy” instead of funding “fruit.” (115) Think of how David was moved to kill Goliath based on his previous experiences rather than the traditional, or Saul’s methods (1 Samuel 17). Also, “Unless the Lord builds the house . . .” (Psalm 127)