Sean Hirschy, RBTC Instructor
Church planting was not always on my radar. It was during our time in Germany that my mindset shifted. Our lead pastor, Robert Tomaschek, got connected with a group called Dynamic Church Planting International (DCPI) and had several of us on the team attend trainings.
During my first training event, they began to share out of Genesis 1 about how God made everything to reproduce after its own kind:
- Apple trees make more apple trees.
- Sheep make more sheep.
- Cows make more cows.
Then they asked what churches make? The answer is obvious: More churches!
When I heard that I realized that I had been thinking all wrong about God’s end game. For 20 years of ministry, I had been focused on growing the church I was in. I thought the whole point was just to make our church bigger. But in that moment, I realized that we had the wrong focus. The point was to mature the church so that it would reproduce! I had thought that it was only the “special” churches that did that, but I realized that Scripture teaches that every living thing carries the ability to reproduce. It’s not about size though, it’s about maturity. It’s not just big churches that can plant more churches, it’s churches that are alive and mature.
We know that Jesus talks a lot about bearing much fruit. And fruit carries seed in it. An apple tree doesn’t just make apples for people to eat, its goal is to reproduce itself so that the earth is filled with apple trees. God’s design was not to feed one family, but to feed the whole world.
The only kinds of fruit that don’t carry seeds are ones that are man-made and altered from their original state. Seedless grapes are a thing, but they are not natural. Seedless watermelons are a thing, but they are not natural. In the same way, churches that do not plant churches exist, but they are not operating as God intended.
Church planting is the natural result of effective discipleship: As we train leaders and five-fold ministers, some of them will be apostles who God calls and sends out to plant churches… both locally and around the world. Many of us fit that description! We are seeds that were developed through healthy ministry that God sent out to reproduce ministry around the world.
When I came to realize that church-planting was the goal rather than just church growth, it shifted my perspective in a few important ways:
It makes discipleship essential, not just optional. If we are committed to sending out teams to plant new works, then we have to be raising people up to prepare them to do the works of Jesus. That means we cannot just be content to get people to come to church and listen to us preach week after week. They must be equipped for their calling.
It makes leadership development essential. Rather than just filling our teams with volunteers to get work done week in and week out, we have to be looking for potential in believers to be equipped to lead. We have to make them into apprentices and raise them up for bigger things.
It makes room for the next generation to rise up and begin to shape the future of the church. As we prepare to send out teams to plant new works, we are opening new positions of leadership. Some of them can be filled by young people we have raised up. Some of them can be filled by experienced leaders who leave the existing church, which then opens a seat for the next generation to step up.
Unfortunately, I learned this by accident when we moved to Germany as missionaries. It shocked me to see who stepped up and took the roles I had previously filled in my dad’s church. Which, led me to ask, why didn’t I give them more opportunity to lead while I was still there?
In Psalm 127 we see that the Lord has a plan to build His house, His church. He has a way to build it, and the more we discover and cooperate with His way of building it, the more we will be able to see the full release of His power on the earth.
In Germany we saw the church go from 1 church to 4 and they are now a network of 7 churches and are planning more. I got to see the young people in our youth group step up and take new levels of leadership throughout the churches – they are now worship leaders, children’s pastors, youth pastors, and campus pastors – who all have a voice in helping renew and invigorate the church to keep it lively and relevant for this generation.
God has created everything to reproduce after its own kind, so our aim should be to plant churches, not just grow the one we lead now. What are ways you can shift your focus from just ‘growing’ to ‘multiplying’?
———————————
As I mentioned earlier, this understanding came to me through DCPI. Many RHEMA leaders have partnered with DCPI because they offer an extensive range of trainings built on Scriptural principles that can be flexibly applied in various cultures and types of churches – both large and small.
DCPI is one outfit that helps resource church planting leaders and movements (and there are many), but they have been a huge blessing to me and many in the RHEMA family. [www.dcpi.org / www.dcpi.eu]
We even include it in some of our RBTC curriculums:
CP - Church Pioneering: This course provides an overview of the important requirements for both the spiritual and practical side of church pioneering and explains key principles for church planting. Students will learn how to clarify the vision and prepare a plan.
*This course is the CPE Training (Church Planting Essentials) from DCPI (Dynamic Church Planting International).
Comments