I am currently reading through Bob Robert's The Multiplying Church: The New Math for Starting New Churches. The book offers the author's insights on why churches are multiplying in the East but not in the West...keys to church multiplication...the missing link--pregnant mother churches... Antioch vs. Jerusalem: which got it right?...what kind of churches should we be starting?...what is the end game of church planting?...how big does a church have to be to start multiplying churches?...and church planting movements or Jesus movements?A lot of other good stuff is to be found on its pages, but on page 172 Bob lists his "Things I Never Want You To Forget"...
- Until you can stand up in front of a group of people and say, "Imitate me," you have no business starting or leading a church.
- It's really not about church planting--it's about transformation.
- May we have such an impact that it will merit the attention of historians. Upon research, the conclusion of the historians should be, "It wasn't because of any single one of them, but because of every single one of them."
- You've been called to the kingdom, not called to preach.
- Steal from every model, yet make sure you don't copy any one.
- Start a church for the world, not some little spot on the map somewhere.
- Finish it. Anyone can start a church; it takes much more to complete the task. What we need more of are not church starters but church finishers.
- You're not going to win the world for Christ 9:00 to 5:00 Monday through Thursday.
- Any vision that doesn't require your entire life isn't a vision; it's just a thought.
- If you make your family hate you for starting a church or winning the world, you did it wrong. It they hate you, what difference does starting a church make?
- It's all about the kingdom--kingdom in, kingdom out.
- Converts may grow a church, but disciples change the world.
That, friend Guy, was a very good list. I think it was as good as I have read in awhile. I have to take exception with one thing Bro. Roberts said; it is when he said we are called to the kingdom, not to preach. I have been both called to the Kingdom and to preach. My calling to preach is as strong as my calling into the kingdom. I was under conviction for weeks over the call to preach. It was as heavy as the conviction for salvation. I sweat, I wept, I trembled under the heavy calling of God. It is, in fact, as strong or stronger than my call to missions. My call is not unlike Paul's who said, "Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!" It is a must for me. I appreciate the overall thought behind Bro. Roberts' words, but I cannot let him devalue what I see to be a calling from God. Thanks again for a very good post.
ReplyDeleteKevin,
ReplyDeleteI hear you and can understand what you share about being called to both. My guess on what he was trying to say is that the Kingdom is first, everything else second...as in "seek ye first the Kingdom of God".
Guy, good stuff, thanks. God is calling me to cross-cultural missions as well, and He's preparing me now for it. I'm trying to learn, prepare, and listen. Several of these hit me in various aspects.
ReplyDeleteAmen to these:
- If you make your family hate you for starting a church or winning the world, you did it wrong. It they hate you, what difference does starting a church make?
- It's all about the kingdom--kingdom in, kingdom out.
- Converts may grow a church, but disciples change the world.
Ouch to this:
- Until you can stand up in front of a group of people and say, "Imitate me," you have no business starting or leading a church.
There's a balance though, I think. While Paul said to imitate him, he was also the first to assert his own awefulness. I'm sure the world doesn't need to see me at all. But the world desperately needs to see Christ in me.
Dienekes,
ReplyDeleteGood observations, and a good way of putting it: the world doesn't need to see me...But the world desperately needs to see Christ in me. Interesting about your feeling God is calling you into cross-cultural missions. Any idea where you think you might end up?