Diverse Culture, Diverse Church Planting?

A few days ago, I was sitting in a restaraunt in BWI Airport with almost 3 hours before my connecting filght home. . As I sat there eating a burger called a Gringo Burger (definitely a Mexican eatery), i practiced the art of something that my incredible wife taught me..the art of people watching.As I looked, a little boy passed by with his family. He wearing some sort of dinosaur outfit. What caught my eye is that it is blue...not your typical color of brown or purple. Then there was an African American woman wearing a bright yellow ethnic dress. Soon after that, an airport employee, as trash collector strolled by pushing a cart loaded with trash bags. I also saw a woman with a large brimmed straw hat glide by on the level escalator,reminding me of all the different people wearing different hats.  It does not take long, if you really look, to notice that the culture of our great nation is is vastly diverse to say the least.


You may be wondering why the rambling, especially on a church planting blog. I wondered as well.At least until u I reflected upon the conversations in a meeting earlier in the day.  The meeting was one of seeking God and brainstorming issues like strengths, weaknesses, dangers and opportunities that exist in the planting movement that I am priveldged to be a part of.

Over the course of that meeting, the conversation changed. Things that our teams saw as strengths perhaps were not as strong as thought and, our weaknesses began to look more like faith issues,Over time, the dangers all seemed to fade into the background as we realized that God had our back. We were left with opportunites. The list was not huge for we had narrowed it down for focus purposes. The take away? Perhaps, the opportunites are the greatest they have ever been, at least in my life. Some statistics suggest that as many as 85% of American culture is unchurched, that as much as 40-50% of our population will never connect to current expressions of church and therefore will never find Christ.

That brings me back to where I started. If people that are vastly different can be found in an airport, then they can be found anywhere. Therefore, should not our church planting efforts be producing expressions of church that will be as radically different as the people we seek to reach?

More than 10 years ago, my wife and I, along with a few others knocked on 1000 doors in the community we planted in. We had a spiritual survey with 5 questions, one of which was "if you were to look for a church, what would it look like?"  To my surprise, people did not have a clue. The primary reason was that in our area, Catholicism is the major spiritual influence, and Catholic churches all look and do alike. My reaction to this revelation was one of sadness.

Today, with church planting becoming more and more a normal part of the "church scene" , I find church planters' vision for the church they want to plant to be less creative and more cookie cutter. That saddens me as well.
We serve a creative God who was creative in the methods He used to reach lost people.  I am looking for planters that have a vision to get totally out of the box with vision to reach people for Jesus in new and fresh ways. Are you one?

Someone Who Gets It!

Yesterday I had an inquiry about the SENT NE planting network from a church planter that does not live in the Northeast. He had been on our website: www.sentnechurchplanting.com , and the Lord began to stir his heart for the Northeast. His email was a request for basic information. That's usually where people start. As I read his email, I came across a statement that caused me to pause and CELEBRATE! Here's the statement:

" I feel like God is stirring my heart to possibly move to a greater 'frontline.' I know in the Bible Belt everyone already "knows" about God and I know there are fewer true Believers in the north...."

Wow! He gets it! This guys understands the Northeast is truly the "frontline" of church planting. He understands the cultural and spiritual differences in our nation.

For years, the northeast has been labeled as a "church planters graveyard." Church planting can be hard work for any planter, yet in the Northeast, church planting is always hard work. I remember back in 2002 when we move to the Boston, South Shore and planted LifeQuest Community Church, a lot of people thought we were foolish, that we should go south where planting is easier. I have to tell you that there have been times that I wished I had. But nothing is more rewarding than working hard to develop trust, in order to develop relationship, in order to speak spiritually into a single life; and then having the privilege of introducing them to Jesus.

Come to think of it, there is something more rewarding. When church planting is consistently hard work, God shows up in consistently incredible ways!

Are you sensing a call to church planting? I want to challenge to pray for the Lord not to call you to a place that is comfortable and conveniently distant from the "frontline". Instead, pray for the privilege of planting on that front line, or better yet, enemy territory! If you are like the planter that emailed me, and God is sting your heart for the Northeast. Let me know!