“44 PRINCIPLES ON CHURCH PLANTING” (PART 3 of 4)
23.
For the love of sunny skies and 70-degree
weather, DO NOT set you up a throne in your church, that is half the size of
your building. You are a pastor, not a monarch. Your car should not be bigger
than your church building.
24.
You just got started. You do not need to have
an appreciation service after 6 months of pastoring. You have not done anything
yet. Serve and then honor will follow.
25.
Do not preach above your life and experience.
For example, if you have never been married, encourage your married couples –
but do not lecture them on marriage. If you do, you may have to eat your words
later on. Preach the Gospel. Preach Jesus. God will send you qualified staff
and ministers to help you in various areas of your ministry.
26.
Do not micromanage. You will kill yourself
trying to do everything. No, you cannot trust “everybody,” but you must trust
“somebody.”
27.
Find the ministries that your church is good
at and focus on that. If you are just getting started and have 5 members, you
will burn everyone out trying to start 50 different community ministries. Give
your staff a chance to rest. Do not work them 7 days a week.
28.
All churches go through various seasons. So
it is best to testify and not brag. Make your boast in the Lord.
29.
Serve in an organization, so that you can
remain humble. If you have the attitude, “I answer to no one but God,” your
members will take on that same spirit with you. Do not beat up on your members
for not being cooperative and you are uncooperative with your overseer.
30.
Do not develop your church to become so
internally focused; that you end up building a “cult” instead of a church.
31.
Remember, there is no such
thing as “independent,” unless you are starting a brand-new religion. If you
teach that the Bible is the final authority on all matters; that belief comes
directly out of the Reformation of the 1500s. If you have seats in your church
vs people standing the entire service; that comes directly out of “Western
Christianity” which split from “Eastern Christianity” in AD 1054. The point is,
your church is connected to 2,000 years of Christian development.
32.
Yes,
have faith, but also have common sense when it comes to your ministry goals
& aspirations. This way you do not set yourself up for disappointment. For example,
if you are in a town where the population is 300, it’s unrealistic to have a vision
to have an “in person” membership of 10,000 people w/a goal to build a 7000-seat
sanctuary. Online/virtual, yes. In person, no.
33.
You
have to know where your people are at in their mindset, so that you do not get
frustrated. You may have in your mind a vision of a mega ministry. However, if
you draw people that are more comfortable in a smaller church; there will be
friction. You have to lead people & be patient, not drive them. They cannot
see what you see. If you become frustrated and lash out at them, you will end
up losing what people you do have. And, it is hard to build a ministry back in
a town, where you have the reputation that you’ve ran so many people off.
To be
continued….
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