Five Tests a Church Planter Will Face

I love being able to chat and dream with church planters…and one of the questions often asked by them is, "What is the one thing you would have wish you had known before you started?"

My answer is simple…I wish that someone had told me that the decision to launch the church was actually going to be the easiest decision in the process, that during the next year or so I would face five critical tests that I believe every church planter goes through…and failing these tests is NOT AN OPTION if I really wanted to see the church achieve its maximum potential.

TEST #1 – THE FINANCIAL TEST
I believe that God tests every church planter when it comes to money within the first 12-18 months.  I cannot tell you the number of conversations I've had with people who have said, "Things were going great until the biggest giver in the church got upset…and now I don't know what to do because what he wants isn't the direction I feel that God is leading the church…but he gives a huge percentage of the budget."

First of all, EVERY church planter/pastor needs to understand that GOD IS THE BIGGEST GIVER IN YOUR CHURCH!  If it's God's will then it is God's bill…He knows how to take care of what belongs to Him.  AND…if you sell God out and put your trust in a dude with a HUGE checkbook (and usually an ego to match) then you are nothing more than a prostitute.  (Someone who is paid for a service in order to make another person feel good.)

We faced a financial test EARLY on when we started NewSpring Church.  The people who were literally giving 65% of the budget and who were fully on board at the beginning began to back off as the vision of what we were going to do as a church became more and more clear.  One night they asked me to come to their home, shared their feelings with me and let me know that they were no longer going to be a part of the church.  (BTW…they did this in the godliest way possible, there were no hard feelings and verbal jabs on either side…and I still highly respect them to this day!  AND…another btw…we hadn't even had our first official church service yet!!!)

I would be lying if I said I didn't have an “Oh crap” moment while hearing them share their hearts; however, I had made a decision early on that the vision of what God had placed in my heart was not for sale…it never has been and never will be.

Unfortunately, I've seen so many pastors fail this test because they depend on people way more than they depend on God.  When your biggest desire is to keep the biggest givers in your church happy you have ceased to lead and are actually being led!

TEST #2 - THE CRITICS TEST
One of the verses that has always amazed me is found in the book of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah is a guy who gets broken by God…who gets full of vision and passion…who risks everything to do a great work for God and provide help to a group of people who had all but given up.  He wanted nothing more than to see the "impossible" happen and people have their hope restored…and yet some people had a problem with it!  (See Nehemiah 2:10)

Dear church planter…you are foolish if you actually believe that everyone thinks that what you are doing is a good thing.  So, you had better learn early to develop thick skin and not lead through reacting to everything but rather by being proactive and moving on with what God has said…no matter what "they" say.

Your dream will be criticized…early and often.  BUT…if God has set your heart on fire then DO NOT let those who have never actually done anything for Him define what they believe you can or can't do in His name!

TEST #3 – THE FAITH TEST
Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.

SO…if your vision seems "impossible," if failure is absolutely certain unless God somehow gets involved…then I would say that you are probably on the right track.

(Please remember that there is a fine line between faith and stupidity…which is why it is SO essential to make sure you have heard from God and didn't just eat some bad pizza!)

AND…church planter…the further along you get in the process the larger the steps of faith He commands us to take.  Don't EVER make the foolish assumption that one day the decisions somehow "get easier."  If we are walking with God He will always lead us to the place where we are desperate for Him!

TEST #4 – THE COMMITMENT TEST
There is a HUGE difference between a group of people who LIKE your church and then those who are actually committed to it…and sooner or later (usually better if you do it sooner) you've GOT to ask for commitment.

So many pastors are scared to do this because of a fear that they might scare some people away.  Let me make you a promise…YOU WILL!  BUT, as pastors and leaders in the church it is not our job to do all of the ministry…but to train and equip the body to serve the body (see Ephesians 4:11-12).

Too many professional church attenders are used to going somewhere where they "have their needs met" rather than being involved somewhere that allows Jesus to use them to meet the needs of others.  Don't be afraid to ask for a commitment early and often…Jesus wasn't!  (See John 6)  Yes, He did lose some…but the ones who stayed with Him were able to see more happen and accomplish more than they ever dreamed possible.  (See the entire book of Acts!)

TEST #5 – The Focus Test
As the church grows there will be a temptation to do “more.”  Questions will begin to arise such as…

• "When are we going to start a mid week service?"
• "When are we going to start a school?"
• "When are we going to start a mens/womens/singles ministry?"
• "When are we going to (FILL IN THE BLANK)."

For some reason church world has fallen for the lie that as a church grows it needs more programs and activities…which is why SO many churches get stalled out and stop growing.  NOT because these programs are necessarily evil…but because they are simply not in the vision of what God wants for that particular church.

Every church planter/pastor needs to ask themselves this question, "Can God trust me with success?"  BECAUSE…having success in ministry often leads to people completely losing their focus and they lead their people into being busy rather than being godly.

That is why a church planter has to KNOW what God has called him to do before he ever launches…because EVERYONE who walks in the doors of a church plant has a vision for it…and if you don’t KNOW what God wants (or if your scared to say no) then your vision will get hijacked and you will eventually be the pastor of a church that you hate!

He saved you…He called you…He has equipped you and He will sustain you…so focus on HIM and do what HE says!

14 Comments »

1. Great Points! It is great to see the struggles of pastors like Perry Noble from the early days…when the offering of one person or one family would make the difference between being able to pay the rent on the church facilities or not. It is so very easy for us to point fingers at pastors of mega-churches and think, ((If only I had those facilities, that staff, those musicians…I could do so much more for God.)) God gives each of us what HE knows we can handle! That includes what we can handle financially, from critics, what our faith can handle, what our commitment level can handle, and what our ability to stay on focus can handle. When we are faithful with what HE has already given us, THEN we can see what HE can bless us with! And like Pastor Noble, we will find that the blessing really is “Exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine!”

   Comment by Burl - Mar 08, 2010 @ 09:16 AM

2. I think this article needs to be renamed, “Five Tests a Church Leader Will Face.”

   These are certainly not unique to church plants!

   Side note: the formatting on this article is terrible.  Boo on the all caps.

   Comment by Ken Eastburn - Mar 09, 2010 @ 05:24 PM

3. Is there a set of guidelines or rules of etiquette in the distance (miles) one should plant a church from the church they’ve left?

   Comment by Jo - Mar 17, 2010 @ 06:39 AM

4. Being 18 years downstream of planting a church, these points are absolutely dead on!  I would add one thought for planters who are married and have families.  One HUGE test I have faced, as have all those I know who have planted churches is the FAMILY test. 

   The church will absolutely abuse time God intends for you to share with your family.  Church planters need to protect that time and their families at every turn, making themselves a model for other families that they will consistently nourish their family, cherish their spouse and love their children, even at the expense of time spent on church work.  Passing this test will set the tone for other families in the church and will help the church planter keep balance and hope alive for themselves and the people they serve.

   Comment by Bill Haygood - Mar 17, 2010 @ 06:54 AM

5. Perhaps, for your consideration the following:
   Test #1) is sent by Jesus Christ to remind the pastor to focus on the Gospel and Biblical exposition
   Test #2) is sent to test your pragmatism in contrast to a work of the Holy Spirt
   Test #3) is sent to demonstrate that “God somehow gets involved” shows faith in the wrong thing, a method, not the work of the Spirit
   Test #4) is sent to manifest 1 John 2:18-19
   Test #5) is sent as a result of understanding the tests #1-4 that the focus must be above all things the message of Peter (Acts 2:14-36 and Paul Acts 26:1-29

   Comment by Sterling VanDerwerker - Mar 17, 2010 @ 07:12 AM

6. I pastor a church that is approaching 200 years old and have watched God transform it into a relevant church that is impacting lives.  I think all of the tests, including the family one, are right on target.  The one test I would add though is one that is so subtle I missed it for quite a long time: THE EMOTIONAL TEST.  I was feeling burned out in the transitions along with all of the garbage you have to deal with in growing a church.  I ran.  I prayed.  I read my Bible.  I attended seminars.  I enjoyed my wife and kids.  I coached.  You get the picture.  What no one told me though was that I had an emotional tank that was draining dry.  I had to learn to take breaks (sabbaths) to get charged again and set a pace for a marathon, not a sprint.  In these breaks, I learned the importance of doing things that recharged me, and that made me laugh, cry, smile, and renew my caring spirit.

   Comment by Gary Lewis - Mar 17, 2010 @ 08:15 AM

7. This was a great track adjuster for me. Thanks for taking the time to pen this out.

   Comment by Raymond Almsteadt - Mar 17, 2010 @ 08:18 AM

8. could not be closer to the truth! great article! and soooo needed to be written!

   Comment by hope hammond - Mar 17, 2010 @ 08:47 AM

9. I am not sure it is quite as easy as all that.  What if in #1 the giver is right and the pastor is wrong?  Happened at our church and the sad thing is, the change was made that was suggested, but the giver was gone.  I have hoped that it would be a lesson for the pastor, but it hasn’t. The caveat mentioned in #3 is the most important thing in the whole article, however it is usually not bad pizza rather a human ego.

   Comment by Ralph Helman - Mar 17, 2010 @ 08:49 AM

10. “transform it into a relevant church that is impacting lives”

    The Scripture is Truth
    Truth is relevant to the life of all human beings
    Scripture is relevant

    Perhaps something was missing before the “transform”-ation.

    Comment by Sterling VanDerwerker - Mar 17, 2010 @ 09:14 AM

11. Thanks for all the comments and this article.  We are geting ready to launch a new work 10/10/10 and this information is so helpful.  Please pray for us.

    Comment by Jason - Mar 17, 2010 @ 09:38 AM

12. WOW, Perry!  I’ve faced and am facing all of these on a consistent basis.  Especially #1.  I remember sitting with a person of substantial financial means over lunch one day as he explained to me the shifts we need to make to reach his more affluent peers and although some of his ideas were good and I did take action on them, mostly this was an attempt at a ‘Vision Hijacking’ .  His assumption was that like everything else in his life that the church could be controlled by his money and that the one with the fattest wallet leads.  I left that lunch that day and penned a blog post called, ‘The Leader and the Rich Man’ where I was learning the lesson Perry talks about at a deep personal level.

    Comment by Jeff Fuson - Mar 17, 2010 @ 09:55 AM

13. I will send you some articles you might want to read.

    Mom

    Comment by Arlene McCann - Mar 17, 2010 @ 11:02 AM

14. me and my family are church,  planters for our denomination , the congregational holiness church, we moved to eastern north carolina last summer from alabama where we have lived almost all of our lives, i have been in the ministry for almost 29 years , although we prayed about this move for over two years before moving to n.c , we planted our first church in n.c in jan of 2010 and we are off to a good start, we have faced many challenges but proably the hardest thing we face is the fact that we miss our family very much, but we are trying to adapt, our denomination is with us all the way and their support has been,  great, a church planter has to have a strong base support and that is what makes the differance through the hard times, our churh is growing at a slow pace but we are ok with that, at least we are growing, our next big hurdle will be to get our food ministry going , god will make a way for that to happen there is so many needy people in the area in which god has called us to work, will every one please keep us in your prayers ,and the ideas and remarks about church planting on this site is right on.church planting is hard and not for cowards but if god has called you it can and will be done, dont step out on a hunch make sure it is god , best advice that i can give, we desperately need pastors and ministry couples in eastern n.c. thanks   Rick Jones

    Comment by rick jones - Apr 16, 2010 @ 09:20 PM

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