I remember that evening clearly. It was during the first year of the
church-plant. I was on edge, feeling like I couldn’t take it anymore.
Through a variety of humbling circumstances, attendance went from 10 to
50 and back to 13. It drove me crazy. In an act of desperation, I
insisted our church put on a community dinner ministry, on a different
day than our corporate gathering, with hopes that more would come to us.
An elaborate meal was made, much money spent, chairs and table set up,
and our core-team ready to bombard anyone who came in to “build a
relationship.” The time came and no one showed up. I ran into the
bathroom, closed the stall door, sat on the toilet, and begged God with a
neck-vein-popping prayer to bring someone. I think two or three people came.
And we never saw them again. I was humbled, weak, and desperate for
someone to help me get the church off the ground. Our core-team was
working tirelessly and faithfully. I was looking for some way, any way,
for the church-plant to get traction. And that was precisely the
problem. I was looking for a way; I was on my own little hunt through the labyrinth of church-plant methods to just get the thing growing.
No, a desire for growth in one’s church-plant is not wrong. But when
the goal becomes to get something going, above ordinary faithfulness to
be a good servant of Christ Jesus (1 Tim 4:6), we’re off the mark. Keep Reading...
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