Forget C.S. Lewis or any wardrobe... my son just demonstrated church planting to me in a nutshell.
He's on the floor doing 'tummy time'. He hasn't learned how to use his knees and legs just yet to get around the blanket. He's learned that he can turn and roll pretty well to move around but that only gets him horizontally unless he twists and changes direction.
Anyway Caleb is trying to get to his little lawn mower toy. It has things that spin and smile at him.
I sat him in front of it where he had it in reach (Vision of what could be for the church planter). He then rolled on his own (starting the church). As he tried to get back to the toy (the vision) he encountered problems. He realized that he couldn't do exactly what he WANTED to do (lack of funds, talent, etc.). Caleb however continued to strive. He worked with what he had.
I could have jumped in and moved him. I didn't. I watched him struggle. (God does the same for us sometimes) It's called acting out our Faith. Anyway... As he got close to the toy I saw in his face the sense of accomplishment... but he was only touching the toy... he couldn't completely play with it (We have to take victories that get us close... not just when it's 'all good'.)
Anyway... Caleb will one day be able to use his knees, then his legs... then he'll be pushing the lawn mower b/c it grows with him. One day he'll even be able to help daddy with the mower... then when he's old enough and mature enough, I'll have him push mow... one day he'll get the key to a riding mower. Then from there he'll learn about driving until he gets his license....
The point for me is that Caleb reminded me that just like a baby... church plants won't usually be able to do all they want to do. In fact, the effort to get to a 'baseline' level is going to be much harder than an established church. The thing about my son that excited me was his determination. For whatever reason Caleb doesn't cry much. If he cries I know something is really wrong. He doesn't just cry for the heck of it. He's either hungry, tired or needs a change. (change of scenery or change of diaper).
Caleb reminded me of all of us who plant churches. We have to know how to act on our faith, struggle hard until we get our legs... cry out only when we really need help and celebrate the smaller accomplishments. We do all of this because our eyes of faith see that one day this will be a humorous past and we'll be struggling with other obstacles to overcome.
I was at a Pastors invite deal in Richmond a few months ago with Ed Young Jr. About 50 pastors sat with him over lunch. It was basically to talk a little about Fellowship Connection but what I loved was they never pushed it at all. We all knew... yet no one said anything. It was like "Hi, I'm Ed... lets talk" Anyway... Ed said something during that meeting that stuck. He said "I used to struggle with a couple thousand dollar purchase.... and it felt the same as right now when our church is looking at buying a new building downtown Dallas for several million." He continued "Guys... the feelings don't change... just the zeros on the end do."
That was a GREAT reminder. I've heard it before but to hear it from him made it stick for whatever reason. He's been there. He's done that. He's not sugar coating anything. And you know what? That's a transferable principle. If I as a leader can't learn how to deal with the thousand dollar struggles... how can I deal with the pressure of million dollar problems in the future?
So to those of you in ministry who feel like you can't move your legs yet... it's okay. You'll get there. Don't give up... keep moving forward. One more thing... One thing that Caleb did was pull on the blanket itself. He changed his environment b/c the environment didn't work in his favor. The change gave him an advantage. Caleb used what he had and he thought outside of the box to move forward. I think that's a lesson most planters don't learn and therefore they fail. They think like their professors (usually failed pastors) taught them. They hang around traditional established Pastors who've never planted... they 'do the right thing' in the way of methods and when they hit the brick walls they figure "I'm not cut out for this" and quit.
Okay, I'm done... just some thoughts I had watching my son :) Have a great weekend!
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