In the first blog of this series, The Rising New Breed of Church Planter, I wanted to make the point that God absolutely delights in using the things this world considers common, foolish or just ordinary to do his greatest work like starting new churches. God doesn't need superstars, God doesn't need anybody, but He has chosen to work through the foolish things of this world and those this world considers to be ordinary to do amazing things and He does it this way to bring glory and honor to Himself.
In this second blog I want to demolish another major misconception about church planters that the church has allowed to creep into its way of thinking. From one perspective this misconception can actually sound very reasonable and as such go unchallenged until a bottleneck forms and constricts the flow of the rapid and spontaneous expansion of the church. This major misconception implies that:
You might be wondering why this is a misconception. Isn't it important to have people who are starting churches know and understand the Bible? Shouldn't a pastor understand what the Bible says so he can explain it to his flock? And the answer would be a resounding, "yes"! But I would submit to you that a follower of Christ does not need a degree from a Bible college or theological seminary as a prerequisite to being a church planter. I come to this conclusion by looking, once again, at Peter and John as they were standing before the Jewish Council being sternly threatened and warned to no longer preach or teach in the name of Jesus. As they stood there with confidence before this council of religiously trained professionals they declared that they would stay faithful to Christ and continue to preach the gospel. This council noticed not only that they were ORDINARY MEN, but also noticed another important trait about them. They noticed that they had no formal instruction in the Bible. It says,
"The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13
Peter and John were men with no special training in the scriptures. At least they had no special training from a worldly perspective in scripture. What did the council mean that they had no special training in scripture? It meant that Peter and John along with the rest of the other apostles had never attended or graduated from one of their certified rabbinical schools. The members of the council had spent many years in theological study and training to earn their position of honor in both the synagogue and temple. They had dedicated their lives working up the religious ladder and gaining the respect from the religious leaders and they felt that these uneducated men should learn from them and not try to instruct them in the purposes of God. Now some of you might be screaming at this point saying,
And you are absolutely right and I want to thank you for making my point. A person who has spent time learning from Jesus and being instructed by the Holy Spirit to understand spiritual truth is qualified to teach others the things of God. There is no need for a person to first graduate from a Bible school or seminary before they are qualified to plant a new church. However, it is essential that they know the Word of God and have a vibrant, growing and personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. An ordinary Christian is more than capable of learning the Bible and learning to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit instructing them in the scripture without the help of a college or seminary. Please don't misunderstand me! I am not saying that theological education is not important! That's not my point at all. I personally have a theological education on both a bachelor's and master's level. What I am saying is that it should never be a prerequisite for church planting.
There are lots of examples of people whom God used powerfully that did not have a theological education before starting the ministry. Of course the same description given to Peter and John by the council could also be said of all 12 of the apostles. None of them had the special training in scripture that the council thought was so important. Philip was another First Century Christian who went to Samaria and through the power of the Holy Spirit initiated a spiritual awakening that resulted in a church forming. Both the churches in Damascus and Rome were started by some unknown ordinary and unprofessionally trained person or persons. Of course there were the professional church planters like the apostles but there were also the ordinary and uneducated church believers who started churches as they moved into new areas as the church was scattered.
Even in our contemporary era we see God using men to start churches who never attended a seminary or Bible college. One such man was my wife's grandfather, Ernest Barnes. Ernest came to know Christ later in life. It was on the night he witnessed the baptism of his eldest son and daughter. Almost three years later and after spending many hours of discipleship with his pastor Ernest started his first church, The First Baptist Church in Marina, California. This year of 2010 that church celebrated its 60th anniversary. A 60 year old church with a fruitful ministry, started by a man who never attended Bible college or seminary is what I call A GOD THING! Ernest went on to start several other churches throughout California's Central Coast. Even though Ernest never attended a seminary Ernest did know the Bible. He studied it, he devoured it and he soaked it into every fiber of his life. He was qualified to start churches.
The same thing is happening in this rising new breed of church planters all over North America. These men are getting saved and through the teaching of their churches, pastors and their own personal Bible study time God is calling them out and setting them apart to start some of the most dynamic churches that we have ever seen. Some of these church planters begin to take Bible classes after their churches have been started as a way to continue to sharpen their sword while others never take a single class from a college or seminary. But one thing is for certain all of these new church planters are devouring the Word of God daily. They love the Bible. They read it, meditate on it, memorize it, apply it and listen to it daily. Understand this: THESE CHURCH PLANTERS ARE NOT BIBLE ILLITERATE. They know the Word of God and their lives show it.
If the North American Church is going to be serious about seeing a church planting movement get started, we have to leave this notion that a person must first be a seminary or Bible school graduate and begin to view our existing churches as the new Bible institutes which are preparing God's people to do the work of ministry, including church planting.
In this second blog I want to demolish another major misconception about church planters that the church has allowed to creep into its way of thinking. From one perspective this misconception can actually sound very reasonable and as such go unchallenged until a bottleneck forms and constricts the flow of the rapid and spontaneous expansion of the church. This major misconception implies that:
Church planters need to have a formal theological education from a college or seminary before they are unleashed to spread the Kingdom of God through planting new churches.
"The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13
Peter and John were men with no special training in the scriptures. At least they had no special training from a worldly perspective in scripture. What did the council mean that they had no special training in scripture? It meant that Peter and John along with the rest of the other apostles had never attended or graduated from one of their certified rabbinical schools. The members of the council had spent many years in theological study and training to earn their position of honor in both the synagogue and temple. They had dedicated their lives working up the religious ladder and gaining the respect from the religious leaders and they felt that these uneducated men should learn from them and not try to instruct them in the purposes of God. Now some of you might be screaming at this point saying,
"But Peter and John along with the rest of the other apostles did have special training in the scripture! They had spent 3 1/2 years learning from the Son of God, Jesus Himself."
And you are absolutely right and I want to thank you for making my point. A person who has spent time learning from Jesus and being instructed by the Holy Spirit to understand spiritual truth is qualified to teach others the things of God. There is no need for a person to first graduate from a Bible school or seminary before they are qualified to plant a new church. However, it is essential that they know the Word of God and have a vibrant, growing and personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. An ordinary Christian is more than capable of learning the Bible and learning to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit instructing them in the scripture without the help of a college or seminary. Please don't misunderstand me! I am not saying that theological education is not important! That's not my point at all. I personally have a theological education on both a bachelor's and master's level. What I am saying is that it should never be a prerequisite for church planting.
There are lots of examples of people whom God used powerfully that did not have a theological education before starting the ministry. Of course the same description given to Peter and John by the council could also be said of all 12 of the apostles. None of them had the special training in scripture that the council thought was so important. Philip was another First Century Christian who went to Samaria and through the power of the Holy Spirit initiated a spiritual awakening that resulted in a church forming. Both the churches in Damascus and Rome were started by some unknown ordinary and unprofessionally trained person or persons. Of course there were the professional church planters like the apostles but there were also the ordinary and uneducated church believers who started churches as they moved into new areas as the church was scattered.
Even in our contemporary era we see God using men to start churches who never attended a seminary or Bible college. One such man was my wife's grandfather, Ernest Barnes. Ernest came to know Christ later in life. It was on the night he witnessed the baptism of his eldest son and daughter. Almost three years later and after spending many hours of discipleship with his pastor Ernest started his first church, The First Baptist Church in Marina, California. This year of 2010 that church celebrated its 60th anniversary. A 60 year old church with a fruitful ministry, started by a man who never attended Bible college or seminary is what I call A GOD THING! Ernest went on to start several other churches throughout California's Central Coast. Even though Ernest never attended a seminary Ernest did know the Bible. He studied it, he devoured it and he soaked it into every fiber of his life. He was qualified to start churches.
The same thing is happening in this rising new breed of church planters all over North America. These men are getting saved and through the teaching of their churches, pastors and their own personal Bible study time God is calling them out and setting them apart to start some of the most dynamic churches that we have ever seen. Some of these church planters begin to take Bible classes after their churches have been started as a way to continue to sharpen their sword while others never take a single class from a college or seminary. But one thing is for certain all of these new church planters are devouring the Word of God daily. They love the Bible. They read it, meditate on it, memorize it, apply it and listen to it daily. Understand this: THESE CHURCH PLANTERS ARE NOT BIBLE ILLITERATE. They know the Word of God and their lives show it.
If the North American Church is going to be serious about seeing a church planting movement get started, we have to leave this notion that a person must first be a seminary or Bible school graduate and begin to view our existing churches as the new Bible institutes which are preparing God's people to do the work of ministry, including church planting.
"And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry ..." Eph. 4:11,12a
Every pastor should begin view that one of their major responsibility as a pastor is to raise up, train up and then unleash people from within thier congregations new church planters. Can you imagine what would happen if only half of the churches and pastors of North America would simply mentor and unleash one new church planter every year and taught them to do the same? I'll tell you! We would see a church planting movement of epic porportions and unlike the history of Christianity has ever seen.
The North American Church and their pastorsneeds to be about RAISING UP, TRAINING UP and UNLEASHING ORDINARY BELIEVERS INTO THE CHURCH PLANTING FIELDS.
Right on brother! We're sponsoring/supporting a number of church planters who are not seminary trained and they are winning and baptizing more people than we are!
ReplyDeleteDr. Mark Pitts
You should read a post I wrote a few weeks back on the same subject.
ReplyDeletehttp://thoughtsfromdrt.blogspot.com/2010/10/formal-theological-education-is-helpful.html
Thanks Terry I will. Thanks for reading mine.
ReplyDeleteHi brother,
ReplyDeleteI get so little time to sit at the computer these days but I wanted to sit and enjoy your blog, and I agree with you 100% on todays subject. Josh is a perfect example of a pastor who felt God's calling to leave seminay and go west on faith and little else. After 3 and half years they are seeing what God has for them to do and I love to watch them grow. Josh and Jamie are willing, quite educated in the Bible, and verly faithful servants. I love to watch them be obedient and faithful in Gods work.
Love you
Johnnie
I'm wondering if there is room here for women. I know a wife could be the encourager and helper to a husband that wanted to step up plant a church, but what if she doesn't have one that wants to do that? Are their roles for women that are "are devouring the Word of God daily. They love the Bible. They read it, meditate on it, memorize it, apply it and listen to it daily."? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteGreat question Deb! The answer is absolutely "YES". Being a church planter doesn't necessarily mean being the pastor. In the past many churches were started and going for a period of time before they had a pastor that was called to lead them and some of these churches were started by women. These women would go out and make contact with people, share their faith and witness of the power of Jesus, lead people to faith in Christ, gather people into their homes where they could study the Bible together, worhsip together and be the church together.
ReplyDeleteIn todays modern technology world you can even put in a DVD or download a really good Bible teachers sermon, play it for your House Church and then discuss it together.
Thanks Pastor Jay! God is looking for our availablity and like your wife's grandfather and the men of the Bible you described. Well written and proud to co-labour with you! - Jack
ReplyDeleteJay, you share that "Every pastor should begin view that one of their major responsibility as a pastor is to raise up, train up and then unleash people from within thier congregations new church planters." Maybe I missed an article but what would your training look like and what would the continuing training look like? The apostles may not have had formal training but they also spent little time in church startup matters/operations while they studied the Word...and they all were probably familiar with Hebrew and did not need to use their Greek too much:)
ReplyDeleteI have just finished reading another church planting book but it really had little to say about the day to day work of a church planter. Thanks. MarkLydeckerToday@gmail.com
Hey Marky,
ReplyDeleteYes, I do believe that the raising up, training up and unleashing ordinary believers as church planters should be one of the major responsibilities of pastors if we truly desire to see a church planting movement take place in North America. The multiplying of disciples and leaders is a key ingredient into the multiplication of churches. Without it North America will never see a church planting movement take place. Can you imagine if just 10 churches made it a priority to raise up one new church planter each year and taught them to do the same. In just 5 years those 10 churches would multiply into 300 churches. In 8 years it would multiply into 2,540 churches.
The training that I see best demonstrated in scripture is that of mentorship. When Jesus called his disciples his invitation was simply, "Come Follow Me." They learned as they watched, observed, and tried their initial attempts to implement it. Jesus not only taught them the right information/theology but show them the right strategy to do.
I would disagree with you that the apostles spent little time in curch startup matters/operations while studing the Word. Jesus and the twelve disiples were the initial and first startup. They learned all about church planting and Christs teaching while following Jesus. Those early Christ followers were the church in embryo form. While I do beieve the understanding of Greek and Hebrew are good to have do not believe it is essetial for a person to be an effective Church Planter or pastor for that matter. I come to that conclusion because of the number of amazing things that God has been able to do through men without those skills.
I would agree with you that a good book on the day to day work of a church planter would be extremely helpful. However, the content of the church would be influenced greatly by the form of church life that was being started. Those who are trying to start, what I call North American Corporate Style Church, would be greatly different from those trying to start a house church. Maybe that's a book that we can work on.
I greatly appreciate your comments. Please feel free to share more and lets keep this diologe going.