Lessons Learned in Church Planting (2)
LESSONS LEARNED IN THE CAULDRON
OF CHURCH PLANTING (2)
In this article, we will discover that our circumstances play an important role in being led by God in church planting. How often do well-meaning people claim to be led by God, but the circumstances say otherwise! Reading the circumstances and flowing with them in church planting is vital.
GOD IS IN YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES
I often find that Christians are unclear as to how to interpret the circumstances of their lives. Do they have a spiritual significance? Are they from God? Is it the devil? Or is it just chance?
Preachers like to say: “We should never say ‘under the circumstances’ because we are, in Christ, above our circumstances.” We can have a rather simplistic view: good circumstances are God’s blessing while bad circumstances are either the devil giving us a hard time, fate or just bad luck!
The Role of Circumstances in Church Planting
In church planting, I have learnt that our circumstances play a vital role. Denise and I first arrived in France with a one-way ticket in June 1986 and were welcomed by a sizable church in the southern city of Nîmes. We were in our early thirties and highly motivated to evangelise the French. For these two young Aussie missionaries, the goal was Paris. In fact, I was so convinced that we would plant a church in the heart of Paris that, before ever moving to the Paris region, I took the bullet train from Nîmes (a 4-hour journey) to Paris, so that I could walk around the 17th district of the capital, to get a feel of the city and be inspired.
After 18 months in the south, we moved to the Paris region and began looking for an apartment to rent. I had been given the name of a real estate agent in the 17th district, so we made an appointment to see him. When we told him the budget we had, he burst out laughing! We had nowhere near enough money for an apartment in Paris! As we were about to leave, he said, “But I do have a unit in the southern suburbs near Evry”. Evry was 20km from the city centre, so not what we were hoping for, but we took his offer and thought that we would just travel into Paris by train. Little did we suspect at the time that our first church plant would be…in Evry!
A lady who had heard me speak at a FGBMFI breakfast rang me and said, “So you are a pastor?” “Yes!” “And you’ve moved to the Evry area?” “Yes!” “And you’re planning to start a church?” “Yes!” Then she cried out, “Gloire à Dieu, I’ve been praying for years that a pastor would come and open a church in the Evry area!” Today, the church in Evry is a thriving assembly of over 300 members.
In the leading of God, circumstances can play a determining role. I’ve learned the importance of flowing with them rather than pushing against them.
The Apostle Paul’s View on the Role of Circumstances
The apostle Paul also understood that God is in our circumstances when he wrote this well-known verse to the Romans:
He had a great desire to visit the Christians in Rome, but had been hindered from doing so (Romans 15:1,2). He asked for prayer that he might go to Rome by the will of God (v32). He was expressing the importance of God working in his circumstances.
Open and Closed Doors
Paul knew that God opens and closes doors and, rather than telling God which doors he would like opened, he let God take the initiative and simply entered every door that was opened to him.
A big mistake we could make is to decide which door should open and think that our prayer and fasting and faith declarations will force the opening.
In church planting, we can have our initial thoughts, but we must be guided by the circumstances that open up to us, even if they are different from what we expected.
So, my friend, which doors has God opened for you to serve Him?
If you have a testimony to share, I would be very pleased to read about it. Feel free to share it in the comments below.