PLANT CHURCHES OR OPEN COMPANIES?

At first glance, it may seem like a simple question of semantics, but it is not that simple. There is a very different concept behind the two expressions. We need to be careful not to do the right thing in the wrong way. We cannot confuse the biblical guidance to plant and establish churches in an organic and spiritual way, and thus expand the Kingdom of God on earth, saving lives and building the Body of Christ, with the simple planning of analyzing and opening new local churches, as a commercial practice of expanding branches of an organization, generating movement of members between churches, generating expansion of local ministries, through membership, and not directly through evangelism and conversions in faith through Jesus.

We should not diminish the greatness of expanding the Kingdom by planting new churches, simply by opening a new unit of our church or denomination. This is not a sin in itself. God blesses and uses it by His grace and mercy. However, it is not the plan of God's directive will; it is more like His permissive will. It is not wise to do the right thing the wrong way. We must always do the right thing, in the right way. For us, the means do not justify the ends, but rather, the means and ends must be guided by ethics and the correct way of dealing with others, including taking care of interpersonal relationships involving fellow believers.

I have been a pastor of a local church for almost 30 years. I have served in 3 different states in Brazil, in different Baptist churches. Since 1997, I have been in the same church in the city of São José dos Campos-SP, which has grown from 620 members to over 13,000 members in the same city, in addition to churches planted in other cities, generating in these new churches a membership of 6,000 members in 21 churches in 8 years. I have traveled all over the country ministering to pastors in seminars and leadership conferences. I have preached in all the state capitals of our country. I have been mentoring pastors for many years, whether in the denomination, in the old Purpose Driven movement, AIBC (Alliance of Baptist Churches in Cells), in GKPN (Global Kingdon Partnership Network) and for 10 years in the Inspire Network of Churches, in Brazil and in some cities around the world. And so, I talk to many leaders and many are going through crises and divisions in their ministries, as a result of leaders in their local churches who were discipled and trained by them, gained leadership, visibility and influence and, at a certain point, did not submit to the process and left to plant their own church, taking a group from that local church and creating a critical situation in the community – this does not build the Kingdom of God, but divides and creates consequences. Planting churches is a great need in Brazil and around the world. I plan and encourage churches to plant, but this is a serious and spiritual matter. It cannot be done in any way, based on personal dissatisfaction. Personal motivations are fundamental for the unity of the Kingdom and the health of established churches. Quoting Michel Bredour: “The best time to plant a church was a few years ago, the second best time is now.” The phenomenon of church membership turnover and church migration cannot be explained by theology, but rather by psychology and sociology: there are many sick people chasing after sick people, in an illusory way, not in a generic way. Many, in denial of their crises, instead of resolving them, run away in search of momentary relief. But it is only a matter of time before new friction, crises and divisions arise.

A healthily planted church must have a church as a mother and more experienced pastors nearby to mentor, and not as a result of emotional attempts. I have said that the easiest part of starting a church is renting a hall, painting it black, putting up some LED lights, putting together a cool band with artists from other churches and calling it a church. However, the hardest part will be evangelizing, winning people over, baptizing, discipling, treating, caring for, shepherding, exhorting in love, instructing in justice, multiplying, shepherding with zeal and ethics and sending, dealing with the state, society and the sheep, fighting daily battles against the enemy! This is the hard part, and in this too many get lost. For those who want to do it the right way, I recommend reading the book: Rooted, by Benning Liebich, published by Editora Inspire. Go through the processes wisely, step by step, without falling into the trap of managing, turning stone into bread. Remember that you pay now or pay later, but if you do not respect God's processes, it is a matter of time before you pay.

I am not saying this because my church is stagnant and losing members. On the contrary, in 2019, in the local church where I serve, we baptized 1,580 new members, and this year there have been 248 baptisms! We are also planting new churches, 21 in 8 years, and we are currently planting 23 more, which are in the cell or mission stage, and will soon become churches, all started as a result of the impact of evangelism and actions in homes, such as the Houses of Peace and Cells project. I am writing about this with a view to helping and uniting the Kingdom of God. We need to plant new churches, with the goal of reaching people without Jesus, and not opening churches to attract dissatisfied believers. As Rick Warren said: “It takes every kind of church to reach every kind of people,” but what we see today is often more of the same, or even worse, the same or worse, with leadership with a sick heart. To this day, I have never had two sad moments in my heart: a pastor on my team who got divorced, and a member of my pastoral team who left the church and opened a new church in the wrong way. This is not a trophy, after all, it is 23 years of hard work in the same city, but rather a reality, which I also know can change in the future, because people's hearts are not under our personal control, however, we have been working like this for a few years.

In our local reality, we started in homes focused on the biblical essence: “Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea and Nympha and the church that is in her house.” Colossians 4:15. Biblically healthy church planting begins in homes and then, with organic and natural growth, multiplying the cells, we move to monthly meetings, renting a place for shared use, until with five cells we can then rent a fixed place and thus publicly establish a local church. When we simply go through stages, arriving in a city, building a good business location, making structural reforms, scheduling a launch with a famous band and singer, we skip the stage of personal evangelism, of small groups in homes, and thus attract dissatisfaction with churches – many come with various types of wounded and untreated situations, and when they arrive in a new place, it is only a matter of time before new divisions arise, the result of personal and emotional dissatisfaction and not of God's will. Consequently, we reach the stage of many orphan pastors, who have not submitted to filiation, speaking of spiritual fatherhood.

And also, we need to plant churches in the backlands, among the riverside communities, in the small cities and towns of Brazil, in the needy communities of the big cities. God's will is not to do what is easiest, but rather what He told us to do and is right. For example, I live in a modern and technological city of 700 thousand inhabitants, I have been there for 23 years, and from there we are planting churches, where many do not want to go. Criticizing what big churches do is easy, but building what they have built over many years is difficult. There is no blessing in dishonor – honor precedes the harvest!

I will end by reaffirming, win lives and plant churches, this is wise and noble, but do not be fooled into just opening a new branch, a new CNPJ and inviting followers over the internet, or even changing the church sign for a more well-known or popular name – the new becomes old too. This may seem easy, but with time the work of each one will reveal itself. Do something to prevail and remain. Establishing a church is not a fad, it is a biblical principle of the Kingdom, which is why planting a church is challenging, opening a gospel religious company is quite easy. What did God tell you to do?

Together for the King and for the expansion of his Kingdom!