Myth #6 – Anyone Can Plant an Organic Church
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1Co 3:6-11)
“Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way.” (1Co 12:27-31)
This is another point of mass confusion in the world of house church, simple church, missional church, organic church. Many believe that anyone can plant an organic church. In fact, some believe that every believer is also a church planter. Some say that after a few weekend conferences believers can be trained and ready to go out and plant churches. Others say that it’s very simple, just open your home and invite people and you can plant an organic church. This brings in another element into the mix and that is the “how-tos” of church planting. I will just take a few points and cover them briefly in this post. If you would like a more in-depth look at this very important piece of the puzzle, please see one of my co-workers books called Finding Organic Church.
There are several points that Paul makes in the passages above:
- He says that he planted the church in Corinth. This is where the term “church planter” comes from. Though that term is never specifically used in scripture it is strongly implied from the fact that Paul tells us that he planted. Obviously one who plants can be called a planter.
- Paul also calls himself a “worker” in this passage. He says that we are God’s fellow workers and you are God’s field, God’s building. Who are the “we” that he is talking about? Verses 4 and 5 give us the answer. He is speaking about Apollos and himself. Please note that he never encourages everyone in the church to plant churches. But instead he uses the language of “we” and “you”. Paul planted, Apollos watered. They are the “workers” in this situation. Notice that the church is called the field and the building. So Paul is using metaphors from both the farming and the building trades.
- Paul also tells us that he is like a wise master-builder and he laid the foundation and another (Apollos?) is building upon it. Then he tells us that the only foundation that the church can be built upon is Jesus Christ Himself. So Paul is developing the ideas and pictures of both planting and building. The planter is also a builder and foundation-layer.
- Then, later on in this same letter (chapter 12) Paul tells us that there are a variety of ministries and gifts. He lists some of them and very strongly implies that not all are called as apostles, not all are called as prophets, teachers, etc.
The Story
Now these passages give us some very clear indication that there are certain believers that are called, prepared, and sent to plant churches and lay foundations. But we must go further to get a clear picture. We must see these passages (and others like them) from within the context of the narrative story of the New Testament church. Reading the book of Acts and the letters in their chronological order will help us greatly with this. The question we must ultimately ask ourselves is this: Does the story as well as verses support this idea of certain people being called and sent to go out and plant churches? And does it also tell us how they planted churches?
Yes, we can clearly see that there were people that God specifically sent out to do this kind of work. People like the 12 apostles that lived in Jerusalem. The scriptural record is silent for most of the twelve but there are lots of stories about Peter and John being sent out by the Spirit to plant churches and help them. See Acts 8-13. Then, we can see from the story that men like Barnabas, Paul, Silas, Timothy, Titus, John Mark, Aristarchus, Epaphras, Archippus, Gaius, Trophimus, Tychicus, and others were involved in planting or helping to plant churches. These people were all in churches for at least a few years before they were sent out to plant churches. Many of them, such as Paul, Barnabas, and Silas, had been in the churches for many years.
God’s Preparation
It’s very clear from the story of all of the bible that God takes His time in preparing His servants to do His work. What about Moses? Forty years in the back side of the desert. What about Abraham? What about Jacob, David, Isaiah, Jesus, the twelve apostles, Paul, and all the rest? All of them went through preparation for years before they were ready to do God’s work.
God’s Way
Our best example of a church planter or apostolic worker is Paul. The reason is that there is more information and writings from Paul than any of the others. So we can learn about the way of the planting churches by looking at the life and writings of Paul.
The Gospel
The first thing we see that Paul did when he was sent out was to preach (or proclaim) the gospel. But what was Paul’s idea of the gospel? He clearly tells us:
“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
(1Co 2:2)
“For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”
(Gal 1:11-12)
“But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,”
(Gal 1:15-16)
“… that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.”
(Col 1:26-28)
From these passages (and others) it is very clear that Paul preached a Person. The Lord Jesus Christ! He did not preach a thing or an it or a topic. He presented a living Lord. He knew that the foundation could never be laid unless there was a clear, life-changing, mind-blowing, direction-altering revelation of Christ Himself.
Equipping
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
(Eph 4:11-13)
Paul understood how to equip the saints to live by the indwelling life of Christ (abiding) and to function as the body of Christ. This equipping also included living a corporate life of community in Him. His letters reveal a man who not only preached and taught the churches but a man who actually poured out his life to them (Phil 2:17;2Tim 4:6).
Conclusion
The record (New Testament story of the early church) shows that true biblical church planters are not made overnight. It also shows that not everyone is called to this work. It also shows that it takes years of preparation. It never has been, nor will it ever be a quick and easy task. At least, not if we do it His way. But if we do it some other way then what kind of results can we expect? I would suspect that it would be the kind of results that we have been getting for the last 1700 years in mainline Christianity!
Nathan said:
Milt,
I appreciate this post. Its so true how its got to be his timing. Though its hard to be patient through the process why would we want anything else.
Terry Risenhoover said:
http://www.stempublishing.com/authors/anderson/BUILDERS.html
this message confirms what you wrote…
4thesaints said:
What a wonderful, pressure relieving truth! We can actually just live with other saints and learn Christ together and leave Him to call those whom He chooses in His time. What a revelation that is so needed for young Christians today who are being drawn into full-time ministry with such little life experience.
It is not that nothing is going on while living and learning in body life. There is much preparation taking place as the body deals with many various issues. Learning how to live by Christ’s life, how to forgive others and live in peace, how to make decisions by consensus without contention, how to live together without legalism, and so on.
Michael Young said:
Amen, Milt. Good one.
I wish more young people like myself could understand this. I’ve seen so many young people who were very gifted go into “ministry” way too early because those around them told them that that’s what they needed to do because they were zealous or “on fire for God”. Scripture is quite clear that the call to service in Christ can’t be taught in a school. It has to be learned through experience which takes lots of time.
I almost went to seminary, myself. (Glad I didn’t!)
Jamal Jivanjee said:
Milt,
Brother, this is another great article that cuts through a lot of the confusion that is out there. I appreciate and am thankful for your life example that you set. Thanks for speaking up and addressing these myths.
Lindee said:
I have started house churches for over 30 years and I have experienced all of the good and the bad. I am really surprised by the arrogance of these articles. All of your so-called myths I have have experienced in house church. I have seen folks who were only Christians a few months who had no religious background start successful house churches. I have seen networks go from one house chuirch to 60 in th e space of 6 months. I am afraid I do not know where your “experience” comes from but I doubt you have ever been in a house church let alone started one. I am sorry it does not work for you but why do you try to destroy the work of others??
Jamal Jivanjee said:
Lindee,
Just so you are aware, Milt has been involved in organic church life, and he has certainly planted churches built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. My life, and the lives of many others, can testify to this.
Joshua Costello said:
great post. We as humans like to focus on ourselves. We like to be the focus and lose focus on what and who God is therfore missing His point and His way. Nobody wants to try to stop a train that is going 80 mph. So we get on it. That train represents the last 1700 years in mainline Christianity. The longer mainline christianity has been going on the bigger and faster the train gets. I would rather stop somebody on a bycicle. – thank you milt for helping me get off the train.
Tony Shuman said:
Thanks Milt. That’s the way it’s done. Just waiting for one of your conferences around here—in the Harrisburg, Washington D.C. area. Let me know when you are coming.
Trevor Honeycutt said:
Amen Milt. Many house churches seem more like offspring of spiritual gigolo’s, or orphans banding together, or courts of gurus, or halls of pharisees; than strategically planned-for and nurtured-to-strength children of a wise and loving father.
Thanks for being the latter.
jpomb1 said:
Spy. 4:11-13 seems to say that those attributes or gifts were contained specifically to those workers,? Am I correct?
Tony Shuman said:
Lindee, What is a successful house church?
Steve Simms said:
By making “church planter” a special calling or office, are you not taking a first step toward institutionalism and away from organic life? Can’t he spiritual life of God can flow through anyone who is willing to follow and obey the Holy Spirit? Isn’t the Spirit the true church planter? Aren’t the people He uses just instruments in His hands?
miltrodriguez said:
Steve,
I don’t think so. All life has structure and form. Just look at a dna sampling! His life also has structure. The tendency with “organic church” people is to throw out all structure. It’s the structure of man that we should be rejecting, not ALL structure. Look at the human body (which Paul uses as a picture of the church), it definitely has structure. In the context of 1Corinthians where Paul is discussing these things it is very clear that he uses the analogy of the human body. The eye cannot say of the hand I have no need of you. This kind of language makes no sense at all if there is not definition of body parts!
“If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be?”
(1Co 12:15-19)
None of this makes any sense if there is no definition and structure within the Body.
Yes, God can use anyone at any time however He wishes. However, it’s apparent from Paul’s teachings, the story of the New Testament church, history, and our own experiences that He chooses people to do specific things. I didn’t make this up Steve!
Steve Simms said:
Milt: The only problem with organizational structure is that every church claims that their structure is from God. No church says: “We have a man-made structure.”
So with thousands of denominations, Christian groups, (and now organic churches) all claiming to have God’s structure; how is one to know which one’s really have God’s structure.
From my reading of the New Testament, I believe that the structure in the body (the church) is spiritual and not organizational. All the parts of the human body function together because they are directly connected to the head (by nerves), not because they have a hierarchy or organizational chart. So in the church, we are all directly connected to the Head, Jesus Christ. He is the one who keeps us together, animates us as a body, and causes us to function as the ekklesia.
The church is not built on positional authority (coming from titles or positions), like a human organization, but on spiritual authority coming from the life of God actively working in and flowing through the various members of the body.
Perhaps the first step toward the clergy/laity system was the exaltation of “church planter” to a place of positional authority.
miltrodriguez said:
Steve,
You are close! First I agree with everything you said about the structure being the Body and not human organization.
Actually the first step toward the clergy/laity system was when local leadership began to take control. The one man leader of an assembly took over the plurality of leaders and the itinerant church planters either started to die out or settle down locally. See the “Pilgrim Church” by Broadbent
MichaelO said:
Milt,
So, am I to take from your blogs, that “you and your associates (Frank Viola)”, are the only ones officially sanctioned by God, to plant a church and lay a foundation and build as a master builder upon said foundation? Or are their other “ones”?
Are you absolutely certain that every church “planted” in the entire NT was planted by an apostle? And built upon by another apostle?
Define church? Is it ‘A’ church, among many, in a locale, or the many churches in a locale taken as a whole? Were all of the many churches in a locale, always started by an apostle?
Given that the 4/5/6 fold ministry is to “equip” the saints. What are those saints being equiped for, you seem to indicate for “body life”? Is that ALL the equpping is for?
You state: “The tendency with ‘organic church’ people is to throw out all structure. It’s the structure of man … , not ALL structure.”
Could this be overstating the situation with the absolute “ALL”?
1 Corinthians was primarily initiated to address divisions in the church (1:10-13.)I agree with gifting handed out by God for specific functioning. But it seems to me that we are dangerously close to reverting to that clergy~laity distinction with the emphasis you seem to be expressing, which could bring division.
To use the term ALL to losely whether referring to “organic people.” Or churches are only started and built upon by apostles in “ALL” instances, is to truely speak from silence in the inerrant Scriptures. The Bible (NT) does not go as far as you do.
MichaelO said:
First century apostles were distinguished by God’s confirming power. It seperated the haves from the have nots. (1 Corin 2:4,5.)
MichaelO said:
Having studied the different tribes writings in this present move of God, I sort of enjoy the divergent emphasis placed by the several tribes. I believe that they will all reach the same destination by different roads. I dusted off Robert J. Banks book, “Paul’s Idea of Community”. He brings up a couple of thoughts I think appropriate to this line of revealing “myths about organic church.” In chapter 7, Intellectual Elements in Growth, The Goal Maturity. On page’s 67,68 is a discussion about the importance of harmony for corporate maturity of the “body”. He brings up a fascinating point on page 68 talking about “attaining of all to ‘the knowledge of the Son of God to mature adulthood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.’” Then he makes a marvelous statement: “Although this goal will be fully realized only in ‘the age to come’, that is to say in God’s perfected universe,…” This is often forgotten in our dealings with brethern from other tribes, it also softens our attitudes realizing this scriptural truth.
In chapter 6, The Community as a Functional Body, paragraph: It’s Application page’s 64, 65, Mr Banks makes a keen point.
“Much of what Paul says about the community as a ‘body’ is framed in response to the possibility of disunity splitting it up. As we have seen, unity in the local church is a reality to be acknowledged, not a potential to be worked towards…schism for Paul designates division within a single community…This does not mean that all differences of opinion within the church are to be avoided. As Paul says, ‘there must be different views (haireseis) among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized’ (1Cor11:19). Only when such differences are combined with a lack of acceptance of others, so that a section of the church hardens itself against the rest and behaves as if it were self-contained, does disagreement rend the body.”
So far the differences I see put forth do not require a disassociation from the groups so-called in error.
It seems to be splitting hairs, IMHO.
miltrodriguez said:
MichaelO,
To answer one of your many questions above: No, I definitely do not believe that myself and my “associates” are the only ones “officially sanctioned by God” to plant a church and lay a foundation. I have never said that in my speaking or in any of my writings. I have never even alluded to such a thought because simply put; I just don’t think that way and never have! It’s always a dangerous thing to read into the words and thoughts of others.
MichaelO said:
Milt,
My valued brother in Jesus Christ our Lord.
I find myself agreeing with most of what you say.
I was being a bit ‘tongue in cheek’ in my rhetorical question to you and brother Frank, knowing full well that you nor he do not think that way.
In a perfect world we should all have a Paul, Barnabus, Apollos, Peter, James, John, Silas, Timothy, Titus, John Mark, Aristarchus, Epaphras, Archippus, Gaius, Trophimus, and Tychius, visiting us all often. And perhaps that is exactly what the Holy Spirit is about right now bringing the modern day equivalents up. But I am struck throughout the entire 66 volumes of the Bible how God souverignly does His will and His work despite our shortcomings and misinterpretations and downright rebellion. That is equally not to say that what you are saying is what we all should aspire to everyday. But what I see in the “organic people” is divergent degrees of emphasis or “doctrinal” differences, with an eye towards the same goals and aspirations. I agree that it is a systemic problem but God is a master in dealing with that. The problem is our hearts and many in leadership still want to rule and control brethern, in a different setting called organic/house/missional/simple/etc. It does take time to mature, but that is no guarantee. I believe the divergent tribes would do well to learn from one another, division is what the enemy wants.
miltrodriguez said:
MichaelO,
I definitely agree with you that we all need to learn from one another. No one (or one group) has all the answers for sure.
Michael Fleming said:
This series has been great. Keep them coming.
This is how society works isn’t it? We go from believing that only “special” people with special abilities can “minister” to people all the way to the other side where now anyone can do anything! That reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by C.S. Lewis…”Satan sends error into the world in pairs of opposites hoping that you disdain for the one will drive you to the other.”
We see this with the topic of order as well. We move from the mechanical order of man all the way over to chaos while skipping organic order.