Church Planting 101: Foundations
“Our greatest fear should not be of failure … but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.”
It was the first week of my church planter training with Vintage Mission. We sat at Mythical Coffee and Kirk asked me a question that is still rattling my bones.
He said, “Matt, do you think highly of yourself?”
Somewhat stunned, my mind raced to what I could have possibly said that would cause him to say that? I mean, we’d only known each other for half an hour or so. But as I sat back in my chair, I had to say something. My theology of 1 Timothy 1:15 mingled with some of my own personality guided my response.
“Well Kirk—yeah, I guess I do.”
Nodding his head, he said, “Hmm.”
Then after a pause long enough to make me ancy, he said, “You will need to repent of that. Because if God’s going to build a church, you need to get out of the way.”
After a few moments of silent reflection, I looked at Kirk and said, “Kirk—thank you.”
Then shaking my head I said, “This is so freakin’ good!!”
Since that exchange, Kirk has not been that direct with me again. In reflection, I don’t know if his comments to me were part of the typical training course for planters that helped launch 250 planters in 131 countries—or if his comments were specifically chosen for my uniquely overt arrogance. But in either case, it doesn’t matter, does it? What matters is that he was right. And because of that, I have taken it as a word from the Spirit of God.
As someone who loves to work and execute and develop and get stuff done, self-reliance is the air I breathe. In school, sports, and business, this can be great a quality. In Christian ministry, it may be useful—but it also may not.
The Scriptural witness confirms this concern resoundingly. John the Baptist proclaimed to his followers regarding Jesus, “He must increase; I must decrease.” (Jn 3:30). Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:2, “I decided to know nothing about you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” He said, “not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.” (1 Cor 1:26–27). James said, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (Jam 4:6).
Reflection thoughts abound in response to these texts:
When I increase my own glory, I am diminishing Christ’s glory.
When I allow my own knowledge to come forth, I am diminishing the potent truth of Jesus’ crucifixion.
When I act in self-wisdom or consider myself to be wise, I am aligning myself with those whom God has said he will shame.
When I am prideful, God opposes me.
Lest we ever forget that God used rocks and donkeys to proclaim his word, not to mention a whole slew of unbelievers, heretics, and nominal followers—I must remember that just because I am speaking true things and doing things as Jesus did does not mean that God is pleased with it or present in it. For God to be present in the active building of a new work of God in a church plant, we must actively crucify self-reliance in exchange for total dependence that is manifested in fervent prayer.
Returning to that conversation in the first week of training, Kirk came back with one of the best encouragements he could have shared. After knocking me down a few pegs, he said, “Matt—God has said that he will build his church. Church planting is God’s heart. And because of the Great Commission, we know that He WANTS to partner with us in this work. But in this partnership, we need to turn from any self-confidence and any self-reliance so that He can be the one to plant and build the church.”
And then what he said next is what has stuck with me the most.
He said, “Matt, we’re going to pray our faces off and beg God to move. We’re going to ask Him boldly to plant a church for His glory that would gather worshippers from all kinds of backgrounds to sing praises to the King together…And Matt, then we’re going to watch Him do it. Because He’s going to do it…or He won’t.”
What’s amazing about this exchange—which all in all took about 10 minutes—is that I went through all the normal stages of conviction, confession, repentance, and restoration within my own heart. I started arrogantly. Then I was humbled and convicted, only to be relieved upon confession, followed by being built back up in the faith. But the key was how Kirk went about building me back up. He didn’t build me up by pointing out my abilities, spiritual gifting, or hard work. Instead, he encouraged my soul by demonstrating a confident and prayerful faith in God’s ability to do supernatural work for His glory.
Since then, we have prayed many times together. My wife and I are asking God daily to do new gospel work in a new city for His glory. And Kirk is right—He is going to do it, or He won’t. But if He doesn’t, it won’t be because of a lack of diligent effort and desperate prayer. And God-willing, it won’t be because of overconfidence in my own ability to do it. It will be because He is sovereign and chooses what is best for His ultimate glory and for people’s ultimate good (Rom 8:28).
So… church planting 101: Lesson #1—get over yourself, pray your face off, and watch God do what He does.
Matt Thibault
Matt is married to Trina and they have three crazy-awesome kids: Adelyn, James, and Alivia. He and his family are following God’s call into Church Planting. Matt received his M.Div from The Master’s Seminary and is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Ministry from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
