How would you go about planting a church where there are no churches and are no Christians?
For many Christians living in the Western world, this situation is almost inconceivable: we’re surrounded by churches on all sides. Even in the least churched areas of the country, there are still a few scattered across the landscape.
A recent Lausanne pulse article by Younoussa Djao details some of the philosophy that goes into planting new churches in new places. He identifies seven tenants that one can use as a guide for understanding where and how to plant a church:
I. Go Where Jesus Is about to Go
II. Make Sure to Pray!
III. Look for the Person of Peace (from Luke 10:5-8)
IV. Either Do Your Ministry through the Person of Peace or Leave
V. Respond to the Needs: Compassion Ministries
VI. Give the Word of God by Doing Discovery Bible Studies
VII. Start Churches that Multiply
Out of those seven ideas, the fourth is the most interesting to me and almost seems counterintiutive. Here are Djao’s comments:
When a person of peace is not found in a community or an area, Jesus said to not do anything—to just leave. It means that it is not a place where Jesus is about to visit; God is not at work there; it is not God’s time for that place. Leave, pray more, and plan to come back later.
Sometimes a missionary will spend years in one place without seeing anyone interested in what he or she has to say or do. We spiritualize that by saying he or she is sowing and someone else will come and harvest.
The article is filled with insights and if you’re interested in global missions, it’s well worth your time to give it a read.
