Church Planting Insights From 1 ThessaloniansNäide

When you start planting a church, it seems like nothing happens unless you do it yourself. You expected to be the teacher, the intercessor, the evangelist, and the worship leader. But you were not expecting all of the small organizational details you would have to take care of. Church planting is not easy!

But after a while, you began to have church members who would help you. Then, you were able to delegate simple responsibilities to others. What a relief! After all, you always wanted to be like the apostles in the Jerusalem church who could devote themselves to “the ministry of the Word of God” (Acts 6:2).

But when it comes to delegating spiritual responsibilities to church members, that is more difficult. You are the leader, and they are young in the faith. What if they make a mistake? What if they teach false doctrine? What if they provoke a division in the church over some spiritual matter? So, you are reluctant to delegate spiritual responsibilities to church members.

You may wonder how I know church planters’ reluctance to delegate spiritual responsibilities to others. I know because I have been reluctant; I know because I have seen on three continents the unwillingness of other church planters to empower church members for spiritual ministry.

But not the Apostle Paul. In 1 Thessalonians 5, he gives instructions to conclude his letter to the new church in Thessalonica. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 is a beautiful example of spiritual empowerment. Paul said, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.” Paul did not view himself as the final arbiter of every spiritual question. He did not expect every problem to be brought to him as a church planter. He said to his flock in Thessalonica, “You test prophecies. Together, determine which ones are good. Then hold onto that which is good. And be sure to avoid every kind of evil.”

The apostle Paul did not create spiritual dependency in the churches he planted, and neither should we. Rather, we should empower the congregation to exercise wisdom and discernment. He did not expect his disciples to always be weak and unskilled. He expected that they could and should distinguish good from evil when it came to prophetic words and ideas.

What do you expect from your people? Can you delegate spiritual responsibility to them? Do you? Let me encourage you to examine the way you lead your people. If you believe in them and believe that God, through his Word and by his Spirit, will guide them, then you will entrust them with ever greater spiritual responsibility. It’s not easy, but it is the way of wisdom that Paul demonstrates in his church planting ministry.

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Did this plan encourage you? Are you interested in cross-cultural church planting? We’d love to get to know you. Connect with One Mission Society by sharing your name and email address at https://onemissionsociety.org/contact-us, or email us at go@onemissionsociety.org. Check out this opportunity to serve with OMS: https://onemissionsociety.org/opportunities/detail/church-multiplication-facilitator.