Why plant another church? Part 4

There are pragmatic reasons.

1. Churches replace churches. Some churches have lost the plot and are closing down or becoming cultish so there needs to be plants to pick up where others are missing it.  I am not saying that I am out to criticise what others are doing, but I do believe that there are many who are looking for a Christian community that is seeking to be all that God wants.
2. Growing communities need churches. Any area that has a growing community needs another church.  This is one reason why we are focusing on the Welteverden/Little Falls area.  Over the years we have observe a boom in housing developments in the area, and while there are churches that are being established in the area, we see the need for more churches.  There are just so many people who need to be reached with the Gospel.
3. Lost people need the church. They don’t know this but they do.  They need Jesus and He has entrusted the church with the mystery of the Gospel.  We are wanting a church that will represent Jesus and His Kingdom well.
4. It is too easy to become comfortable. The Lord has been challenging us out of our comfort zone into planting a church. We believe that this is what it means to be walking by faith.  R.T. Kendall said that faith is “Believing God.” To do that means that you need to step out and into His hands.
5. Engaging with the culture. Instead of being stuck in a 16^th or 17^th century culture, we are wanting to be culturally relevant without compromising the Truth of God.  Mark Driscoll speaks about “reaching out without selling out.”  We are wanting to show the relevance of God’s Word and engage with God in worship using relevant styles of worship.  We want to be culturally relevant yet preserve Biblical integrity which means that the church, at the same time as being culturally relevant, must be counter-cultural in the aspects in culture that oppose God’s Word.
6. Cater for the Community. Some refuse to cater for the communities.  In SA the communities are fast becoming racially integrated.  We really do believe that churches should be multi-ethnic and a reflection of the community.  This is because God has a passion for the nations as well as the fact that Heaven reflects this as people from every tribe and language will be in heaven.  It becomes a little bit like heaven at home.
7. Doctrinal Definition. I have come to believe that a church needs to know where it stands.  If it can’t be theologically defined then there is a strong chance that it will be riddled with problems as strong personalities try and enforce their opinions on the church.  We want the church to know where they stand to preserve the unity of the church and promote the cause of Christ and His Kingdom.  This should never mean that we are exclusive and have nothing to do with other churches, but defined as a local expression of the body of Christ.
8. The final reason I want to highlight is Biblical church leadership.  I won’t go into this too much right now but it is something that I want to explore in this blog in the near future.

Bruce