5 Marks of a Healthy Planter

Anything that’s made to sound simple, probably isn’t. Most of us have tried to put together a piece of furniture by following a few “simple” instructions. After hours of toil, mixed with childlike tantrums, we throw up our hands in disgust, pledging we’ll just make the entire thing from scratch the next time.

Church leaders can be guilty of the opposite extreme. We can take something meant to be relatively simple and make it so complex that it confounds and frustrates even the most seasoned practitioner. Such is certainly the case with church planting.

That’s not to suggest that starting a new church is easy. It’s not. Missiological and ecclesiological challenges abound for one seeking to bring the gospel to bear in a new community. Yet the biblical roadmap is clear. God is not a God of confusion, nor has He asked us to unlock some mysterious puzzle in order to see a new church birthed. He’s given us a clear path to follow.