{"id":1945,"date":"2019-01-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-03T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/resource\/seven-tough-questions-for-a-church-planters-spiritual-inventory\/"},"modified":"2020-06-21T22:37:10","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T02:37:10","slug":"seven-tough-questions-for-a-church-planters-spiritual-inventory","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/resource\/seven-tough-questions-for-a-church-planters-spiritual-inventory\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven tough questions for a church planter&#8217;s spiritual inventory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Trainers of church planters can easily rattle off the names of guys who, sadly, didn\u2019t make it. Sometimes, unforeseen circumstances wreak havoc on the church plant. Often, though, the deficiency lay in the character of the planter.<\/p>\n<p>When a planter\u2019s character is lacking, God simply won\u2019t honor his efforts. Instead, God lightly esteems the planter and his efforts.<\/p>\n<p>In 1 Samuel 2, we see the story of Eli\u2018s worthless sons. Obviously, they were not church planters. They were, of course priests. Scripture says that they \u2014 as priests \u2014 \u201cdespised the Lord.\u201d And because they despised Him, they were not honored by Him. They were, instead, \u201clightly esteemed\u201d by Him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut now the LORD declares &#8230; \u2018those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed\u2019\u201d (1 Sam. 2:30b).<\/p>\n<p>How did they despise the Lord? The text tells us: They were worthless (v. 12a). They did not know the Lord (v. 12b). They were greedy and gluttonous (vv. 13-14). They abused worshipers for personal gain (vv. 15-16). They treated the offering of the Lord with contempt (v. 17). They were sexually immoral (vv. 22-24). They would not listen to their father (v. 25).<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, they were lightly esteemed by the Lord.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a sober warning for anyone who\u2019s in any kind of spiritual leadership role. And it\u2019s a warning to our church planters who desperately need the Lord to honor their efforts, rather than lightly esteem them.<\/p>\n<p>This tragic story can lead us and our planters to seven self-examination questions that arise from I Samuel 2:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Where and how have I become worthless \u2014 wasting time, money, and resources that should be spent on building Christ kingdom?<\/li>\n<li>How have I been failing to grow in my personal intimacy with the Lord \u2014 failing to grow in the true knowledge of God?<\/li>\n<li>Where and how have greed and gluttony crept into my life \u2014 unnoticed and unchallenged?<\/li>\n<li>How have I become entitled \u2014 believing that worshippers are there to serve me, rather than believing I am there to serve them?<\/li>\n<li>Where and how have I been handling holy things \u2014 the Word, prayer, worship, communion \u2014 in a casual and cavalier way?<\/li>\n<li>How have I become complacent and compromising regarding my moral purity and godly sexuality?<\/li>\n<li>Where and how have I have begun to resist godly accountability and God-appointed authority?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Eli\u2018s sons did not have good answers to these kinds of questions. We know the rest of the story. They lost their ministry. And they lost their lives (1 Sam. 4:11).<\/p>\n<p>As trainers, let\u2019s encourage, challenge, admonish, and equip our planters by asking the tough questions so that their lives will honor the One who said, \u201cThose who honor Me I will honor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A prayer to pray: Lord, save me from any temptation, no matter how small, that might cause me to despise You by how I live and minister. Help me to be the kind of servant of the Lord who truly honors You. You deserve and desire to be honored \u2014 not just with my lips, but also with my life. Help me to take an inventory of my life to see where and how I may be despising You, even if it might be what some would think is innocuous. Keep me \u2014 and the spiritual leaders I know \u2014 pure before You and useful to You. For Jesus\u2019 sake, Amen.,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trainers of church planters can easily rattle off the names of guys who, sadly, didn\u2019t make &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/resource\/seven-tough-questions-for-a-church-planters-spiritual-inventory\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Seven tough questions for a church planter&#8217;s spiritual inventory<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1946,"template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"content-type":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"channels":[],"topics":[167,171,256],"languages":[],"class_list":["post-1945","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-article","topics-church-planting","topics-evangelism","topics-training"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.0 (Yoast SEO v24.0) - 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