{"id":1981,"date":"2020-01-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/resource\/church-planting-a-low-road-with-a-high-calling\/"},"modified":"2020-06-21T22:36:43","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T02:36:43","slug":"church-planting-a-low-road-with-a-high-calling","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/resource\/church-planting-a-low-road-with-a-high-calling\/","title":{"rendered":"Church Planting: A Low Road with a High Calling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you love Jesus?<\/p>\n

The answer may be so obvious, it could come off as slightly insulting.<\/p>\n

After all, if you didn\u2019t love Him, you would not be spending your limited energy laboriously church planting or contemplating beginning the journey if you have not already.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you love me, Peter?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Imagine how Peter felt when Jesus asked Him this question, not once, but three times. In John 21\u2014shortly after Peter\u2019s denial of Jesus and Jesus\u2019 bodily resurrection\u2014John gives readers a sneak peek into a long-anticipated moment when Jesus is face to face again with the one who emphatically said he would never betray Him (Matthew 26:33-35). His response to Peter is neither harsh nor passive but the tone of a compassionate friend. Jesus goes on to give Peter a glimpse into what it will mean to follow Him from this point forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cTruly I tell you,\u00a0when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don\u2019t want to go.\u201d\u00a0He said this to indicate by what kind of death\u00a0Peter would glorify God.\u00a0After saying this, he told him,\u00a0\u201cFollow me.\u201d John 21:18-19<\/p>\n

Peter did love Jesus, and His love for Jesus would take Him where he didn\u2019t want to go. Peter would not have a comfortable life. His love and commitment to Jesus would lead him down a low road with a high calling. He would travel a low road of persecution, discomfort and a death similar to Christ\u2019s crucifixion. But the high calling of the road less traveled would lead to glory unimaginable in the age to come.<\/p>\n

The Call to Go is a Call to Trust<\/strong><\/p>\n

When God calls us, he rarely calls us to comfort. In our comfort it\u2019s hard to trust Him because we can subtly believe the lie of self-sufficiency. But when we are called into the unknown, we are called into deeper waters of trust in God and not ourselves. The mirage of self-sufficiency becomes the reality of total dependency on the Lord. We know that unless he builds the house, our labor is in vain (Psalm 127).<\/p>\n

While we may not die a martyr\u2019s death like Peter, we are called to die in small ways every day. It is precisely our willingness to die to ourselves that makes our hearts fertile ground of gospel fruitfulness. \u201c\u2026 unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit\u201d (John 12:24).<\/p>\n

The Call of Church Planting is a Call to Death<\/strong><\/p>\n

The call to church planting is a call to die to yourself and your ideas of how life should be. In saying \u201cyes\u201d to God to plant a church and multiply it, planters may be called to die to: owning a home, having a stable income or having the type of church you envision in the time frame you\u2019ve planned.<\/p>\n

Church planting is a commitment to walk a low road with a high calling. To be a church planter is to step into the unknown of what God has for us. To be a church planter is to leave the comforts of stability and to walk in good works God has prepared for you to accomplish. To be a church planter is to commit to stepping outside of your comfort and sharing the gospel with your neighbors. To be a church planter is to commit to one of the biggest tools of sanctification in a man\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

But if we say \u201cyes\u201d to the call to expand God\u2019s kingdom through planting gospel-centered churches, we will produce more fruit through the power of the Holy Spirit than we ever dared imagine\u2014in this life and in the life to come.<\/p>\n

For more information about moving to plant a church in a city you don\u2019t want to go to, listen to this episode <\/strong>of We are Send Network<\/em>,\u00a0 Church Planting at Home and Away<\/a>.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you love Jesus? The answer may be so obvious, it could come off as slightly …<\/p>\n

Church Planting: A Low Road with a High Calling<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1982,"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],"languages":[],"class_list":["post-1981","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-article","topics-church-planting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChurch Planting: A Low Road with a High Calling - Send Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/resource\/church-planting-a-low-road-with-a-high-calling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Church Planting: A Low Road with a High Calling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you love Jesus? 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