I’m lonely.
I can’t do this anymore.
I don’t know if I have what it takes.
I think I could be doing something better with my life.
I am sure there are other things I am better at that I could spend my time doing.
If you have ever said something like this, then keep reading!
I know firsthand these feelings can emerge in any scenario or ministry, but I’m specifically writing to you who have embraced the call to plant.
Being a planter is the ultimate displacing experience. You have chosen to put yourself into a space where nothing is happening. You have opted to actively and excitedly recruit people to care about Jesus and His words where currently they are not caring and are unaware of His presence. You have decided to go into a place, stand there and look like a dork many times, and believe that God is actually going to fill the room or space with people.
Those life-altering choices take incredible energy, resolve and perspective.
We Love and Hate This Job.
We hate it because many times we feel stupid, small and insecure. We hate it because it presses all our limits. Planting brings up all our insecurities:
Can I actually do this?
Will people actually follow my leadership?
Is my vision any good?
Planting makes us come to the end of ourselves as we realize we really want a big ministry with lots of people in it—where we get all the fame and glory for being a master leader with thousands following us.
Planting is about laying a foundation—not about building an amazing skyscraper. No one gets excited about foundations. When was the last time you stopped on a city street and said, ‘Wow, what a foundation that is being built!”
Um, never. Foundations are not breathtaking like skyscrapers are. They are messy, flat and forming. At their best, they are the platform on which tall structures can be built.
Proper motivations are the No. 1 priority I work on with my staff. Shortly after setting out to start a new ministry, a point of breaking happens when all of the above-mentioned questions and assumptions come crashing down. We are left with God, His calling and ourselves.
Do you believe that He has sent you on this mission to start something new? Do you believe that you are the right person? Are a few people worth being here? Can you lay a foundation with joy?
