An Argument for Church Planting
An Argument for
Church Planting:
Biblical Justification
The Great Commission presented by
Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 is generally regarded as the motivational track for
evangelism, but it should also be linked with a passion for church planting. Evangelism
must be tied into making "disciples," "baptizing them," and
"teaching them to observe" God's Word (Mat. 28:18-20). The pattern
laid out in the book of Acts is that after people came to faith in Christ, they
were baptized, devoted themselves to the "apostles' teaching,"
"fellowship," "breaking of bread," and "prayers"
(Acts 2:41-42). This New Testament pattern for believers assumes that new
believers will join a local body of believers and commit themselves to
"fellowship" (Acts 2:42; Heb. 10:25). The book of Acts primarily
records the missionary journeys of Peter and Paul. After the Apostles left a
community of believers, a church sprung to life. Most of the New Testament was
written to newly planted churches.[1] It
is also important to note that the primary method the early church used in
fulfilling the "Great Commission" was evangelism combined with
planting churches.
Paul, on his various missionary journeys, planted churches. For example, Paul went to Philippi, which was a major city (Acts 16:12). While in Philippi, he shared the Gospel, people came to faith, and they were baptized (Acts 16:14-15, 33-34). These believers began to gather, and when Paul was freed from prison, he met with this group of believers to encourage them before embarking on another missionary journey (Acts 16:40). After Paul's initial trip to Philippi, a church was established in Philippi with elders and deacons (Phil. 1:1-2). This church in Philippi also partnered with Paul in missions and financially supported his church planting efforts (Phil. 1:5; 4:15-18).
Further denoting this pattern, Paul told Titus that elders should be appointed in "every town" (Titus 1:5). Paul even made a habit of sending Timothy and others to these new churches to strengthen them after his departure (Phil. 2:9; 1 Thes. 3:2). This biblical pattern further establishes that evangelism is connected to church planting and discipleship.
The Stats
Most people would agree with the
biblical justification for planting churches. The common question becomes:
"Aren't there already enough churches in every community or city in the
Bible Belt of America?" This follows the assumption that church planting
was necessary for the early church in the past, and now there are multiple
churches in every city. However, this assumes that every one of those churches
in a community faithfully shares the Gospel, makes disciples, baptizes, and
faithfully teaches the church to obey God's word. This also assumes that the
Gospel has reached most people in that community, that most people in the
community are committed to attending a church, and that the community has
reached a point where it is saturated by the Gospel.
Statistics point to the fact that the above-stated assumptions are incorrect. There are "200 million non-churched people" in America, and "no county" in America has an increase in "churched population" in the past ten years."[2] Major Protestant denominations have also seen a decline by “9.5 percent (4,498,242).”[3] Dave Early projects that only "6 percent of Americans" will soon attend church.[4] While there is an increase in new churches by “50 percent,” the population has increased at a rate where churches cannot keep up.[5] In other words, while most communities already have multiple churches, more Gospel-centered, disciple-making church plants are needed to meet population growth (and church decline).
What is grimmer is that Ronald Fay explains that only "5 to 10 percent" of average church attendees have shared the Gospel in the last year.[6] In other words, according to Fay, 90 to 95% are not fulfilling the Great Commission.[7] This lack of evangelism is obviously one of the contributing factors in the decline in baptisms, church attendance, and church membership.[8] This means that our communities and cities have not reached Gospel saturation. Stats also indicate that new churches are more effective in evangelism than large churches (older churches).[9]
As argued above, Church planting is biblically justified, and it was the pattern for ministry in the New Testament. Church planting is also evangelistically needed considering overall church decline and population growth. New churches are also more effective than older churches in evangelism. Since we have not reached Gospel saturation in our communities, we must encourage churches to partner together to plant more missional churches to the glory of God and praise of His Son.
[1] Ed Stetzer and Daniel Im, Planting Missional Churches
(Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2016), 29.
[2] Dave Earley and David Wheeler, Evangelism Is: How to Share
Jesus with Passion and Confidence (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2010),
339.
[3] Ibid., 340.
[4] Ibid. 340.
[5] Ibid. 340.
[6] Ronald Fay., Share
Jesus Without Fear (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 1999), 6.
[7] Ibid., 6.
[8] Earley and Wheeler, Evangelism, 29.
[9] Stezer and Im, Planting,
7.
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