Cursed Church Plants

I have a theory.  I Can't prove it, But I Believe it.

 

IF a new church is started out of order it will never come into order.  God will Withhold his hand from it and it will collapse of it's own weight.  In other words, he will allow a curse to be placed on the church that will stand.  Never a good thing.

 

I have been involved in enough new church plants to know that there are curses that follow some new church plants.  If a person is a church planter it will serve them well NOT to allow any of these curses to follow those plants: 

 

Planting from a split.  I know of very few church plants that come from a church split that amount to anything.  If a group of people become offended with a church and leave in a huff to go off to start their own church that new church is doomed.  I have watched 5 examples personally: one in Fargo at First Assembly, Two from Faith Center, Two from Calvary.  In every case that new effort collapsed because the spirit of offense and rebellion manifested itself in the new Fellowship.  Collapse happens within a few years.

 

Pirating, living off the work of others.  I was part of a church that was pirated (Proselytized) by another small church.  Now 5 years later that church runs on average less than 70 people which is what the congregation was combined when the proselytizing happened.  This kind of drinking from wells he didn't drill has caused this young pastor to stagnate.  God doesn't bless a divider.  If your church growth only comes from stripping people out of other churches you will stagnate.  It's a curse.

 

A church formed of rebellion, anger, divisiveness and strife.  Even if the founder is a Godly man or woman if the core vision is "at least we aren't those other guys" it will fail.  I know of a church that struggled with the spirit of rebellion and divisiveness for a long time.  It wasn't a split but it depended on people who came to the new fellowship with a church split mentality.  People would compare what happened at their church with what happened at others.  This church finally got out of the box when it abandoned this for a new vision which is focused on community.  It now is growing.  The "at least we aren't those other guys" vision is no vision at all.

 

Vanilla Church, Trying to be all things to all people.  This is the saddest situation of all.  Trying to build a church by being whatever you think everyone wants.  In other words not having a core vision, not remaining faithful to the beliefs and principles you started with.  People are attracted by vision.  Not by division which is what happens when everyone has their say.  The leadership must promote the vision constantly.  Those who buy into the vision will come, those who don't will leave.  The church that results will be strong and unified.

 

Plan B. This curse is the worst of all.   If a church planter lives with  Plan B in his pocket he will fail. When he committed to planting a church he had to say to himself, there is no plan B.  I worked with a man who planted a church a few years ago and he was constantly scheming to come up with a plan B.  Not God's plan.  His Plan B.  If a person is a church planter, he must say to himself, there is no plan B.  The tentativeness will cause him to bob and weave when he should be focused and straight ahead.

 

If God told him to plant a church and if it succeeds all the Glory goes to God.  If it fails who let it fail?   A church planter must be neutral regarding success or failure.  If he becomes failure minded (feeling like if the church fails he failed) he will fail.  It's not about him.  It's about what God wants to do thru him.  If God wants to plant a church and he calls a man or woman to do it then all that man or woman can do is do their level best every day using all the skills abilities and anointing God gave them.  If it doesn't work he closes the book and moves on.

 

Church planting is brutal business.  It's family stretching.  It's marriage punishing.  It's ego destroying.  It can drive a man out of ministry. 

 

Yet I have worked with some GOOD men who planted and made it work even if it failed.  Tim and Aaron.  If they read this (I sent them a copy as I sent this to the Blogpost) they know who they are.  They both planted without the curse.  It was a pure work. That doesn't mean immediate success.  It may not mean success at all.  It means they did what God asked them to do.  In that they are successful.

 

Planting a church without one of the curses noted above has a much better chance of making it than one that is planted with a curse.  I know the devil curses new church plants, that's OK.  The gates of hell won't prevail anyway.  I just want to make sure that there isn't a curse that God will allow because of one of the rebellions noted above.