Editor’s Note: In 9Marks, we appreciate those with whom we have the most important things in common, even if they don’t agree with us constructively (Prov. 27. 6). This Ed Stetzer article is a practical example of this appreciation. will benefit from your item, just like us.
When Jonathan Leeman asked me to write an article on this subject, he sent the title above and said, “Come on, don’t you like the title?”
- Look.
- He knows (and Mark Dever knows it too) that I love gospel clarity and biblical ecclesiology.
- But I’m concerned about the anti-practical nature we sometimes see in 9-brand communities.
This article does not speak of my situation, but of yours, at their request, because they know that I have much in common. In fact, the last churches I established used a demonstration of God’s glory to describe our system of government. I think there are some problems to consider when setting up churches, so I set up nine things that 9Marks purists should know, because nine is a sacred number!
Your preaching is not as important as you think, at least not for church planting.
Now don’t get bored yet; Note that this is a conversation that takes place in a church. Let me be clear: preaching the scriptures accurately exegically and theologically is essential, meaningful, and vital to the health of your church, but this is not the first thing you should do. need to build relationships, share the gospel, and create groups.
You evangelize a church to exist, and then begin to preach to the church of the new evangelized.
Yes, preaching and teaching are the hallmarks of a biblical church, but this is not how a church is established. Preaching is part of how you are a pastor of a church, but you must first implement it (through evangelism).
Now, if you start by sending a group, and it’s already a church that works, is that another story of preaching?But it’s the same story about evangelism. Evangelism must be a driving force if it really means establishing a church and not just establishing a new point of preaching.
Many purists like to preach more than sow (and sometimes more than people), leading to a “sowing” that usually has more to do with people who want more and better a reformed preaching.
Never plant a church just in an imaginary way
There is a danger that theorists and theologians will adopt a methodology and ways of establishing churches without understanding their specific culture or context. We need a vision of the people God calls us, which means we need to know them and then develop practical steps. establish a church between them. These practical steps can be as simple as meeting with all the neighbors on your street, inviting people to go to church with you, participating in community events, etc. “must be done on the street.
And what you’ve heard at a conference or seminar isn’t always the same as what you apply and experience in a practical way when planting from downtown to rural areas.
You can’t live and love like Jesus without spending a lot of time with people who don’t know you.
Did Jesus say he came looking for and saving the lost?(Lk 19:10), and we are called to join him in his mission. As a church implanter, however surprising, it is difficult to separate and spend time with him. people who need to hear about Jesus. It can be easy to deviate from the model of teaching others a fantastic methodology to find those who are lost, but spend little time giving a practical example. This can create a church of intellectually well-trained but fully inexperienced missionaries. As church planters, with the various requirements of their time, you must strictly protect the time you spend with friends, neighbors, and colleagues (if you have two vocations) who do not yet know Jesus. with members of your church, you will shape your missionary culture.
Many purists immersed themselves in an ecclesiastical or religious culture, have you noticed how easy it is for us to start saying spiritual phrases about people who have no spiritual inclinations?It is a sign of the culture of the church, not of biblical truth, and it is certainly neither wise nor attractive to normal people.
It must be committed both theologically and culturally to establish a church effectively.
Sometimes people who are more adept at cultural commitment tend to be less inclined to theology, but this is not always a correlation. Often, those who have been studying theology for years lack clues about the cultural context and their preaching is remote and mis-rather.
Correctly establishing a church involves an exegesis of the culture in which God placed it sovereignly. It takes time, energy, effort and intentionality. We must preach to Christ and the scriptures with a faithful understanding of theology, but we must also communicate in the linguistic and cultural context of our time. I find it ironic that those who love Puritans sometimes abandon the Puritan practice of “speaking clearly. “
You can and should participate in culture and be theologically motivated in your approach to ministry.
It is a myth that preaching and teaching will always produce an evangelical church, but often it is not.
Good teaching, when isolated, rarely has a transformative effect, although people always tell me it’s their plan. A preacher’s sermons should be combined with the activities of his life (1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 3:10). . Seeing him actively deal with his own evangelistic activity and theirs, pastor, is the illustration his sermons need to create a new culture. Evangelization should be taught and encouraged.
In fact, I had an argument with a purist of the 9 brands (did I mention that this term was coined by Jonathan?). He was frustrated at teaching and preaching, training disciples, and deepening, but evangelism did not progress.
He agreed to do everything I suggested to him for a few months, so we planned days of evangelization, we started a new series that would make it easier for Christians to bring guests (and then we planned to focus on a friend’s invitation), planned a broad approach to the church in the community, organized a prayer strategy and more.
The end result? He did nothing to violate his purist views (that was our agreement), but soon the church grew, because it was mobilized and God was the blessing.
I often tell people that if they want to have a bad reputation for their church, they start to grow. Pastors who run churches that do not grow will find ways to explain the growth of other churches as illegitimate.
Yes, there are false converts. Yes, there are bad methodologies, no, we don’t want to depend on the moment. But maybe you can learn more by asking, “What can I learn from someone who reaches people I don’t touch?”
When Mark and I talked about it one day, I told him (hopefully) that I thought I was effectively raising a whole generation of theologically educated but uninformed shepherds who are less effective than they might be. . .
He answered something like: They read all the practical books (and he politely said that many of these books were mine), yet I’m not convinced it’s still like this (and Mark, your books sell a lot more than mine. ).
But in his answer I found my hope. Mark assumes you have a practical education somewhere. My concern is that 9Marks purists don’t have it, and they have to have it.
So learn best practices, learn to engage the lost, learn to run your church in a way that involves your community, but don’t do it away from the gospel, scriptures, and a biblical understanding of the Church.
Is this my exhortation for you?my purist friends from 9Marks!