Money can be such a problem, right? Holiday shopping, end of year budget crunching and end of year “asks” for donations, etc. As believers we are not to let money become an idol, but at the same time it is needed for life and ministry. We cannot serve “God and money” and we do not preach a prosperity gospel promising folks health and wealth if only they’d invest in us… that’s not only a false teaching but plain heresy, treating Jesus as a 401K plan with a promised “high return for your investment”. So what do we do? Why is it such a big deal? Follow me here, ok?
Imagine you were starting a business and you don’t have the start-up money. In this new business you won’t be selling any goods or merchandise and you won’t be offering any specific services in exchange for money, yet you have to continue to make money in order to stay in business. Does that sound crazy? But you’ve got a group of investors or partners who have agreed and pledged to help you start this business, but not all of them are committed at the same level.
Here are some of the business partner-types I’m talking about:
- Sugar Rush – Super excited about starting the business, really pumped up, but excitement doesn’t last long; too much work, too much self-sacrifice, and not enough return on time or monies invested.
- The Innovaters – love being on the cusp of new ideas, doing things different, they get a rush for being on the edge but when the idea is no longer new, it’s time to go.
- Wax-On/ Wax-Off – people who are awesome, loving, and 100% on board… sometimes; what I mean is, they want to help you with this new business, but are super afraid of cutting ties to previous, long established, deep-rooted business and express doubt every other day.
- My way or Highway – partners who are sold out for the start-up one day and willing to give everything up for the sake of its success, but leave when they don’t get their way.
- The Left Behind Ones – partners who commit because of friendship and don’t want to be left behind but never follow through with investment of time, money, or support.
- Ulterior Motives – partners who join the team for all the wrong reasons in hopes of fulfilling some personal agenda and when that doesn’t happen, they too abandon team.
- Everything But My Money – these are the partners who are committed and business savvy entrepreneurs, who are studied, and claim to have much knowledge about this type of business, but they never truly invest in it.
- The Post Men – these are the partners who are in it for the long haul, the folks that whether it’s raining, sleeting, or snowing they are committed to following through with their responsibilities to the team and start up. #GOLD
So why the heck would I start out a church planting blogpost talking about new businesses?
Because that is exactly what it’s like to plant a church! In order to plant, we needed to raise money, keep money coming in yet we don’t sell a product, don’t offer services in exchange for money, we want to reach out to our community and share our message, explaining to them that this is the greatest news ever, however, most of our community has long lost interest in the message we bring. The previous messengers have tainted the message itself or shared it in ways that instead of drawing people in, have actually pushed them away. Or the most common is that the message challenges present lifestyles, would cause too much change, and they’re not ready for that because the concept of God seems to distant, too far off, and in reality, just not real anymore.
What did I mean when I started off saying “It’s that time of year again…”?
It’s that time of year again in that we look at our budgets and see how much money was spent? Did we come under our budget or go over? What is it going to look like for next year? How much more money are we going to need? Where in the world are we going get it? We’re not selling nothing nor offering services and many of our original partners have left, we’ve got new ones who say they are on board but they haven’t quite started investing yet? There are others who think what we’re doing is great, and come often but haven’t quite made a commitment to invest. What do we do?
We trust God and work our behinds off to raise the necessary funds we need to pay the bills so the church can keep its doors open, preach the Gospel, love on the neighborhood in the name of Jesus, and disciple/ teach/ and train those committed partners (church members) that they too would take others under their wing and do the same (discipleship). I’ve heard folks say all we need to do is preach the Gospel! That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. I mean, yes, let’s preach the Gospel HARD! Explicity, with clarity, and boldness… but who are we going to preach to if no one is in the pews. I’ve also read that church planters need shepherds and not entrepreneurs, that too is silly. Yes, the church needs shepherds to love the members, walk with them, encourage them, and have them follow us as we follow Christ.
But like I said, church planting is like starting a business, so we need to do more than just “preach”, more than “shepherd”, and although preaching is imperative and our main goal, it is not the only goal. We have to be resourceful, we have to network, we have to open our hands and ask for help… why? Because we need it! And if we truly believe in our message and our calling then we must not be ashamed or embarrassed of asking for help.
The Apostle Paul asked for money to support the ministry, but he also made tents, he was bi-vocational. We can’t say we trust Jesus to “supply all our needs” (Ph. 4:19) and just sit around waiting for things to happen. Yes, we must have faith but we must also work hard at our calling. We can’t say we really, really need a job and say we trust Christ will get us that job yet never fill out applications, submit resumes, or follow up with potential employers and just wait for the job to fall from the sky, it doesn’t work that way.
I never knew how good I was at raising money until I had to depend on it in order to provide for my family. Seriously! As Christians, especially church planters, we can’t just sit around and wait for a check to fall out of the sky because someone heard our sermon online. We must reach into our communities, build relationships, get to know people, build trust, know their stories, pray for their needs, follow up with them, and share Jesus with them. We need to tell them God’s law, show them how they’ve broken it, explain to them the consequences, and then inform them of the glorious Good News of Jesus Christ, that their sins would be forgiven, that if they believe in the Jesus of the Bible, they’d be saved. And unfortunately, it takes money to be able to do these things, at least at the level of planting a church.
So why plant a church? Why go through all the hardship? Why subject yourself and family to all the struggles and heartaches? Because Christ is worth it! Because everyone needs to hear about Him, because… well, the Apostle Paul summarizes it pretty well, listen to his words:
Philippians 3:8-10
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
With that being said, today is #GivingTuesday and I’ll end this blog as I started by saying, “It’s that time of year again…” Would you please consider giving to Reformed Church LA? Would you consider us as one of the charities to give to, knowing that lives will be changed, not just for now, but forever as we proclaim the Gospel of Christ boldly, confidently, and accurately? Please know we’re grateful and our team of “Post Men” are grateful you’d trust in us and what God is doing through our lil church.
If you feel led to give, please do so by clicking on this link here we’re registered with PayPal’s Giving Fund:
Give Here To Reformed Church LA
If you’re a visual person like me, here are some pictures of who we are, where we minister, and some of the beautiful people God has brought us together with.
Church Planting In The Hood 