The old Nickelodeon TV show, Are You Afraid of the Dark? did great damage to my confidence as a young boy. If I wasn’t afraid of the dark before watching this horror fantasy TV show that aired in the late 90’s, I most certainly was after.
I would often lay in bed wondering if there was a monster under my bed, waiting to attack and devour my ankles. In fear, I would lay there counting to three, trying to hype myself up to make a dash for the door. “I…2… Nope… Ok, here I go… 1… 2… 3… No, I can’t do it…” Over and over again, I would try to bring myself to get out of bed, yet an irrational fear of the boogie man crippled me.
I’ve found that the thought of church planting isn’t much different. The thought of starting a new church is terrifying. It’s a challenging endeavor that is laced with uncertainty. It’s stepping foot into the unknown, wondering if rejection or failure will grab and devour us to pieces.
If church planting is so terrifying, then why forsake the comforts of an already existing church for the sake of the unknown? How do we know that starting Harbor Community Church will be a fruitful endeavor? How do we know that rejection or failure won’t swallow us up?
Well, it’s in the face of fear, that we must lean on God’s word, trusting that he is all-powerful and good.
In Matthew 28, we see Jesus’ disciples encounter him for the first time since his resurrection. And when they saw him they worshiped him, yet some doubted. In response, Jesus doesn’t say, “Thank you, thank you!” soaking up the glory. Rather, he comforts his disciples and then calls them to action by commanding them to go and make disciples.
He says,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Here, Jesus commands his disciples to go and do what he has done for them. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them all that I have commanded you. Disciples of Jesus are called to make more disciples of Jesus.
As a child, it would have been silly for me to spend my entire life laying in the comfort of my bed. At some point, I had to face my fear and let my feet touch the ground. In the same way, we as Christians are not called to sit in the comforts of our church building. At some point, we must face our fear and go.
Over the past few years, in preparation for the starting of Harbor Community Church, I’ve jotted down five reasons why I would not want to be involved in a church plant. They are as follows:
I’m comfortable where I am.
I’m afraid of rejection.
I’m afraid of failure.
I’m afraid this will be too hard.
I’m afraid of commitment.
In some regards, these fears are justifiable. There’s nothing in the Bible that guarantees the success of Harbor Community Church. There are many church bodies that fail or die out each year, and we could be one of those. Rejection, failure, and difficulty are all a real possibility. In fact, they’re highly probable. I (we) will encounter rejection. I (we) will fail. I (we) will encounter difficulties. Church planting is a commitment to abandon comfort, which is terrifying.
It’s in the face of these fears that I (we) must constantly lean on the great commission as comfort. But, if you’re task oriented like me, then you might have missed how the great commission is comforting. For a long time, I only viewed the great commission as a command that I must follow, which is accurate and true. Go means go. We’re not called to idleness, we’re called to action. There is no way around that. Whether we pursue church planting or not, we must “go and make disciples.” The great commission is 100% a call to action.
If we’re not careful, however, we will miss the beauty of this commissioning. Jesus is not calling his disciples to go alone. This command to make disciples is wedged between two beautiful statements that should offer us great comfort.
First, before we ever see a command to go, we see a declaration that,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me [Jesus].”
The call to make disciples is a response to the reality that Jesus possesses all authority. Therefore, we go and make disciples confidently because Jesus is all-powerful. He lays not in a grave, but he is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Fear not, disciples of Jesus, we’ve been commissioned to make disciples by the sovereign ruler over all.
But, not only that, this all-powerful, sovereign ruler over all isn’t calling us to “go” while watching from afar. He has commissioned us to go and he has promised to help. He follows his command with a promise to be with us always.
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Fear is diminished when we understand that we are not alone. As a child, the fear of the boogie man washed away the moment that one of my parents walked in the room. In the same way, when we are faced with fear concerning obedience to the great commission, we must strive to rest in Jesus’ promise to be with us always, until the end of the age.
Church planting is a commitment to abandon the fleeting comforts of this world for a greater comfort in Jesus. The pursuit of discipleship is not something we do alone. We get the honor of making disciples of Jesus with Jesus. The more we are obedient to the great commission, the deeper our intimacy with Jesus should grow.
Even though the great commission doesn’t guarantee Harbor Community Church success, the great commission attacks and diminishes our greatest fears and offers us immense comfort.
Are you afraid to leave what’s comfortable? Take heart, Jesus will be with you!
Are you afraid of rejection? Take heart, Jesus will be with you!
Are you afraid of failure? Take heart, Jesus will be with you!
Are you afraid of difficulty? Take heart, Jesus will be with you!
Are you afraid of commitment? Take heart, Jesus will be with you!
May we never allow fear to withhold us from obedience to the great commission through church planting. May we “go and make disciples!”