Do you want to see churches planted, but don’t have loads of money? Do it missionally. Here’s a basic outline by which anyone can plant a church.
1. Get a job, any job. But not a pastoral job, unless the church which employs you allows you to plant churches in the way outlined below (I’ve seen it happen, but it is very, very rare). In this way, you do not depend on the “church” for your income. You have no idea how liberating and freeing this is.
2. Develop and/or find a simple and easily reproducible way of making disciples. It should be something that anybody can learn to teach anyone else after seeing it only once or twice, and which is advanced enough for even the most knowledgeable Christian. It should also involve active service in the community. I highly recommend “Life Transformation Groups” by Church Multiplication Associates as talked about in Neil Cole’s book Organic Church.
3. Find a marginalized, fringe group that is rejected, neglected, outcast, condemned, criticized, and judged by the majority of society, especially by “religious” people.
4. Insert yourself into this group with one goal only: to make life-long friends with some of the people in this group. Your goal is to become friends with these people, even if they never accept your beliefs about Jesus and the Bible. Do not try to turn every conversation around to God and the Bible. Don’t have an agenda!
5. Live like Jesus among this group: Love, accept, forgive, serve. Laugh a lot. Have fun.
6. If/when someone becomes interested in your way of living and believing, invite them to join you in the discipleship process of step 2.
7. If/when they believe in Jesus for eternal life, invite them to remain in their community, practicing these seven steps among their friends and family.
This approach is not flashy, will take time, and will not help you gather huge crowds or construct big buildings. But disciples will be made, and that, after all, is what Jesus called us to do (Matt 28:19-20).
