Planting vs. Transplanting—An Analogy

In my last post I affirmed that what many currently call “church planting” is better described as church “transplanting.”  A leadership core group is developed within one church that will leave and move into a new area and form a new church launch.  Since this core arrives as a functioning group, it has really been transplanted.  (If you want to see some fascinating pictures of this, go to www.instantshade.com and click on the link to tree transplanting.)

By contrast consider planting an acorn and growing an oak tree.  We all realize it will be a long time before these baby trees will be large enough to become shade trees, but they have some real advantages.  It is very expensive to transplant already-grown shade trees.  While it appears to be a much faster process, transplanting is also a slow process.  Whether a tree grows from an acorn into a shade tree and then is transplanted, or just grows where that acorn is originally planted, it always takes years.  Because you can plant and care for numerous seedlings you can actually start many more churches by planting than transplanting.

Also, the reality is when you transplant risk is involved.  Large trees with extensive root systems require great care and much equipment to give a good chance at survival.  There is always shock that comes from the digging process, planting process, and stabilizing the tree in its new location.

Many people who grow in one church and move to a new location also find it shocking to be transplanted.  While they do their best to prepare for the move, it is hard to anticipate what actually happens.

When I speak of church planting I am not talking about church transplanting.  I am not talking about people leaving one congregation to be the leadership core for a new church somewhere else.  I am speaking of planting “baby churches” in new communities—especially among people groups who do not have a good Jesus option.  Let me define the terms I use and then test them to see if they ring true.  I am convinced God is calling us to such church planting.

Franchising—It’s About Control

A large well-known corporation bought out his postal/copy center.  He had to fund a face-lift and everything had to be arranged and decorated to their specifications.  The new name recognition and national advertising budget came at a high price.  Little did he realize how far the control extended.  When the executives decided to remove all visible clocks from their stores so the waiting public would not fuss about how long they were standing in line, my friend had to remove the clocks that he was selling as a side-line business in the store he owned.  They owned the rights so they called the shots.

Transplanting is the dominant methodology of starting new churches for the same reason.  It’s all about control!  Leaders who have been entrusted with “protecting” the flock demand that control techniques be in place to insure uniformity.  Since they control the money, the methodology will have to address their concerns. (I know this well.  I have been guilty of the very thing I speak of here.)

What is wrong with this approach?  It will not produce indigenous churches that are culturally appropriate to impact people different than those who have the control.  White, upper middle-class churches transplant white, upper middle-class churches.  Living organisms reproduce after their own kind.

But that’s the Biblical Way!

Really?  Do we really see the cultural uniformity we presume in the early churches?  Jerusalem’s first challenge is over cultural uniformity.  Will the widows who do not speak Hebrew received benevolence (Acts 6)?

While the same gospel is preached to Jewish and Gentile communities, cultural diversity existed which did not conflict with the teaching about Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.  Remember, Paul rebuked Peter to his face for his failure to uphold this in Antioch.

A close reading of Acts and Paul’s letters reveals he was not into the franchise control business.  Churches were established quickly, indigenous leaders were appointed, and Paul moved on to new regions.  Yes, he continued to mentor and teach these leaders, but Paul’s methodology was not edict, but calling for them to make right choices based on what they know of Jesus, Paul’s own example, and his reasoning with them through letters and messengers.  Paul did not discuss “handing the church over to the locals” at some distant point when they were his clones.  His practice acknowledged the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of these believers.  He knew they would rapidly mature as they put into practice the things they already knew.

Forty people who teach English in Chinese universities gathered for part of their Winter Break. Three guys from the U.S. traveled to spend a few days with them encouraging their work. While they are employed to help Chinese students learn to speak conversational English, they are called to be kingdom representatives.

These people range in age from 23 to 61. Some were recent college graduates and others are retirees. They all love the Chinese people. They all receive pay and housing from the universities where they teach. Each finds it challenging to spark spiritual conversations where freedom of religion and freedom of speech are not guaranteed rights. They are allowed to answer questions posed to them by students.

In some ways their situation is not foreign to that of professors in American universities. The school does not pay you to proselytize students. You are paid to teach your respective area of expertise. But as a believer, one must always represent King Jesus. Peter admonished first-century believers to, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us….Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Peter 2:12; 3:15-16).

Coupling our actions and words is essential for Christian witness. Being men and women of integrity is crucial. Living in such a way that those around us see consistency between our profession and our lifestyle gains a hearing for the good news. Practicing what we preach testifies to the importance of obedience to God’s word.

It was an honor to encourage people who are being intentional in influencing others. To hear their stories of attempting to influence people for good was uplifting for me. One teacher divided his graduate students into groups of five. Their class assignment was to read and spend 20 minutes discussing the obituary of Milliard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, in English. One student responded, “I am not a Christian, but I respect what this man did for others.” (If you would like, you can click on the following link and read about his life, too: ttp://www.habitat.org/how/millard_feb2009.aspx.)

Wherever we live, all believers are called to represent the kingdom of heaven. Each of us should find creative ways to dialogue with the people we work with on spiritual topics. As my friend, David Watson, says, “We need to be conspicuously spiritual without being obnoxiously religious.” Through our living we prove trustworthy to those we encounter. Some will be spiritually open and our lifestyle will attract them to us. In such a climate our desire to witness to God’s goodness will be welcomed.

When Jesus spoke of disciples being salt and light, he directed we impact our world. He was emphatic that lights are put on raised places so they give light to the whole room. “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

My new-found friend kept saying “Eleven.” He spoke little English and I knew no Chinese. He helped me find the sign that had the name of the region where my hotel was located, but the number he kept repeating was troubling me.

It was February 14 and I had just stepped out of the airport in Beijing, China. I had an email telling me how to find the # 6 bus and a map identifying the Civil Aviation Institute campus where my hotel was located. By looking at the map this guy pointed me to a sign with the name I had been given. He hurried me to the kiosk where I purchased a ticket for the bus and then back to the place where the bus would stop, just as it arrived.

On the bus I experienced a wave of anxiety as I thought: “What if this is the wrong bus? What if they get me out to the end of the line and it is not where I need to go?” I had hurriedly handed my ticket to the girl who had offered no help earlier and gotten my two suitcases and computer case onto the bus. Since I only had two hands, I had to leave one suitcase in the aisle and come back to retrieve it after placing the other two near the rear door.

Thankfully, my friend noticed another individual boarding the bus and asked if he spoke English. Now there was finally someone with whom I could communicate. It turned out that the second man is a pilot for China Air, the largest airline based in China. His English was good and he confirmed that this was indeed the bus that would take me to where my reservations had been made. He would be staying at the same hotel since it is the one China Air uses for pilots spending a night prior to their next flight. He also offered to help me with the check-in process when he found out there would not be anyone present to translate.

My fears began to calm and my racing mind began to slow down. Everything was going to work out, just as I had prayed. All those “What if…” scenarios had proven to be fruitless. I would get checked into the hotel and to my room without being lost. I would not have to call my one contact number in the middle of the night. I made it just fine.

The ability to communicate is significant. It has been called the life blood of any relationship. People go to great lengths to discover ways to share their thoughts and feelings. Sharing information is critical.

Over the course of the week there were numerous times when we used every means possible to bridge our limitations with speaking Chinese. Photo menus allowed us to order food in hole-in-the-wall restaurants where there were no English speakers. Universal symbols allowed us to locate rest rooms (their English name for them are Waist Closets, abbreviated as WCs). Surviving that first struggle to communicate made the rest of these pale in comparison.

It turns out the bus line I was looking for was no longer numbered. Also, rather than being in the second row of bus stops it was now in the first row. What I finally learned from my second friend was what the first guy meant by the word, “Eleven,” which he kept repeating with emphasis. The last run of that bus line was scheduled to pick up at the airport at 11:00 pm. If I missed that bus, there would not be another one until after 6:00 am the next day. He wanted me to hurry so I would not miss the bus.

My anxieties arose because the one number I wanted to hear was being replaced by a different number I needed to hear. How many times have I given people information they needed to hear, but could not hear because it contradicted what they thought they needed?

I am thankful that I met many Chinese people who went out of their way to be helpful. I intend to be more aware of people around me who may not be able to communicate well in English. I plan to help them, even if it requires bringing in someone else who can speak their heart language. I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of the Golden Rule.

We serve an awesome God!  He is so unlike us.  While created in his image, we see our inadequacies and failings most clearly when we look upon his divine character.

God is righteous. He always does what is right and good.  There is no wrong in him.  Could we be more unlike God?  Even at times when our intentions are good we mess things up.  There is something broken in our world that only God can repair.

God is all-powerful. When he spoke the world came into existence.  It’s no wonder his Son could quiet the stormy Sea of Galilee with those words, “Peace, be still.”  Our inability to produce peace may be the greatest single testimony to our power shortage.  We are limited by our inabilities.

God knows everything. He doesn’t have to wonder what we are thinking.  No library research is required for our Creator.  Google doesn’t have to be his information aid.  God knows when even one bird falls from the sky.  He knows every human being intimately.  He knows all of Satan’s plans.  He alone is all-knowing and the rest of us are left to investigate and humbly confess our knowledge limits.

God is the source of grace. He created Adam and Eve and provided for their every need.  His response to their rebellion was tempered by his grace.  Yes, their process of death was set in motion and they were separated from the tree of life, but God provided clothes and there was a way to provide food, even though man’s work became much more difficult.

God hates sin. He is righteous.  Sin runs counter to his nature and it prevents us from receiving all the blessings he has prepared for us.  God knew that sin would ruin our lives.  His directions would have protected Adam and Eve from such devastation if they had obeyed them.

God keeps his promises. He can be counted on to deliver on his word.  We don’t have to question whether or not God’s commitments will be fulfilled.  They always are.  Even if it takes thousands of years, God accomplishes his purposes.

God is truly worthy of our praise! Holy! Holy! Holy, is the Lord! Let us praise him!

I was shocked by the words, but they rang true:  “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church.  Worship is.  Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.  When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more.  It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.”  This quote from John Piper’s book, Let the Nations Be Glad, made perfect sense.

When a missions team goes to an unreached people group they “simply aim to bring the nations into the white hot enjoyment of God’s glory.  The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God.”  As the Psalmists write: “The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.” (Psalm 97:1, NIV). “May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.  May the nations be glad and sing for joy!” (Psalm 67:3-4, NIV).

Piper goes on to write:  “But worship is also the fuel of missions.  Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching.  You can’t commend what you don’t cherish.  Missionaries will never call out, ‘Let the nations be glad!’ who cannot say from the heart, ‘I rejoice in the Lord…I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High’ (Psalm 104:34; 9:2, KJV).  Missions begins and ends in worship.”

Maybe it is not so odd that my experiences in missions have connected with our passion for worship here at Stones River.  Piper continues, “When the flame of worship burns with the heat of God’s true worth, the light of missions will shine to the darkest peoples on earth.  And I long for that day to come!”  I must add a hearty, “Amen—let it be so, Lord!”

Jesus revealed the necessity of worship when he was called to stop the praise of his disciples:  “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40).  The created world points to its Creator.  But men and women—in particular the redeemed—must declare God’s worth; we must worship him in gladness.  We come before him with joyful song.  We work that others might experience this joy with us!

A friend challenges believers to use care in answering the question, “Are you a Christian?” We must respond with another question, “What do you mean by ‘Christian’?” Frequently when the inquisitor defines the term my friend says, “No, I am not a ‘Christian’ as you’ve used the word.” (For example, if you tell a person you are a Christian and that word means “hypocrite” to her, you’ve identified yourself as untrustworthy.)

What people mean when they use certain words is significant. So when you read or hear the word “disciple” what does this mean to you? How close is your definition to the way the word is used in the New Testament? A disciple is a learner, but even here we may attach cultural meanings that we need to re-think. Since the bulk of our learning has come in a school setting, we may transfer a mental image of a classroom to the word “disciple.” How much time do you think Jesus’ disciples spent seated in rows watching him teach? How did they learn from him?

An “apprentice” would probably be a better translation of the biblical ideas attached to the word “disciple.” An apprentice cabinetmaker will spend much time with a master craftsman learning the fine points of the trade. While I took three years of woodworking in high school, none of my class projects impacted me like one summer of working in an acoustic guitar factory. Even there I did not receive the prolonged close personal training of an apprentice.

Serving an apprenticeship under Jesus wasn’t focused so much on teaching content as it was personal character. James and John, “the sons of thunder,” were chided for their desire to call down the divine destruction on a Samaritan village. They needed to develop the heart of Jesus, not just memorize his latest sermon. Don’t misunderstand me, content is important, but separated from character transformation, it is often distorted.

Let me share some suggestions my friend, David Watson, makes for all who will take seriously Jesus’ command to make disciples:

1. Never do ministry alone. Others will not learn from you if you do everything.  Their participation is the key.
2. Never do anything you can equip someone else to do. A team can do more work. Others will learn to do some things better than you.
3. Never do anything someone else can do. They learn as they do. They learn even better to follow Jesus when they teach someone else, too.
4. Encourage the person you are discipling to teach what they are learning.  This will allow you to watch them working with another and help them correct areas they need to improve.
5. Those you disciple must be involved in teaching others what they are learning. Replication is at the heart of the Great Commission.
6. See one. Do one. Teach one. The more quickly people move through each of these stages the more quickly they are transformed by Jesus’ gospel.
7. Use every situation to learn and/or teach. Much discipling can happen on the way to other activities.
8. Mistakes are never hidden, but learned from. Some of our greatest growth comes when we confront our mistakes as opportunities to learn.

Do you want to become more like Jesus? Intentionally pour what you know of his heart into another person. As you obey Jesus’ command you will be changed. The person you disciple will be changed. And as she imitates your example the disciple becomes a discipler and the multiplication principle kicks into effect.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (New International Version) 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (The Message) 9-10 It’s better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps, But if there’s no one to help, tough! 11 Two in a bed warm each other. Alone, you shiver all night. 12 By yourself you’re unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.

Hans-Ruedi Weber tells the story of a village woman in East Africa who constantly carried a Bible in her arm as she walked around her village. Her neighbors teasingly asked, “Why always the Bible? There are lots of other books you could read.” Speaking with authority, the woman replied, “Yes, of course there are many books which I could read. But there is only one book which reads me.”

When Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 reads my church and me, what becomes obvious? Are we a three-stranded rope? As leaders in faith communities we generally choose one of three approaches in our attempts to help our communities grow:

The banking approach—here the process of educating the church entails passing on a body of knowledge from one person who knows (preacher/teacher) to those who do not know (members/students). Deposits are regularly made into the empty minds of the students. At best, work is done through the students.

The problem solving approach—here thinking shifts from teacher-based learning to participatory learning where students are provided frameworks for thinking, describing, analyzing, suggesting, considering problems and finding possible solutions. Here work is done with the students.

The appreciative inquiry approach—increases the capacity of a faith community to impact its world by building on the foundation of what works, what empowers, what gives energy, joy, happiness, motivation, hope and inspiration. Rather than focusing on shortcomings or going back to mistakes to determine what went wrong, this approach seeks to reflect on conditions that produced successes. Individuals are encouraged to articulate their faith community’s best features based on their own experiences. The following questions can spark these kinds of reflections:

• What do I value most about my faith community?
• When in my faith community’s history did we experience a high point?
• What do I want my faith community to pass on to future generations?
• What image of my faith community do we want to promote?
• What traditions do we value most?
• What has worked well for me and my faith community and why?

This third approach seeks to identify best practices in order to apply what in biology is called the heliotropic effect (the natural tendency of plants to turn toward the light). In social settings faith communities have a natural affinity toward those things that give them energy and joy. Movement toward those things is more natural and easier than moving away from problems or difficulties. Here you start by recognizing and celebrating current capacity in order to ignite the collective imagination of what might be possible. (I know believers who are praying for expanded imaginations since they discovered the hope contained in Ephesians 3:20 where it is affirmed that God “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”)

Let’s learn to celebrate the things God is doing among us. Let’s evaluate them for “best practices” which give us the greatest opportunities to contribute to God’s moves. We will accomplish more as we turn toward the Son!