Think for a moment how many churches have been started as a result of a leader going from one place to another and developing a base of operations with people from the previous congregation. There is no way to gather all the actual statistics, but I have to think that the numbers are staggering. Sure, there indeed are congregations that are new plants or pioneer works completely unassociated from any other church. There are also new churches that build and grow exclusively upon fresh converts being added and discipled.

This, however, does not happen 100% of the time.

Many churches begin as an off-shoot or faction of another church. Call it a split.  Call it a splinter. Call it whatever you want…it can be painful and sadly, it’s a part of life.

In my years of pastoral ministry I have watched (from the seat of the youth pastorate as well as the senior pastorate) a few well-meaning leaders go off and start their own works. Some were ready and others were not.  Some of the leaders were disgruntled and others were simple bored. Regardless, people followed that leader (because leaders have influence) and a new church was birthed…by breach.

The Apostle Paul spoke to this in saying, “It has always been my ambition to preach the Gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.”  In modern circles “building on someone else’s foundation” has been called “fishing in other people’s aquarium,” “sheep stealing,” “fleecing the flock,” and “frisking the Body down.” No matter what you call it, it’s a bummer way to grow the Kingdom. Bummer, but inevitable.

Now, I love church planting.  It happens to be one of the best ways to see many people brought into relationship with Jesus.  With intention, planning, and prayer a new church being planted can be a joy and a blessing.  But when a new church is birthed out of frustration, separation, or dissension then the opposite can be true. It lacks joy and blessing.

How then should we respond?  I want to communicate three “positions” we can and ought to take when a church is birthed by breach.

1.  Open-handed:  Always hold people loosely…with open hands. They are God’s people. Not ours. When folks tell me (or I hear it indirectly) that they are “transitioning” to another congregation, I make the difficult (but right) choice to bless and release. Note that:  bless and release.  Bless them in their journey and release them to fully participate, invest, serve, give and love in their new venture.  When you hold people tightly then they will unquestionably wiggle and rip their way out of your grasp, but when you are open-handed with people they will sense your blessing and release. These were folks that probably were not long-term under your leadership anyway.  Secondly, people are more likely to return to a congregation with this kind of open-handedness.

2.  Warm-hearted: When a church is birthed by breach the natural reaction for a leader is to be frustrated and act out with distain and speak unkind comments. Fight these urges. You may also think it’s best to rally the troops, communicate the facts, set the record straight and defend your ministry by directly or indirectly demeaning the other. Abraham gives us a good model when he and Lot separated ways, in saying, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”  There are some important lessons from Abraham in this passage.  First, make the choice not to quarrel and, in doing so, you are modeling to your people (herdsmen) what warm-hearted Godliness looks like.  Secondly, the land is big and there are many people that need Jesus. It’s important to work together to accomplish that goal.

3.  Clear-headed:  In a time when a church is being birthed by breach, it’s not the time to loose your cool. Be calm and clear-headed. Don’t knee-jerk with erratic preaching (ie: jabs from the pulpit), loose comments that could be inflammatory (emotionally and even legally), or congregational head counts. It’s understandable to want to know “who is for you and who is against you” but it violates being open-handed and warm-hearted. I’m mindful of 1 Chronicles 21 in which David insisted that a census be taken in Israel of all the fighting men.  He wanted to know who was with him. Even though his advisors strongly discouraged him from doing such a thing, he went ahead with the head count. Scripture tells us that David “sinned greatly before the Lord” and that he had “done a very foolish thing.”  Don’t lose your head. Instead be clear-headed which means talking openly with key leaders, staff, and elders. It may also mean cost-cutting, refocusing and renewed vision-casting.

Not sure where I read it, but I recently discovered that Apple Inc. (the iMakers of all iThings iWonderful) designates 15-20% of all revenue towards R&D (product research and development). This is a remarkable percentage.

I can certainly appreciate the value placed upon product development especially as I type this blog post upon my MacBook Air, while my iPhone and iPad are within reach. One can only imagine the kinds of innovation that we will enjoy in the coming years.

Despite the wonderful success Apple has had in creating game-changing products, their focus must continue to be upon the development of new technology for their competitive edge to remain sharp. Without R&D we might still be typing away on the Apple II (probably not, but you get the point…).

Now let’s consider the church.  What is our product per se?  What are we supposed to develop?

I believe the answer is disciples.

Jesus’ famous last words to his followers were clear: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19,20).

We are to be about making more and maturing disciples. This is both quantitative (more) and qualitative (maturing). It is quantitative in that we have “all nations” to draw from. That’s a pretty large pool of people!  And it’s qualitative in that the maturity of a disciple involves an initial point of decision (salvation & baptism) as well as ongoing obedience to the teachings of Jesus and the Scripture.

In John 8:31 Jesus says that a person is really his disciple “if you hold to my teachings.”

In John 13:35 Jesus goes onto say that others will recognize a disciple “if you love one another.”

Obedience and Love. Two marks of a maturing disciple and aspects for the church to emphasis as we endeavor to make more and maturing disciples.

As Christians, if our product is disciples then how much are we investing that direction?

In Acts 9 the spotlight undoubtedly shines brightly upon Saul. His conversion on the road to Damascus is one of the highlights in the Book of Acts and, certainly, a formative event in the genesis of the New Testament church.

The “Persecutor” Saul became the “Apostle” Paul by the power of God. It’s a simply amazing testimony with the classic “before and after” elements, the “I saw the light” moment (in this case, it was literal), and deep heart change.

This conversion, however, didn’t happen in a vacuum. The scripture tells us in verse 10, “Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias…”

Ananias. Who is this guy?

The only other reference to him beyond chapter 9 is in Acts 22:12 – “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.”

Ananias was prompted of the Lord to be the first person to go to the Man of Tarsus. Please don’t overlook the implications of this bold move. Imagine the Lord asking you alone to make a house-call to a terrorist. Then imagine prayerfully laying hands upon that terrorist. Continue imagining being the first person to endorse that terrorist as a “changed man.”

Bold.

Ananias could have cried foul. He could have demanded his moment in the sun. After all, HE (not Saul) was devote and highly respected. He could have asserted that Saul had not been tested, nor could be trusted. Let’s be honest, would many of us feel it was our duty to “alert the public?” But instead, Ananias was obedient to the voice of the Lord and he was open to those that God had saved by his grace.

Obedient and Open.

Who will be the Ananias’ today? Who will defy conventional wisdom and listen to the direction of the Lord instead? Who will discover where God is working and join him there? Who will set aside fear (Saul) in order to gain clear perspective on the future (Paul)?

I’ve heard it said so many times (and I’ve been one to say it from time to time as well):  ”If this entire event was for just that one person, then it was totally worth it.”  Down deep though I have to admit that I haven’t always felt like that.  When a great deal of energy, time, money, and emotion has been expended and a single person comes to know Christ or a very small group shows up it can be deflating. Pastors and leaders will often put a nice spin on it by saying, “Well, praise the Lord, it was worth it for that one soul!” but then walk away shaking their heads wondering why they gave so much for so little response. 

This last weekend we had so much snow fall and ice covered the roads to such a degree that our church that averages 1300 in 3 services was a like that of a small group Bible Study.  At the 9 am service, I was literally “preaching to the choir”. For one brief moment I wondered why I put so much time into my sermon and if we should just huddle up, sing Kumbaya and go home. But then it happened…

I remembered a youth meeting about 20 years ago

and a kid named Mitch.

I had been cranking for a couple days on a killer teaching, some silly games, worship and a powerful altar call.  Then kids started calling into the church office saying they couldn’t make it that night for youth group (homework, sick, sports, no ride, etc. etc). I was bummed.  When 7 pm hit only one kid walked into the youth room. His name was Mitch. I pasted a smile on my face, made some small talk and waited a bit to see who else would show.  Nobody did. Just Mitch.

The Holy Spirit did something in me that night that shaped my ministry in those early years and continues to govern how I function.  The Spirit spoke inaudibly yet so clearly: “If you don’t value this child of mine with the best of your energy I won’t give you any more.”  I took a breath and started the most important youth meeting of my life. As I wrapped up a passionate message and prayer time with Mitch, I knew I had been obedient and that the heavens were smiling.  As Mitch heading out the door to his parents car, he said to me:  ”Thanks Pastor John, this was a really great night. I’m glad I came.”

From that night I on something happened in that youth group. It grew. No actually, it grew a lot.  The lessons learned on that night were amazing. I am so thankful for them.

So, as I stood this last weekend in a huge auditorium before a smattering of brave folks with 4-wheel drive, I thought of Mitch.  At the altar call time, I fully expected no responses to my overt Christmas salvation message. On Saturday evening there was one. One Sunday at 9 am there was one.  And at the 11 am there were three.  Thank you Jesus.  It WAS totally worth it.