The Suffering Church Planter

 

Hello my brother; hello my sister, my name is Dean Davis, and this is a word of encouragement for village church planters.

I have shared with you many times that it is not easy being a church planter.  If you have been working to plant a church for more than 2 or 3 weeks, you know this is true.  In the beginning, it seems like being a church planter will be glorious, and it is.  But after a while that glory gets mixed up with real suffering.  At first when this happens we are surprised.  We ask, “God, if you are with me and if I am doing your will, why am I suffering? 

There are many ways church planters suffer.  The church planter we call the Apostle Paul suffered by being beaten, arrested, and imprisoned. He suffered crossing rivers and at the hands of bandits. Both Jews and Gentile mistreated him. 2 Corinthians 11:26 tells us that pretty much everywhere he went, he was in danger.

I am a church planter, I have not suffered at all what Paul suffered, but I have been mistreated, I have had stones thrown at me. I have been in danger crossing rivers and danger in villages.  I have been insulted. I’ve had people lie about me and the ministry I tried to carry out.  I have been misunderstood when I tried to do good and seen family members suffer illnesses that others did not suffer. And my sufferings have been light in comparison to so many other church planters whose lives I deeply respect.

Church planters suffer.  Paul, the church planter, says to the Colossians in verse 1:24, “Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.”

Paul believed that his suffering had a purpose.  Paul willingly suffered for the body of Christ which is the church.  Jesus teaches us to count the cost before we start a new enterprise.  But it is impossible to know how much glory and how much suffering you will experience as a church planter.  It may be little or it may be much.  But this I can assure you.  Church planting is full of both glory and of suffering.  Just like the cross of Christ.  So as church planters, our task is to take up our cross daily, ready to suffer so that others may know Jesus and live in the light as he is in the light.  It is not easy, but Paul has shown us the way.

You may be asking yourself, “I thought this message was supposed to be a word of encouragement.  But Dean has just told me that in spite of all I am sacrificing to start a church in a village where there has been no church, I can expect to suffer. How is that encouraging?”

You have asked a fair question.  Let me try to answer.  Many, many people live selfish lives with very small and insignificant goals.  You have chosen to identify with Jesus Christ. You are a church planter.  Jesus suffered in this world, yet his life was full of glory.  As you identify with him, you too will suffer, but you will experience the glory of God in ways that would not be possible if you were not a church planter.

So go forward in the strength God provides you. The Lord is with you and he will show you the way.

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

If you have found this message to be helpful, please forward it to fellow church planters and disciple-makers who may need encouragement.  Feel free to share it on What’s App, Facebook, and other platforms you use to connect with others.

Be encouraged, God is with us! EC-03

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