Idol-atry-ize-ing: Church Planting Will Kill You

To try to find life, value, or meaning from anything other than God, is idolatry. If we look to our church, to the growth or success of our church, to make us feel more alive, more valuable, to make us feel like our lives have more meaning … we’ve made our church an idol.

And I’ve been guilty of this. And one of my passions has become helping other pastors to not make the same mistake I have.

You are not supposed to look to your church for life, value, meaning … or joy. In fact, in the Bible Paul calls the church a “burden.” The Bible says that our joy comes from God (Neh 8:10), and from the wife of our youth (Pr 5:18). And if you’re going into church planting needing it to stroke your ego, or needing it to make you feel like your special, or needing for it to be your source of joy … you are in for a world of hurt. I read this quote from a guy named Jeff Vanderstelt, “If you’re not secure in who you are in Christ, church planting will kill you.”

I totally believe that.

So what should you do if you realize you’ve made your church (or its success) an idol? I’ll tell you what I think tomorrow morning.