The Birth of No

Recently watched the documentary Pearl Jam 20 by Cameron Crowe (I love you Cameron Crowe!), and I thought it had a ton of lessons for church planters. Here’s one…

When Pearl Jam first started getting big more opportunities presented themselves. Thinking hey had to take advantage of them, they said yes to everything. One yes was to play at a party for the release of a movie. The party was a disaster. One of the band members said, “At some point you have to say no. That was the birth of no.”

When you start a church you can get bombarded with requests. “Why don’t we start a softball team?” “Could we start a ministry to the homeless people in the area?” “Can I put my Mary Kay business cards on the Welcome Center table?” “Would you be willing to support our ministry to the Burmese refugees?” “Could I start a drama team?” “Could you counsel me?” “Why don’t we have a Women’s Ministry like my old church?” And you’re feeling so desperate, you’ve got to make this thing work, that there’s a powerful temptation to say yes to everything. But at some point you have to say no.

What will be your birth of no? How will you determine what you’ll say no to? If you don’t have some pre-decided guidelines, it will be way too easy to say yes to everything. But sometimes you’ve gotta say no.