When we formulate our mission and ministry strategies, it's important we do so for our own community, not someone else's. It's so easy to hear an incredible speaker at a conference and say, "I'm going to be just like that pastor!" But that is not what God is calling you to be. Too often, we get so excited by someone else's church that we get a vision for their church before we get a vision for our people.
My challenge is don't plant or pastor a church in your head. Plant or pastor a church in your community. That's where the Gospel transforms real people who are living real lives. Know and live in your culture, not someone else's. Don't just bring a model, bring the Gospel. Lead a church; don't lead a plan.
There are marks of a biblical church that should and must be present in every culture, but biblically faithful church looks different from culture-to-culture. A biblically faithful church in Singapore, Senegal, and Seattle share the same gospel, worship the same God, and teach the same scriptures, but they should (even must) look different.
- Do you plant replications of churches in your home culture (whether that's an African culture or a non-African culture)?
- Or, do you consider the people among whom you hope to plant that church?
For the Kingdom,
Bob A
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