DE Ponderings
Read Matthew 14:22-33
In an effort to learn more about the church planting movement, I read a book written by Tom Nebel entitled Big Dreams in Small Places: Church Planting in Small Communities. I became especially interested in a small section of the book that spoke about constituent backlash. Constituent backlash, according to Nebel, “occurs when people of influence begin to make noise and raise suspicions about the newly developing church planting movement, often resulting in overt criticism of the leaders and polarization of the stakeholders.”
Nebel's statement seems to resonate with what is occurring in our own IL/WI District. Initially, there seemed to be enthusiasm about developing new churches in the district especially when the New Church Development Board was formed. Unarguably there were dissenters, but all in all an overall acceptance of this new initiative existed. With the passing of time since the inception of this movement in our district and with little tangible evidence of success, what was once hailed as a boon for our district is now being second-guessed, at least by some. Nebel calls this the echo of a retreatist mentality which says “we have waded into the waters of church planting; now we must race back to the shore of business as usual.”
But what happens if we vamoose to the comfortable shores of the status quo? Maybe the same thing that happened to Peter when he attempted to walk on water? Oswald Chambers writes about Peter's experience in the classic devotional My Utmost for His Highest. “The wind really was boisterous and the waves really were high, but Peter didn't see them at first. He didn't consider them at all; he simply recognized his Lord, stepped out in recognition of Him, and ‘walked on the water.’” This is what Chambers calls reckless abandon. Continuing, Chambers writes, “Then [Peter] began to take those things around him into account, and instantly, down he went.”
I wonder if our initial response to the church planting movement in our district was a “walking on the water” experience? With “reckless abandon” we jumped into the choppy sea of the church planting movement with eyes fixed on the One who called us away from the comfort of the status quo. Enthusiasm ran high as we kept our sight focused and did not take into account our surroundings of possible failures or minimal successes. As we continued our “water walk” the aforementioned negatives forced our focus in different directions, thus we were overcome by a sinking feeling about new church development.
Is there hope for this movement in our district? Yes, just as there was hope for Peter. When Peter began to sink he called out to Jesus who immediately reached for Peter and saved him. It's time for us to call out and experience the “reach” of Jesus lifting us from the doubt that influences the retreatist mentality of constituency backlash.
Jesus didn't send Peter back to the shore where he would be safe from experiencing choppy waters. Rather, Jesus kept Peter on the sea that Jesus calmed. Jesus can keep us in the midst of the choppy waters of church planting, not letting us go back to where we think we'll be comfortable, but calming the storm where we are and allowing us to move forward to new and distant shores.
Are we ready to reach for Jesus?
Grace and peace to all,
Kevin Kessler
In an effort to learn more about the church planting movement, I read a book written by Tom Nebel entitled Big Dreams in Small Places: Church Planting in Small Communities. I became especially interested in a small section of the book that spoke about constituent backlash. Constituent backlash, according to Nebel, “occurs when people of influence begin to make noise and raise suspicions about the newly developing church planting movement, often resulting in overt criticism of the leaders and polarization of the stakeholders.”
Nebel's statement seems to resonate with what is occurring in our own IL/WI District. Initially, there seemed to be enthusiasm about developing new churches in the district especially when the New Church Development Board was formed. Unarguably there were dissenters, but all in all an overall acceptance of this new initiative existed. With the passing of time since the inception of this movement in our district and with little tangible evidence of success, what was once hailed as a boon for our district is now being second-guessed, at least by some. Nebel calls this the echo of a retreatist mentality which says “we have waded into the waters of church planting; now we must race back to the shore of business as usual.”
But what happens if we vamoose to the comfortable shores of the status quo? Maybe the same thing that happened to Peter when he attempted to walk on water? Oswald Chambers writes about Peter's experience in the classic devotional My Utmost for His Highest. “The wind really was boisterous and the waves really were high, but Peter didn't see them at first. He didn't consider them at all; he simply recognized his Lord, stepped out in recognition of Him, and ‘walked on the water.’” This is what Chambers calls reckless abandon. Continuing, Chambers writes, “Then [Peter] began to take those things around him into account, and instantly, down he went.”
I wonder if our initial response to the church planting movement in our district was a “walking on the water” experience? With “reckless abandon” we jumped into the choppy sea of the church planting movement with eyes fixed on the One who called us away from the comfort of the status quo. Enthusiasm ran high as we kept our sight focused and did not take into account our surroundings of possible failures or minimal successes. As we continued our “water walk” the aforementioned negatives forced our focus in different directions, thus we were overcome by a sinking feeling about new church development.
Is there hope for this movement in our district? Yes, just as there was hope for Peter. When Peter began to sink he called out to Jesus who immediately reached for Peter and saved him. It's time for us to call out and experience the “reach” of Jesus lifting us from the doubt that influences the retreatist mentality of constituency backlash.
Jesus didn't send Peter back to the shore where he would be safe from experiencing choppy waters. Rather, Jesus kept Peter on the sea that Jesus calmed. Jesus can keep us in the midst of the choppy waters of church planting, not letting us go back to where we think we'll be comfortable, but calming the storm where we are and allowing us to move forward to new and distant shores.
Are we ready to reach for Jesus?
Grace and peace to all,
Kevin Kessler
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