The Biblical Mandate for Planting Churches

Nick Lica

In our culture Church planting is not so popular idea. In the last 10 years there are some missionaries who are involved in curch planting but for most people Church Planting it does’t sound a “biblical idea”. Church Planting is a biblical mandate that has its rots in the essesce and mission of the trinity, has its basis in the life of the apostolic church, and is a challenge for today church to spread the gospel and win our generation for Christ.

There are some biblical reasons why we soulld plant new churches.

I. Trinity and Church Planting. We are to plant new churches because:

1. Church Planing and God

a]. Church Planing is based on the Biblical Mission of God:

"'Mission' is not a word for everything the church does. 'Mission' describes rather everything the church is sent into the world to do," says John Stott in defining the mission of God.Our God is a Og of mission. The Bible describes God's mission as a "mission of sending." "When the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son" (Gal. 4:4-6). God's revelation in Christ shows us that God Himself is a searching and saving God; He wants men to be reconciled to Himself. The Bible clearly states that God wants all people to be saved. Paul writes to Timothy, "This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1Ti 2:3-4). Peter writes, “He [the Lord] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2Pe 3:9).

These passages make it clear that God wants every man, woman, and child to hear and understand the gospel and have the opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. If God wants all people to be saved, shouldn't this be our desire as well? As a result of this church planting is the best way to gather people that are saved by faith in Jesus. We can not gather together all people in one church, that’s why we need all kind of churches to reach all kind of people. Church planting is God’s idea.

After Christ's ascension, the Father and the Son sent the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Now the Son sends the Church as He Himself was sent by the Father, as we read in John 20:21. "As the Father has sent Me, even so send I you."

Our understanding of mission must be based on the understanding of the mission of God in Christ. Jesus was sent "to seek and to save" (Luke 19:10). He not only proclaimed the Gospel but also made disciples who would follow Him and be in fellowship with Him. And this is the mission of the Church: not only to proclaim the Gospel but to bring people into its fold.

b]. Church planting is based on God's Initiative

God causes the Church to grow, both numerically and spiritually. In the I Corinthians 3:5-8, Paul clearly brings out the truth that it is God who gives growth to the church and that He uses people as His instruments for the fulfillment of His plan. "What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are equal, and each shall receive his wages according to his labor."

It is only God who gives the growth to the Church. He uses missionaries as His instruments to fulfill His purpose. This is clear in the expansion of the Early Church in the Book of Acts. We read in Acts 2:47, that "The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." This shows the activity of God in planting and building His Church. Those on the forefront of the mission field are privileged people witnessing God's active involvement in saving people and adding them to His Church, and thus building His universal Church.

2. Church Planting is based on the Teachings of Jesus

a]. Church Planting and Parables.

Jesus used the illustration of a harvest field to emphasize the urgency of winning responsive people and bringing them into the fold of the Church. He instructed His disciples to pray for more laborers to be sent to the harvest field (Matt. 9:37). When the harvest is ready, the grain should be cut, bound into sheaves and carried to the store house. In the same way when a group of people respond to the Gospel they have to be taught, baptized and brought into the fellowship of the local church.

Our Lord's parables of the "lost sheep" and "lost coin" teach that it is not enough to search for the lost sheep or the lost coin; it is necessary that they be found and brought into the house or the fold. The task of evangelism is complete only when people are brought into the fold of the church (Luke 15:1-10).

1. The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Mt 13:31-32)

In this parable there is great growth. From a small beginning ("the smallest of all your seeds") it grew to become the largest of garden plants. The message is clear: from a small beginning the kingdom of God would grow into a "large plant". The strong roots produce big fruits.

2. The Parable of Yeast (Mt 13:33-33) The silent power!

In this parable a small lump of yeast penetrated the large lump of dough. The message seems to be the same as that of the mustard seed, but with the added emphasis on the transformation that occurs as the yeast permeates the dough. From a small beginning the kingdom of God will continue penetrating until it covers all of the earth.

In the parable of the Great Banquet, when the invited people would not come, the master commanded the servants to "go out in the highways and byways and compel people to come in" (Luke 14:23). It is not enough to invite people; it is important to see that they partake in the feast. When one group of people does not respond to the Gospel invitation, another group must be sought which does respond and can be brought to the spiritual feast. Thus the Lord's teachings are clear on the need for bringing people into the Christian fold and for planting churches.

b]. Church Planting and Great Commission

I believe that God’s primary instrument for worldwide evangelism is the local church, and church planting, based on the principles of multiplication, is the most effective method for fulfilling the Great Commission. The principles of church planting are based on the Lord's Great Commission as we read in Matt. 28:19, 20: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you..." The most accurate translation of the Greek word, poreuomai is “as you are going”. This implies that, “going” is assumed. Jesus will use His sovereign authority to cause the church to go to the nations. What did Jesus mean when He commissioned the disciples to go and make disciples of all nations? Evangelism Results in Church Planting! The goal of evangelism is not only to make our church bigger, but also to plant new churches!

There are four important words found in the Great Commission. They are "go," "make disciples," "baptize" and "teach". It is generally assumed that the word "go" is an imperative verb and constitutes the last command of Christ. In the Greek only one word is used for "make disciples" and it should be translated "disciple" with reference to the nations. The act of making disciples was not confined to Israel or to Jerusalem, but was to extend to "all nations - i.e. - all people groups."

The Great Commission commands believers to bring men and women to Christ and to make them responsible and reproducing members of the local church. This is how to "make disciples of all nations." The evangelistic task is incomplete unless it relates new believers to the local worship group. The Church planting ministry reflects the believers' faithfulness and obedience to the Great Commission of their Lord.

3. Church Planting is based on the Work of the Holy Spirit:

The Christian mission of church planting is not a human enterprise, but it is a divine operation, directed and controlled by the Holy Spirit. The clearest example is found in the Acts 13, where the direction and control of the Holy Spirit is demonstrated in the Church at Antioch. "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said: set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them... So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia ... to Cyprus" (Acts 13:2-4). These missionaries (Apostles) as a first church planting team were sent out by the Holy Spirit. Later on in their missionary journey, the Holy Spirit used them to "make disciples" and to "plant churches" in different towns (Acts 13:52; 14:22). The direction and control of the Holy Spirit is clearly seen in the ministry of the evangelist Philip (Acts 8). The Holy Spirit was actively involved in the selection and sending of men and in using them for planting churches.

II. Church Planting and the New Testament Church

1. Church Plnating is based on the Apostolic Gift and Function:

For the purpose of building the Church, the Holy Spirit has given gifts to its members. We read in I Cor. 12:28 : "And God has appointed in the Church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers..." Thus we see the Holy Spirit has given the gift of apostleship to people in the Church. Their primary function is to go as missionaries and proclaim the Gospel and plant churches on new ground. Peter and Paul are good examples.

In I Corinthians 3:6, Paul clearly brings out his apostolic function of planting churches. He says: "I planted, Apollos watered. but God gave the growth." This apostolic gift is something unique for the function of starting new churches. Paul was leading a church planting team, visiting different towns and establishing churches. After planting churches, he appointed local leaders and moved on to new places. Thus the apostolic function was not to retain the responsibilities for and authority over the churches, but to deliver them to other missionaries and local leaders and move on to plant new churches. Even today the Lord calls and separates certain people, giving them the apostolic gift for planting churches on new soil.

As stated earlier, the apostolic function is to continue planting churches on new ground and handing over the planted churches to local leaders and missionaries like Apollos, for their "watering" and "nurturing."

2. Church Planting is based on the Growth Pattern of the New Testament Churches: The Book of Acts relates how the Early Church grew and expanded and was multiplied in different places. The New Testament report is well-documented with numerical figures. The first church in Jerusalem began with 120 disciples (Acts 1:15). On the Day of Pentecost 3,000 people were added to the church in Jerusalem (2:41, 42). Soon the membership of the Jerusalem church was 5,000 (4:4). Again, "multitudes of men and women were added" (5:14), and "the number of the disciples multiplied greatly" (6:1, 7).

New congregations were planted in every pagan center of the then-known world in less than four decades. Regarding the growth pattern of the Early Church we read, "So the Church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was built up... so, the churches were strengthened in the faith and they increased in numbers daily." (9:31; 16:5; 21:20).

From the above account of the pattern of the growth of the Early Church it is clear that the church should grow in numbers by adding new believers to existing church and by planting new churches with new believers. For example the church in Anthioch (Acts 13) sent apostle Pau and Barnabas to plant new churches. 10 chapters out of 27 in Acts are about realy going and planting new churches. The book of Acts is an outstanding testimony about the early church planting program and in the same way an encouragement for us to do the same. We should not be satisfied with our existing churches; the churches should grow, as is demonstrated by the Early Church.

The growth pattern of the New Testament churches is both quantitative and qualitative. Vergil Gerber said: "In the New Testament, evangelistic effectiveness is a quality that is constantly measured in quantitative terms. Just as faith without works is dead, so spiritual growth in the New Testament is frequently expressed in terms of quantities. This is possible because quality and quantity are two aspects of the same reality."

Conclusion:

Planting new churches is our duty. Is the main responsability of the every local church to be fruitful. The fruit of the believer is another believer. The fruit of the pastor is another pastor. The fruit of the church is another new born church. Multiplication that’s the key for eraching today people. For this we need to preach adn teach the WORD of God tha will accomplish what God desire and chieve the purpose for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11). That is the biblical principle found in Mark 4: the the parable of the Sower, Parable of the seed and in 1 Cor 3:5-8.

God will grow and build his church but our responsability is to plant new churches and water them.