Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24). We can generally get this point in our own individual lives, but we really have a hard time getting it when it comes to churches.  We believe in the same sort of perpetuity (being endless) for churches as we do for the modern corporation.  The corporation as a business structure was created so that it could outlive its owners and exist as an entity separate and apart from the owners.  However, I don’t think God sees that as necessarily the plan for individual congreations.

The Jerusalem church grew large and mighty quickly.  However, it was God himself that allowed persecution to totally decimate that church as it had existed (Acts 8).  But the result was that those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the gospel.  I wonder if God had not allowed persecution to scatter the disciples if they would have had the foresight to spread out and evangelize other areas rather than simply staying together (as in “Tower of Babel” situation), looking out for their own interests.

We humans are turf warriors.  We like the feeling of having our own houses and our own yards—our own turf.  We protect it tenaciously.  We have our own families and our own friends and our own possessions.  We can be very selfish about keeping our own things.  Christ taught us to share.  Christ taught us to trust.  Virtually every command he gives us runs counter to the basic principles of the world:   He who saves his life, will lose it.  The greatest will be the least.  Turn the other cheek.  Do not resist an evil person.  Blessed are the poor in spirit.
David said, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”  When WE build the church, we will inevitably do so with human principles.  We’ll amass people and talent and even money.  But, God built his church through relatively poor and down-trodden people using truths that ran completely counter to human wisdom and ingenuity.

How has that changed?  Churches should not plan to stay as they are forever.  Actually, I believe, no one congregation should ever assume perpetuity; shouldn’t even seek it.  Rather, congregations need to fall to the ground and die themselves, in actuality or at least in principle, if they want to bear much fruit.

If we try to maintain Northeast Church as it is, we are doing nothing more than following the worldly principles and modern church growth methods.  In the same way, if we try to maintain our own lives as they are, we are doing nothing more than following the worldly principles.  We must rather trust God.  Yes, I know there are frightening stories of what has happened to churches who “took risks”.  None however can match what happened to the church in Jerusalem!  Yet, look what God did.  Will he not do the same again?

However, God wants to fulfill his mission for the DFW Metro Family of Churches (dba Northeast Church), the original “God-Deal”, that is presently Northeast Church, FOCUS UTD, and FOCUS Collin College, was inspired as a movement and a revival, not an attempt to “build a better church.”  Our mission is to make and mature disciples to the glory of God, not to simply be a “better church” or simply to see how many churches we can plant.  Planting churches is simply a fundamental strategy for making as many disciples as possible.  Studies indicate that the majority of truly “unchurched” individuals that become Christians are reached through church plantings.

It is my firm conviction that we must not settle into a congregational comfort zone.   The great commission is risky.  All but one of the apostles lost their lives for the sake of the gospel.  Disciples suffered extreme discomfort and gave out of their poverty in advancing the gospel.  Jesus never owned a home or had a family because of his mission.  Paul never married for the gospel.  John the Baptist lived the life of a veritable hermit freak to prepare the way for Christ.  But American churches today reflect American Christians today.  We expect “our own home”.  We expect comfort.  We expect worldly security.  We don’t want to be embarrassed.  We don’t want to have to truly sacrifice.