The Fear of Failure
I believe the Southern Baptist Convention is the greatest collection of Christians in the world today. I believe our mission boards are wonderful, and our leadership is strong. This being said, there is always room for improvement. I believe the area of church planting is an area that must be examined.
I have come to the realization that many who work in church planting do not do church planting. They plan on others to do church planting. However, they themselves are no longer participating in the process. I believe this is true at both the national and the state level. If I was the boss, you wouldn't be a church planting resource leader unless you were involved personally in a church plant. However, I am not in charge so it really doesn't matter.
The reason I think so many church planting leaders are not involved in church planting is because it is hard to do. I think that the fear of failure causes them to justify their actions. I hear church planting leaders talk about the need for their families to be in an established church. I hear them talk about how busy they are helping others plant churches they don't have time to do it themselves. I believe both of these statements are false. They use these statements to justify their behavior. It makes them feel better about not being personally involved in church planting. I believe the real reason they are not personally involved in church planting is that the are afraid to fail.
It would look terrible for someone who is paid a good salary through the North American Mission Board to fail at planting a church. The truth is that it doesn't matter how talented you are or how much you know, a church plant can fail. It would be embarrassing for a trained professional who teaches others how to plant churches, to fail in a personal effort to plant a church.
I also believe this mind set keeps a lot of pastors from attempting great things for God. I believe that some Pastors are afraid to fail at a ministry activity. They ask themselves, "What effect would it have on the church if we put effort into something that is not successful?" Thus, many pastors do not plan to succeed. They plan to not lose, and by planning not to lose they end up doing nothing at all.
We need to pray that the fear of failure motivates us to do more instead of prohibiting us from doing anything. Each January, I layout the plans for the upcoming year to my church. I challenge the church to do great things. Some of the things I challenge the Church to do fail. However, the majority of them are successful. The failures cause me to try harder and look for different ways to be successful in the future. The successes are celebrated and gives us reason to plan more.
We need to use the fear of failure to motivate us to do great things for God. I encourage both pastor and layperson who is reading this blog to think about what they want to attempt for God next year. I want you to attempt something great. And I want you to attempt something that isn't a sure thing. Now let that fear of failure cause you to work hard. You will be amazed at what can be accomplished if you do not let failure get in the way of your success.
I have come to the realization that many who work in church planting do not do church planting. They plan on others to do church planting. However, they themselves are no longer participating in the process. I believe this is true at both the national and the state level. If I was the boss, you wouldn't be a church planting resource leader unless you were involved personally in a church plant. However, I am not in charge so it really doesn't matter.
The reason I think so many church planting leaders are not involved in church planting is because it is hard to do. I think that the fear of failure causes them to justify their actions. I hear church planting leaders talk about the need for their families to be in an established church. I hear them talk about how busy they are helping others plant churches they don't have time to do it themselves. I believe both of these statements are false. They use these statements to justify their behavior. It makes them feel better about not being personally involved in church planting. I believe the real reason they are not personally involved in church planting is that the are afraid to fail.
It would look terrible for someone who is paid a good salary through the North American Mission Board to fail at planting a church. The truth is that it doesn't matter how talented you are or how much you know, a church plant can fail. It would be embarrassing for a trained professional who teaches others how to plant churches, to fail in a personal effort to plant a church.
I also believe this mind set keeps a lot of pastors from attempting great things for God. I believe that some Pastors are afraid to fail at a ministry activity. They ask themselves, "What effect would it have on the church if we put effort into something that is not successful?" Thus, many pastors do not plan to succeed. They plan to not lose, and by planning not to lose they end up doing nothing at all.
We need to pray that the fear of failure motivates us to do more instead of prohibiting us from doing anything. Each January, I layout the plans for the upcoming year to my church. I challenge the church to do great things. Some of the things I challenge the Church to do fail. However, the majority of them are successful. The failures cause me to try harder and look for different ways to be successful in the future. The successes are celebrated and gives us reason to plan more.
We need to use the fear of failure to motivate us to do great things for God. I encourage both pastor and layperson who is reading this blog to think about what they want to attempt for God next year. I want you to attempt something great. And I want you to attempt something that isn't a sure thing. Now let that fear of failure cause you to work hard. You will be amazed at what can be accomplished if you do not let failure get in the way of your success.
posted by Foundes Community Church @ 6:46 PM
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