Dear Church Planter.

A stormy night, lots of rain and out of the woodwork came those capitalizing on the providence of God. I caught a shot of this man selling the hottest item on a cold rainy night - the umbrella. Entrepreneurialism has recently been stressed by many church planting groups as a strongly desirable trait. I found myself asking questions of whether or not I was that sort of person, the start up man, the get goer. Strangely I found that many of my thoughts had completely abandoned the starting place for eldership qualification, that of character.

I agree in general with entrepreneurialism and the need for it within Christian circles - we need men (and women) motivated by the gospel of grace, empowered by the Spirit, sent by God for the great commission of Christ to rise up and serve. Unfortunately many of us men believe that God has sent us for his work, when he has not qualified us by his word (Titus 1). Being able to work in this world and take advantage of opportunities is not the same as being called and refined by our eternal God.

I have spoken in this last year, to more people than ever before, who have said they are strongly considering of doing a church plant. Most of these men however are not qualified to be church leaders, have not begun any sort of training in theology, and have no intent on doing so. Many of these men would be of great help to a qualified elder looking at beginning a new church, or even with helping an existing congregation grow.

There are many men not qualified to be church leaders, even though they might be competent and gifted in other areas. If you are thinking of church planting, begin by submitting yourself to the searing light of God's word in humility, and ask yourself the hard questions regarding your character.

Seracher of Hearts,
It is a good day to me when thou givest me a glimpse of myself;
Sin is my greatest evil,
But thou art my greatest good;
I have cause to loath myself,
and not to seek self-honor,
for no one desires to commend his own dunghill.

Self-knowledge (taken from page 123, the Valley of Vision)