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7 Reasons Why Every Church Should Plant Churches

7 Reasons Why Every Church Should Plant Churches

Church planting is too unfamiliar to most Christians. When you look at the book of Acts, you see how the Church spread from Judea to the end of the earth. The Apostle Paul is planting churches and raising leaders for those churches. He is writing letters to help those churches be healthy and to speak about some of the problems that those churches are having. Church planting is a huge part of the New Testament, yet few Christians today play any role in church planting. Here are the reasons why every church should plant churches:

1. Why Every Church Should Plant Churches – Churches Are The Vehichle God Has Chosen for The Nations

There is so much hate for the Church today. Yet, regardless of all of the hatred, the Church is the vehicle that God has chosen to spread his mission. The great commission (Matthew 28) is to make disciples of All Nations and teach them all that Jesus has commanded us to do. The Church is the people of God using his gifts to come together and help the body be more like Jesus.

The problem is that Church has been reduced to baptism, communion, hearing the word, and worship music. The Church should contain these elements, but the Church is so much more. The purpose of the Church is not just community for community’s sake, but it’s all about being raised to present the bride (his Church) as holy and without blemish.

2. Why Every Church Should Plant Churches – Churches Get Stale When They Don’t Go

Another aspect of the Church that has been greatly undermined is its nature to go. Look at the life of Jesus in the Gospels, and you will see a man that was always on the go. He did not just sit in one place because he was comfortable. When you look at the life of the Apostle Paul, you see the same thing. You know a man on the move sharing the gospel message with all who would listen.

The Church has de-emphasized its going nature. People want to be comfortable in the Church. They want the Church to be a safe space, as many people would say today. This has removed all aspects of risk and movement that the Church is supposed to have. It has allowed predictability to be at the Church’s core instead of listening to the voice of God. People want to know what to expect so they don’t have to be anxious instead of trusting God.

Churches become stale this way because there is no movement, and everything becomes inward-focused. When you plant churches and send out missionaries regularly, you begin to see people forced to think about the mission of God instead of themselves.

The purpose of the body of Christ is to build up the saints and equip them to do ministry. Most people think of building up the body today as having their therapeutic needs taken care of, not being raised for the mission of God. An inward-focused church becomes a stale church.

3. Why Every Church Should Plant Churches – Church Plants Are Great For New Christians

Church plants are among the best evangelistic methods because new churches are not locked into traditions. When a church has been established for 100 years, people expect to see certain things every year, and many people in the congregation push back against change. Newer and younger generations tend not to like this! They don’t feel like the local churches are for them.

When a new church is planted, they usually start by meeting and disciplining people in the new location. These church plants begin by listening to people. The goal is to create a church contextualized to that local community, which tends to bring new people to Christ. The people on the launch team that started the Church tend to come in with an understanding that a lot o evangelism will be needed to pull this off.

People are more willing as part of church plants to tell people about this new Church in the places where they live, work, and play. With established churches, there is not as much focus on evangelism. People don’t see a need for it because the Church is running fine without it. As a result, people lost touch with the mission of God once again.

4. Church Plants Are Great for Men

Most churches in the West have more women than men. There are many different reasons for this. The Church has done much more to attract women and does many things that speak to women’s psyches more than men’s. For example, Jesus is often portrayed as lowly and gently, but we forget the side of him that is a warrior and protector. Men often come to Church asking what is in it for me.

  • The music seems to be very feminine
  • The art in the Church is feminine
  • Everything is about niceties
  • There is little intentional focus on men
  • Churches take few risks
  • There are few calls to adventure

The church plant is the perfect way to call men to action. It gives men a purpose other than sitting in the pews. Men want to help with finding real estate; they want to be a part of setting up the stage and evangelizing to the lost in a new city. Men deeply desire to be called to an adventure, and church plants provide this. They fill a need that established churches have a hard time with. Established churches tend to avoid change and adventure at all costs.

5. Churches That Plant Churches Must Have Leadership Development

When churches are committed to planting, they will always have excellent leadership development. You can’t keep sending out your best people without them. Our Church is a part of the Salt Network, and you see this idea of sending your best. Meaning you don’t plant a church and send your worst people. When your Church is used to sending out your best volunteers and staff regularly, it sends a message. The message is that we need God to raise more people to labor for the Lord.

Churches can become stale because there is no movement. There is no sending culture, so everyone gets comfortable where they are. Churches need both stability and people going! They need to know that people will hold down the fort, but they also need to know that they are helping to fulfill the mission of God in some way.

When churches have a church-planting culture,  young people see an opportunity to step up. Consider what it is like attending a church where the pastor has been there for 40 years. For young people, it tells them there is only space for one leader to step up when the pastor retires. Churches that plant provide plenty of new opportunities for younger people who are more likely to move for the sake of the Gospel.

6. Churches Need a Big Vision

I am unsure where or when this started happening, but churches have lost their Christ-like vision. Christ came and poured into 12 to reach the whole world. He did not come with a slight vision, and by the grace of God, he has invited us to play a role in making disciples of all nations. Churches that plant churches tend to think big. They are not just trying to keep the lights on but calling on God to bring a surplus of money, leaders, and opportunities so that the Gospel can reach more people.

The resurrection is central to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The same Spirit that hovered over the face of the deep in Genesis 1 also raised the King from the tomb. That same Spirit powers every believer today. That same Spirit powers his Church today. But so many churches have lost touch with the power of the Spirit. Instead, we believe in a weak spirit less powerful than the US dollar. Many don’t even believe the Spirit is more powerful than Amazon.

Churches need to get back into believing in a big God. The acts 2 God who had his Spirit descended on the people and immediately changed lives and the region! When you call your Church to plant another church every 3-5 years, it perks up everyone’s ears because that can’t happen unless God is with you.

7. Why Every Church Should Plant Churches – There Are Not Enough Churches

One of the big misconceptions that many people have is that there are already enough churches. Many people see churches and old churches and think people are not even using existing churches. So why in the world would we build another church?

There are two angles here, the first is that God’s mission calls us to make disciples of all nations, so we need a lot more churches to do that because believers are called to be a part of their local churches.

We also need to consider that there are many dying congregations because they have grown stale. They were once thriving pillars in the community, but they became so risk-averse it becomes hard to know if they really depend on the Spirit or whatever worked yesterday.

Healthy churches should plant more healthy churches because it allows others to experience a healthy local congregation. We need people committed to reviving old churches as well so Christian communities can thrive everywhere for the glory of the Kingdom. If we missed any reasons why every church should plant churches, let us know.

lan Warner

Ian Warner is a believer, husband, and father of three. He grew up running track in Toronto before earning a scholarship to Iowa State University. At Iowa State, he became an All-American and made the 2012 Olympic team. He currently is a college pastor in Des Moines, IA and is a church plant candidate for 2026.

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