“Even John Calvin considered that a church that was weak and inadequate in many ways, IF the gospel was faithfully preached, was still a New Testament church. So work toward receiving that brother’s preaching of Christ. Encourage him in doing so. Pray for him.”

Recently, a brother from a small town in the south wrote for advice. He came to Christ in the early nineties. Over the past two years he and his wife embraced reformed (baptistic) theology. But the church they were part of did not. Opposition to their theological convictions has mounted. After moving to their third church, they still feel unsettled. The church they are presently part of preaches Christ, maintains good fellowship among the members, but is certainly not theologically reformed, and even sometime slings a few barbs against Calvinism. The closest reformed congregation is forty-five minutes away. So the brother asked if there might be the possibility of sending someone to plant a church in his community. With this brother’s permission to share it, here’s how I responded, with a few minor changes.

Let me offer a few thoughts.

First, planting a church, especially one that is reformed in doctrine and practice, is a huge challenge. Church planting is demanding, costly financially and emotionally, and a spiritual battle. Added to that, in an area that seems unfriendly toward reformed theology—as is common in the south—it’s an even greater challenge. That’s not to say it is not doable because it certainly is. But it is no quick, easy task. Necessary leadership, core group, supporting church (or churches), resources, finances, meeting space, etc. are required in a church plant. And it is generally helpful to have a fairly good population. Small communities tend to be rather insulated and not as open to new churches starting, especially since everyone knows everyone else. I’d take my hometown as an example. It would be extremely difficult to plant a reformed, baptistic church in my town of 8,000.

Church planting must never be viewed as a matter of convenience. It’s too exhausting and demanding to even consider in that case. Rather we need to plant churches, particularly, where Christ is not preached.

Second, one of the personal challenges to those who come into a new understanding of doctrine is to hold it with patience and great humility. It’s true that not everyone will agree and that some of those who disagree will do so with aggressiveness. Yet Christ calls us to humility, Christlikeness, gentleness, and patience as we work with others. Being a model of the doctrine that we believe is critical. For instance, some young men that I know serve churches where they regularly face the struggle of showing patience to congregations that are not reformed and somewhat hostile to their biblical convictions. They wonderfully model the slow, patient, gentle approach of teaching and living out the gospel so that their congregations can see and hear God’s truth.

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