Redefining Reality for Church Planting in the 21st Century

by Randy Knutson 

If you're called to plant a church in the 21st century, you need the ability to declare a new future. You will also need skills that allow you to learn and adapt as you go. The future leaders of tomorrow will redefine reality in a culturally shifting world. They will live as sojourner in our own land.

Most postmodern sociologist today unpack the long list of changes which will color our future. For the sake of this article, I will assume you're aware of the tectonic shifts taking place in our theology, apologetics, evangelism, communication styles, and church structures.

The designers of the 21st century church will be agents of change. Like intercultural specialists, they will investigate their world. They will view their world from a missionary point of view and try to understand their city with fresh assumptions.

The most obvious assumption will be to start their ministry saying, "I don't know." When it comes to pre-determined strategies and plans, they will have an attitude of "I don't want to know." Instead they will seek answers by interacting with their mission-field.

In the absence of know-how or plan, their answers will come from on-site field survey. Out of respect for the lost and the exploration of the uniqueness of man, they will instead seek to know people as the gospel of Jesus Christ draws us together in Word and deed. They will not see their role as telling and selling, but instead as sojourners asking questions as they explore what it really means to be alive.

Declaring a new future isn't based on evidence. In fact, the people who declare a new future without evidence can be called our heroes and visionaries. Martin Luther King said, "I have a dream." John F. Kennedy said, "We will put a man on the moon in ten years." Gandhi said, "India will be a free country without violence." They declared how the future would look and it was not based on evidence of the past.

Declaring has faith and eyes to see what is yet to be. Declaring is filling ourselves with the imagination of God and stating out loud a "dream or a vision of the future." Nothing will ever happen until someone stands up and declares their dream. Poets, mystics, and philosophical theologians have dreams. They try to see what others do not. By doing so, they bring the element of mystery to the front of our minds where God can work. When they courageously speak out loud their vision, they are reflecting the image of God. In Genesis, God spoke the world into existence. Literally, by word of command (fiat) he made what was not! The leaders of tomorrow will speak into existence the future from the findings of their research from their mission field.

Future Leaders Will Address The Issues Of Hope And Despair. The future reminds us that the world is winding up its eschatological time clock. Deception, false teachers, and despair will run freely. Jesus warned us in Matthew 24:12, "that the love of men will grow cold."

When change comes and people don't respond to it, they will begin to say, "Nothing here is working?" Therefore, when the future looks dark, people of light shine. Many will loose their faith. We should be warned. If we take despair into ourselves, we will reap fate. If we look by faith into the future, we will reap destiny. The leaders of life giving faith will see hope and opportunity to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. They will be able to connect others to the only real power source - Christ the hope of glory.

The key to the church of the future is to retreat regularly to pray, plan, and envision their findings. You will always be in the first year of your five-year plan - for three reasons.

1. Because the terrain is constantly changing in front of you.
2. Because you will have to react to things you cannot see in your path.
3. And because retreated times of reflection keeps you depending and listening to God to lead the Church.

Future leaders will spend more time on the field but they will also retreat away from the sounds of the city and lower their RPM's on a frequent basis to reflect, pray, and intentional plan. One leader I know takes his team out for one day and half each month to envision their future.

What happens to a church that does not intentionally retreat to pray, plan, and envision their future? The tyranny of the urgent will run their weekly meetings and calendering. Change will either be your friend or your enemy. Hurried, reactive, marginless planning will do more to frustrate understanding the future than any other attack of the devil. A new church that does not intentionally retreat to pray, plan, and envision the future will immediately need resourcing to keep its momentum going. If during this time they still don't retreat, the vision and energy of their momentum will begin to slow down and they will need refocusing. If they still don't retreat their momentum will slow down to a crawl, and relational fights will break out and people will leave. At this point others will need to come in to help the church in a process of restoration. And finally, if they don't retreat the vision dies and you will have to restart your church.

If you can keep standing for the vision God gives you, it will inspire others to follow. It is true that declaring, and standing for your commitment, means that you may be alone for a little longer than you like. A genuine commitment, inspired by God is something people nearly always love to get behind or throw rocks at. Your confidence to adjust, adapt, and listen to God's voice will yield people's respect if you can persevere.

One of my favorite movies is Rudy. It a story of a little man from a steel town in Illinois who declared at age eight he would play football for Notre Dame. Soon he was told in he was not smart enough or talented enough to even be eligible. He was profoundly alone in his declaration. His father, brothers, and teachers thought he was crazy. Notre Dame rejected him. He got a job as groundskeeper on the campus and went to junior college and got a tutor to get his grades up. Finally he was accepted into the school. He joined the boosters who painted the football helmets. Eventually he got on the squad because of his testimony of perseverance. He practiced with the team with no hope of playing and took their brutal practices. With one minute to go in the last game of his college life, with everyone watching, he played football. He melted down the opposition's arguments with his passion and a dream. He is the only player in Notre Dame history to be carried off the field in victory.

If you want to plant a church in the 21st century, you need to learn from men like Rudy. He was a Notre Dame football player, with all his being, until the people who had the power to send him out on the field saw the same being. So the question you must answer from the city where you want to plant your church- is what will you declare?