Planting Space

Sometime in the last year I heard one of those ministry stories that may be evangelical legend, but makes a good point:

2 teams of relief workers arrived on site in a famine-stricken third-world area. Both teams were immediately pressed by crowds as they got off the plane. The first team, seeing the need, started handing out food and serving the people immediately. The second team pushed through the crowd to where the would make their camp and established a barbed wire perimeter. After a day or two of setting up their own camp, they began passing out food and helping people.

It may seem that the second team was calloused and selfish until you ask the question, “Which team was still serving the people after a month?” You can imagine that the first team would have burned out and returned home.

Planters, you need to be intentional, even religious, about setting aside time for soul care. Besides the one day a week that you already turn off your computer and cell phone and spend with your family (grin), you need to find a rhythm of taking prayer retreat days and a spiritual retreat week. Wouldn’t it be sad if you stopped hearing from God because you couldn’t find the time, and then ended up building the church in your own strength?

“What does it profit a [planter] to gain [a new church] but lose his soul?”

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