I Corinthians 3:6a
Paul Planted
Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall
When considering church planting, we Baptists should, as we ought to with every matter, look to Scripture for models of how to move forward. Maybe our most helpful Bible example is Paul the Apostle.
I Corinthians 3:6a (Holman) I planted, . . .
Paul said, "I planted." Planted what? The church at Corinth. This was one of several churches Paul started. Paul was a church-planting machine. We call his travels "Missionary Journeys." We could call them "Church-Planting Journeys."
Paul is a valid Bible model for us when considering church planting, but let me stretch the envelope farther. Where did Paul get the idea to plant churches? I believe the Holy Spirit began laying the groundwork for this 600 years before Paul.
After the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., synagogues became the most important institution in Jewish life. During the Babylonian captivity, the Jews were separated from their temple, priests, and holy city. To save their heritage they let any village, wherever located, that had at least ten Jewish men in it establish a synagogue. These small gathering places became the center and preservers of Jewish culture in three ways. One, they served as schools where children learned to read and write, and were taught Israel's history and heritage. Two, synagogues served as meetinghouses where adults mingled, and talked theology and religion.
Three, synagogues served as worship centers. Their services were informal, and followed a simple agenda: prayers, Scripture readings, a lecture, discussion. (Sounds a lot like a typical Baptist small group.) Any approved layman wishing to speak could give the lecture. Jesus, Stephen, and Paul used this to their advantage.
The synagogues were so successful that after the temple was rebuilt, they continued to be used. By New Testament times, synagogues were everywhere in the Roman world--480 in Jerusalem alone--as if God had been preparing the world for an army of people who would have learned to gather in groups, "churches" if you will.
The proliferation of synagogues greatly enhanced the spread of Christianity. Paul is mentioned as going into synagogues in Damascus (Acts 9:2); Salamis (Acts 13:5); Antioch (Acts 13:14); Iconium (Acts 14:1); Thessalonica (Acts 17:1); Berea (Acts 17:10); Athens (Acts 17:17); Corinth (Acts 18:4); and Ephesus (Acts 18:19).
In the early days of the Christian religion, when many Christians were Jews, they would go to synagogue on the Sabbath, as they had always done. This is why Paul, when seeking Christians to persecute, went to the synagogues to find them (Acts 9:2; 22:19; 26:11). This also helps explain how Christian worship services got started on Sunday. The early believers went to synagogue on the Sabbath, and they met on Sunday as Christ-followers. Sunday worship became the norm as the Jews began forcing Christians out of the synagogues, and as a growing number of Christians were Gentiles, who could not participate in the synagogue services.
An interesting world-changing event that happened in the European city of Philippi can be traced to the Jewish custom of gathering in groups on the Sabbath. Paul, while in Troas, on the west coast of Asia minor (now Turkey), received the Macedonian Call. "During the night a vision appeared to Paul: a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, "Cross over to Macedonia and help us!"" (Acts 16:9). In response to this call, Paul decided to leave Asia to take the Gospel into Europe, to the province of Macedonia, for the first time.
He crossed the Aegean Sea, and walked ten miles to the city of Philippi. He had to walk over a steep mountain ridge. (Was the first church in Europe named Hill City?) Finding no Jewish synagogue and no believers in the city, Paul decided to act on a hunch. He believed if there were any Jews in town, they would gather as a small group on the Sabbath somewhere in a set-apart place of prayer, away from pagan temples and near a source of water due to their ritual washings.
Therefore, on the Sabbath he walked outside the city limits about one mile to the Gangites River (Acts 16:13). His hunch turned out to be a holy one. He was right. A small group had gathered there. The result was the conversion of Lydia.
The point is, Paul knew to look for a small group. God's people have always felt a need to gather in groups. As Paul knew, this was true in Old Testament Judaism—if ten men could be found, synagogues began; if fewer than ten men were there, small groups formed. Once New Testament Christianity started, groups and churches ("synagogues") appeared everywhere. Boom! They were there.
On the evening of Resurrection Sunday and on the next Sunday, the disciples gathered as a small group (John 20:19,26). By the Sea of Galilee, seven disciples gathered as a group (John 21:2). After Jesus ascended, 120 believers—sounds like a church to me—gathered in the Upper Room to pray for 10 days.
At Pentecost, they were all gathered in one place (Acts 2:1). After Pentecost, they were gathering in the Temple and from house to house (Acts 2:46). The increase due to groups was spontaneous and explosive. Everything broke loose!
But I digress! Paul's second stop on his first Missionary (church-planting) foray into Europe was Thessalonica. (Was the second church in Europe called Second Baptist?) Philippi was too small to have a synagogue, but Thessalonica had one, and Paul went to it immediately (Acts 17:1).
Within months of the church's founding, Paul wrote his two Thessalonian letters, the first New Testament writings, our oldest Christian documents. Paul planted churches in Philippi and Thessalonica. Now Hill City enters the drama. You are now stewards of Paul's legacy. You must follow his lead. According to 2 Thessalonians 3:1, Paul's habit of starting new churches spread quickly. It wasn't a onetime flash in the pan for him. Paul intended to do it over and over again.
"Over and over again"—this is the driving phrase. Second has started 44 churches in the last seven years; forty are ongoing. Hill City, you are our daughter. I plead with you to join us "over and over again" in this larger-than-life enterprise.
Why do I feel justified in coming to make this plea boldly to you? One, because church planting is a long-term win. The new church plants in Philippi and Thessalonica endured. The church in smaller Philippi, which started from a small group, lasted 550 years, till the city was destroyed by an earthquake. The church in larger Thessalonica, which started from a synagogue group, also succeeded. Its oldest church building, The Church of Holy Wisdom, sits on a spot where there has been a Christian church since the 200s. There has been a Christian presence in Thessalonica from 51 A.D. to today, 1966 years later.
Paul's efforts at church-planting had long-term success. This is still common in USA church planting. Two years after being started, 92% of new churches still exist, after three years 81%, after four years 68%. The average attendance is 41 after one year, 56 after two, 73 after three, and 84 after four. These are impressive numbers when we realize the average USA church has 75 in attendance.
Two, because church planting is an immediate win. The new church plant in Thessalonica worked. Paul said to believers there, "You became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia" (1Thess. 1:7b). Within months, this brand-new church was already the talk of Christians throughout two Roman provinces.
Churches were abuzz about this baby church. Holy gossip was deservedly flying. The church was already characterized by faithfulness and love (2 Thess. 1:3). New churches can quickly do mighty works. Paul saw it in the Thessalonians.
I have seen it in you, Hill City. Do not think you are too young to take the on-ramp into this drama. You are only one year old, but you were born fully grown and fully mature. I remind you, less than 10% of all USA congregations have 350 or more attenders. If you at Hill City cannot plant churches, who can?
Three, because church planting is a kingdom win. It brings more people into the kingdom. This matters to me. My dad was a great soul winner, as is your Pastor. I'm not, thus I always feel guilty. A Peter Wagner quote arrested my attention. "The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches."
His argument is hard to refute. Established Southern Baptist churches baptize 3.4/100 members. New ones baptize over three times more at 11.7/100.
Church-planting requires a heightened level of love for unbelievers. Do we act as if finding the lost is worth the sacrifice required to plant churches?
Four, because church planting is a must-win. We have to do this. George G. Hunter, a Methodist and one of my favorite writers, said the only difference between the declining Methodist numbers and increasing Southern Baptist numbers is the number of new churches the latter started. If new churches had not been started, Southern Baptists would also have a diminishing graph. If Hunter is correct, Christianity will wane in the USA without church-planting.
Through all the hardships early Christ-followers suffered, the idea of starting new groups, whatever their size or final outcome, never wavered. These groups provided a setting where believers practiced and mastered the unending process of spiritual reproduction. As Christ-followers, multiplication is who we are. We multiply disciples. We multiply groups. We multiply churches.
I am proud of our spiritual daughter, Hill City. May she be like her mother in this regard; may she merge into the church-planting drama that most accurately displays Christian churches for what they are supposed to be.
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