Home Outreach Leaders Articles for Outreach & Missions Church Planter, Get a Thicker Skin!

Church Planter, Get a Thicker Skin!

There are a lot of different voices in a church planter’s head. OK, that sounds a little weird, but let me explain.

Everyday, there are competing voices that try to get our attention and convince us of one thing or another. Here are some of those voices: Good, Bad, Positive, Negative, Encouraging, Challenging, Defeating, Uplifting, Critical.

Some days, a church planter is on the top of the world. We may have a few great conversations with potential church attenders, or someone may have blessed the new church with some kind of financial gift. The positive voices fill our heads and our hearts and remind us that God has called us to this work and our new church is going to advance His Kingdom.

Then …

All of a sudden and out of nowhere, the negative voices come flooding in—and WOW, can they come flooding in!

Negative. Bad. Defeating. Critical.

Some days, a church planter can get knocked off the top of the world. Someone may tell us they’ve decided to not be a part, or they don’t like the direction, or they have an issue with someone else on the launch team and they refuse to deal with it. Or the finances don’t come in that were needed, and negative voices can start to flood our minds and hearts.

Because there are so many different voices that are all trying to get our attention, there is one very important role that a church planter must take very seriously.

We must …