I spent four hours with ten Methodist church planters on Thursday morning. I started the time by asking them to articulate their most pressing challenge. Half of them were in their first eight weeks after launch. The clearest common thread was the challenge of moving guests to core. One planter mentioned that after only a couple of months he was accumulating folks but didn't know who was really on the team and who could really be counted on.
What is the key in calling people to commitment and cultivating real stakeholders? I challenged these planters with a quote from Einstein- "If at first the idea is not absurd, there is no hope for it." I asked if their vision stretched the minds and hearts of their core and even their guests when given the chance to share. I asked if they could passionately explain why their church is different and why it will make a difference. I believe a bold, extravagant, unique, God-centered vision is critical to muster heroic sacrifice and radical contribution to get a plant off the ground.
Too often, leaders ask people to do petty, trivial projects in the name of Jesus and we wonder why we get trivial commitment. Or we set up a new church initiative with no compelling differentiator- why should someone drive past a more established church with better ministries to come to the new church plant? Jack Trout, the marketing guru says, "Differentiate or die." My parting thought to these planters was an adaptation of Einstein- If you want to move guests to core, call them to a compelling vision - be absurd or don't be at all!