<image courtesy of carbonNYC @ Flickr>
I have never met a ‘typical’ church planter.
Sure, assessment helps determine whether someone has a demonstrable history of the kind of gifting and passion needed to help find success in a planting endeavor, but beyond certain gifts, history, and focus, it seems there’s no real ‘church planter’ mold.
In most of the circles I engage, it seems someone who is an ‘ideal fit’ for church planting is a young, good looking, tech-savvy, trendy, incredibly oratorically gifted, overwhelmingly catalytic guy. But the real, flesh-and-bone church planters I know are different. They are women. They are men. They are younger. They are older. They are passionate.
But they aren’t the people you would probably chase down to start a new church.
Maybe I’m looking at this too much through my own eyes–when I think of me being involved in the church planting adventure, I see all the reasons I shouldn’t be here: I am too broken, too fat, too geeky, too awkward to be a church planter.
But, so far, those things haven’t really disqualified me.
In fact, I think God can use me to engage other broken, fat, geeky, awkward people in a way a ‘typical’ church planter may not.
I guess what I’m trying to say is this: Don’t let what you think you need keep you from pursuing a ministry God might have for you. He has a Great Adventure for you, if only you’ll jump in with both feet and let him use you…whoever/however you are.
