Developing an Online Church Planting Strategy – Part 1

Scripture

Obedience

1 After this, the Lord appointed 70 others, and He sent them ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place where He Himself was about to go.

Sent ahead: People committing their lives to Christ and church planting are the results of God’s Work in people’s lives.  God sends us out ahead of Him to prepare the way for Him to come in and work in people’s hearts.

As internet missionaries or online church planters, we go out into different online communities.  As we go, we understand that we go into places God is about to visit in a really cool way.

Obedience statement:  I will go like Jesus commanded us to go.

In pairs:  Other than some kinds of prayer and giving, I’m not sure we are ever supposed to do anything alone as followers of Christ.  There is strength in numbers. 

This has good applications online.  Sustaining a daily blog on a particular topic is difficult for one person, especially if they have jobs outside of ministry.  Sustained, 24/7 presence within the social media tools the community uses to interact can be difficult for one person.

Obedience statement:  I will not go alone.  I will find at least one other person to go with me.

Every town and place: This reinforces the idea that internet missionaries and church planters engage communities.  Sometimes it was a particular place within a community, sometimes the whole community.

We aren’t creating communities.  We are going into existing communities and places within those communities.

Building community takes lots of time.  I think there is a sense of urgency throughout this passage.  Jesus wants us to avoid things that take too much time.

Obedience statement:  As I go online, I will go to communities or places within communities.

2 He told them: “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest. 

Pray for workers:  I’m not sure why we think this means, “Pray for uber-leaders to win thousands to the Lord.”  Quite frankly, we just need someone who can use the available tools to harvest what God already brought into maturity.  But, we are to pray that God will give us those people. 

Here is a thought – most of the workers will come from within the harvest.

Obedience statement:  I will pray and I will get others to pray that God will send workers into His harvest.

3 Now go; I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Don’t carry a money-bag, traveling bag, or sandals; don’t greet anyone along the road. 

Like lambs among wolves – The Internet isn’t a safe environment.  God isn’t sending us into safe environments.  He warns us and we need to warn those we work with.  We are to be on guard.

Obedience statement:  I will be on alert and on guard, realizing that God doesn’t want me to be in the safe places of the world.  I will warn others as well.

Don’t carry, don’t greet – Once again, there is the sense of urgency.  Don’t carry too much.  Don’t stop to hang out or greet others along the way.  Funny thing – when you walk along the path, you come into contact with individuals or small groups of people.  If you interact with them, you engage them in a false environment, outside their existing community.

When we carry things with us, we depend on them.  Our resources come out of the communities we engage.  I wonder what this means for raising financial support outside the community?  Obviously we have to look at the whole counsel of Scripture on that fact.

Obedience statement – As I go, I will focus on engaging people within their communities rather than in false environments outside their community.  I will research the idea of raising financial support outside the communities I engage and see if it is a Biblical model or something I’ve adopted from my church culture.

5Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ 6 If a son of peace s there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.

House – Households are microcosms of community.  Even as I go into a community, I’m looking for the intimate community within a household to receive the Gospel.

Obedience statement – As I engage online communities, I will look for the smaller intimate groups of people that do life together.   I will also look at Scripture and see if a household is a group of related people or a group of people that relate to one another.

Peace to this household – I come into households to bring peace and I’m to voice that fact.

Obedience statement – I will bring peace into households.  I will not argue, but announce the reason I’ve come – to bring peace.  This happens once I’ve been invited within a home.

Son of Peace – The goal, it seems, in this passage is finding the Son of Peace.  If so, then the goal of going into these communities is to find this person.  So, a measure of success is whether we found this person within the context of their household.

Obedience statement – As I go into online communities, I will look for the Son of Peace.  I will research Scripture for more about the Son of Peace so that I will recognize him when I find him.

7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they offer, for the worker is worthy of his wages.  Don’t be moving from house to house. 8 When you enter any town, and they welcome you, eat the things set before you. 

Remain in the same house – Once I find the Son of Peace, I’m to stay and focus on him and his household.

Obedience statement – When I find the Son of Peace, I will live in community with his household.

Eating and drinking what they offer – I’m to accept whatever hospitality they offer.

Obedience statement – If the household offers me anything, I will accept it.

Do not move from place to place – Once I find the Son of Peace, I become laser-focused on that household.

Obedience statement – Once I find a Son of Peace, I will focus everything on him and his household.

9 Heal the sick who are there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near you.’ 

Heal the sick – This isn’t a suggestion, I’m to pray for the sick and heal them.  This is what the passage says and I have to deal with it.

Obedience statement – As I find people who are sick, I will pray for them and heal them.

Tell them, “The kingdom of God has come near you.” – Healing is a sign of God’s Kingdom on the earth.  As I pray for the sick and they get healed, I have to point out that they’ve been touched by God.  As I do this, I’m declaring what makes Jesus different from any religion – He actually wants to draw near to His creation.

Obedience statement – I will give God glory as people are healed.  I will tell them why God would want to heal them and care about them.  I will tell stories of the Kingdom.  I will learn more about the Kingdom from Scripture so that I understand what stories in the Bible best illustrate what God means when He talks about the Kingdom.

10 When you enter any town, and they don’t welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘We are wiping off [as a witness] against you even the dust of your town that clings to our feet. Know this for certain: the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.

When they don’t welcome you – If a community doesn’t welcome us, we have to leave.  And we have to leave with a warning to that community about what they are choosing.

Obedience statement – When I do not find a Son of Peace within a community, I will move on.  I will pray and ask God about what it looks like to give this kind of warning within an online context.