Boost Your Confidence to Plant a Church with One Simple Question
Note: this is an AI generated transcript of my podcast.
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If you're thinking about planting a church—or you're already in the trenches of church planting—there's a good chance you've had moments where you've considered doing just about anything else. Maybe you've secretly scrolled through church staffing websites, fantasized about starting a business, or even thought about becoming a barista.
The pressure is real. Despite sensing God's call to start a new church, the weight of it all can feel overwhelming, leaving you questioning whether you really heard from Him and wondering if risking everything to plant a church is actually the right move.
Today, I want to share the one question that will either give you the confidence to keep going or the awareness that now might not be the right time.
My Story: Multiple Options, One Question
In June 2020, my future had never been more uncertain. The pastor of the church I was working at had recently resigned, leaving me as the interim lead pastor. I had multiple options on the table:
Stick around and possibly become the next lead pastor
Look for a new job as an executive pastor elsewhere
Stay and hope the next lead pastor wouldn't fire me
Go back to school while my wife worked
Do what I was pretty sure God was telling me to do: move back to New York to plant a church
I spent hours every day browsing job listings. But the pull toward planting a church in New York never went away.
Eventually, I found myself on a call with Justin Rabie, the church planting director at Grace Church in Kansas City. I was completely honest about my situation and all my options.
That's when he asked me a fantastic question: "Of all the options you have, if you could make any of them happen today, which would you choose?"
I kind of evaded the question and said, "Well, if I knew that I couldn't fail, I'd plant a church."
Can you relate?
The Question That Changed Everything
In response, Justin asked me the absolute perfect question—the one I'm begging you to answer honestly for yourself:
"What if you're meant to fail?"
Let that sink in for a moment.
What if God really did ask you to plant a church, and what if you're meant to fail? Even if you're pretty positive that's not how God works, just play along anyway. Pretend that in your future, you're going on a date with failure. How does that make you feel?
Why This Question Matters
This question clarifies three critical things:
1. It Clarifies What God Is Asking You to Do
Here's something you may not have considered: God never really asks anyone to plant a church. That's not actually our responsibility.
Jesus was clear: "I will build my church. Nothing will stand against it." He's the contractor; we're just the day laborers. He's the one who has to worry about the deadlines and commitments. We just have to do the job He assigned us to do today.
This means you're not truly responsible for the outcome. Whether the church gets started or doesn't make it, that's not actually your problem. This isn't your church in the first place—it's God's.
Your only job is to simply be obedient to what God is asking you to do.
When I wrestled with this question, I had a slow-motion lightbulb moment. I realized my definition of failure was way different from God's. To me, failure looked like moving to New York, doing everything I possibly could to launch the church, and still not seeing it come together.
But to God? Failure wasn't trying and not succeeding. It was not trying at all—especially after He had clearly told me to try.
God's definition of success for me could have looked exactly like my definition of failure.
The only true failure in church planting is refusing to plant if God is asking you to plant.
2. It Clarifies What's in Your Heart
When you let yourself sit with the reality that this church might not go exactly as planned, your reaction will reveal what's in your heart.
I want to focus on one universal toxin that plagues every church planter: fear.
I'd bet that more churches have failed to start because of fear than anything else. Hundreds of thousands of churches that should have been started never made it past a God-given dream in somebody's heart simply because someone was too afraid—afraid to fail, afraid to look foolish, afraid to try.
Here's what's wild: fear is the one thing Jesus just couldn't understand. Over and over, He asked, "Why are you afraid?" or commanded, "Don't be afraid."
3. It Clarifies Who You Are Trusting
This question reveals whether you're actually trusting Jesus or following your own fear.
From the Garden of Eden, God's desire was that humanity would trust Him wholeheartedly. The entire story of Scripture is God saying again and again: "Trust me. I'm with you. I've got you. Trust me."
Fear is actually a gift because it gives us a chance to do the one thing God has always wanted us to do: trust Him anyway.
Are you afraid of planting a church? Afraid of not having enough money? Afraid of failing? Afraid you're not a good enough leader? Afraid you won't be able to provide for your family?
Good. That fear is a gift if you let it be, because every one of those fears is an invitation to trust God.
Two Practical Next Steps
If you're feeling fear about church planting, here are two simple but practical steps to take today:
Step 1: Write Down All Your Fears
Get out a notebook and pen or open the notes app on your phone. Write down your fears—all of them. Be as specific as possible:
I'm afraid of being laughed at
I'm afraid of asking people for money
I'm afraid of not making enough money
I'm afraid of upsetting pastors in the neighborhood
I'm afraid of fighting with my spouse
I'm afraid my kids will become troubled pastors' kids
I'm afraid I don't have the capacity or leadership skills
Step 2: Ask Yourself the Hard Question
What if my greatest fears are supposed to happen? What if all these things I just wrote down are supposed to happen? Is it worth it simply knowing that I've been obedient? Is it worth it failing in this way, knowing that I've been successful at saying yes to God anyway?
Now is not the time to manufacture super-spiritual faith or try to impress anyone. This is just between you and God. Spend some time with your Father in heaven who loves you and be brutally honest about your actual fears and doubts.
We cannot address what we don't acknowledge.
It's okay to feel like planting a church might not be worth the cost—the money, time, emotional energy, and headaches. It's better to be real about that now than to become a resentful, angry, and hardened pastor later.
If it doesn't feel worth it to you, then God might not actually be asking you to do this. Or you may just not be ready yet. And that's great news because now you know exactly what to work on: trusting God.
So What If You're Meant to Fail?
If you're thinking about starting a church but you're afraid of failure, let me ask you: What if you're meant to fail?
Is obedience and trust in God worth more to you than the potential of things not going the way you imagined?
Be honest. If you find out it's not, that's a good thing. You learned something about yourself. You learned that you're not ready to plant a church right now. Instead, you get to work on trusting God, and that's never a bad thing.
But if obedience is more important to you than things not going your way, then what are you waiting for?
Don't be afraid. Trust God. Because no matter how you're feeling or what you're up against, you've got this.
You've got greatness in you—not just because of who you are, but because of whose you are. You are a child of God, and you have the Spirit of God living in you, which means there is nothing that God can't do through you.
So believe in yourself, trust in God, and enjoy the journey.
Want help with your church planting journey? One of the biggest pain points is fundraising, but it doesn't have to be. As a gift for reading, I want to give you my fundraising guide featuring the top five tips that helped my wife Emily and I raise over $345,000 in startup funds. Visit churchplantjourney.com/fundraising to get your free guide.
