Multiplying Churches: Exploring God’s Mission Strategy

by Steve Timmis

It’s often said that the only way to defeat the darkness is to light more candles. This is precisely what church planting is. Church planting is the act of creating communities of light across this dark world. And this is what our Lord calls us to do with the promise that He will build His church so that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it (Matt.

Israel were God’s interim solution to the problem of humanity’s sin.

But we are not simply called to be individual lights for Jesus. This is not a matter of lone Christians living godly lives and doing good works. We are communities of light. We are called to missional community.

In the Old Testament it was the life of the covenant community which was to function as a light to the nations. And in the New Testament, too, it is the life of the community that commends the gospel.

This does not simply mean inviting people to meetings. If we think of church simply as an event, then being a community of light will simply become inviting people to events. But we are not called to create ‘meetings of light’ or ‘events of light’. We ourselves are the light. We are called to be communities of light. It is about a shared life that reflects the gospel into which other people are welcomed.

church planting puts the Christian community at the heart of mission.

I once saw a video which depicted the explosive growth of the world’s population. The video showed a spinning globe in which cities of one million people were represented by a dot of light. The globe spun and a clock in the corner marked the passage of time. For centuries there were just one or two dots of light. Then in the twentieth century the globe burst into light. Light filled whole continents. Think of churches as dots of light. Our job is to go out into the world and establish communities that enable people to see and to share the life of Christ. We litter the world with little communities of light so that neighbourhoods, regions and countries burst into light.

So church planting is the point where mission and church intersect. Church planting is by definition a missionary activity, arguably the core missionary activity. It ensures mission is at the heart of church life. But church planting is by definition a church activity. It ensures that church is integral to mission. It defines mission as forming and building churches. Church planting puts mission at the heart of church and church at the heart of mission.

Christ died for His bride, the church. I am saved when by faith I become part of the people for whom Christ died. My identity as a Christian is a communal identity. We are called to community.

The winter evenings where I live are dark. And as you walk our cold, dark streets with houses close to the pavement you can see into people’s homes. I often wonder what passers-by make of our missional communities when they look in. It creates for me a lovely image of mission. We live in a cold and dark world. But when people look in through the window they see a community of joy, love, friendship – a place of light and warmth and welcome. This is what the church must be in our dark, cold, loveless world: a community of light at street level. Here is the place where God’s kingdom can be glimpsed. Here is where people are reconciled as they are brought together in Christ. This is the reason for church planting: to be a light to the nations at street level.

Churches that plant churches experience loss and gospel goodbyes that are awful and beautiful, right and good. From this we enjoy glory together as we marvel at all that God is doing. Right now there is work at hand. The Holy Spirit is raising up men and we must be open-handed as God calls them to other work, and encourage them as you see giftedness to take on new endeavours.