You are not the only person whose life will be turned upside down if you plant a church. 

In doing so, you will be dragging your spouse and children (if you have them) away from the community that they are part of. They will no longer experience the blessings that come from being part of a more established church and they won’t see their friends as often. You will probably be entertaining a lot of people at your house, many of whom you will never see again. 

It is true that these things will impact you as much as they impact your family, but the big difference is that you are the one making the choice. You are considering your calling. You are embarking on an adventure. You don’t want them to feel like they are just coming along for the ride.

As you make a decision to plant a church, it is important that you own the decision as a family. Take time to work through what everybody thinks. What is God saying to your partner and your kids? What excites them about the idea? What worries them? 

If they don’t want to do it, then I would strongly suggest holding fire. You don’t want to be building a new church on fault lines in your family. Have faith that if God is in it, he will speak to your wife/husband and your kids and give them the same faith for it that he has given to you. Be patient, pray and work towards a point where your family can step out as one into what God is calling you to (which may or may not be church planting). 

You may find Stu and Livy Gibbs’ church planting story helpful as you think about this.