Some People You Really Like

I get it. You are working hard to have a great relationship with everybody on your team – and that’s a really important thing to do. Chances are when there are just a dozen of you in a room you won’t be attracting people in through flashy programming – they will join because they feel a connection with the community that is forming, and often this boils down to a connection with you, the leader.

Still, within the general idea of liking everybody, there are some people who you really like. Are there a couple of people in the group who you would think of as your friends? People who you would still hang out with even if you weren’t church planting? People who cause your soul to feel a bit alive just by being in the same room as you.

Church planting can often be a lonely business. And many church planters who go in expecting that their existing friendships outside the plant will carry them through it often end up disappointed and disillusioned when those friendships are not able to carry the weight they placed on them. Having friends outside the plant is good, but when they are your only (or primary) sources of friendship and support is when trouble can begin. 

You need to find those people within your group with whom you can get together for an evening, grill a steak, open a bottle of wine and talk about everything other than the church plant and come away from it lifted. 

For the sake of your sanity, find those people.