Church Planting: Paying the Price
By Ken Nabi, President Converge Great Lakes
Church planting is a high calling and a Kingdom priority. It’s not simply a church growth strategy or a trendy movement; it is a deeply biblical practice rooted in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Starting new congregations is one of the most effective ways to reach the lost, disciple believers, and expand the Kingdom of God into new neighborhoods, cities, and cultures. But it doesn’t come without a cost. Church planting demands endurance, sacrifice, and an unwavering trust in God’s power and provision.
In Acts 14:21-23, we witness a powerful and sobering example of the cost of church planting. Paul and Barnabas had just preached the gospel in Derbe, making many disciples. But what’s truly remarkable is what comes next. After Paul was stoned and left for dead outside Lystra, he miraculously survives and goes back into the very city that tried to kill him. Why? To strengthen the disciples, encourage them to remain in the faith, and to appoint elders in the new churches being planted.
This is a striking picture of resilience. Paul doesn’t flee from danger, he returns to it for the sake of the gospel. He demonstrates the heart of a true church planter and apostle: a willingness to suffer for the growth and health of the Church. He models a spiritual fortitude that is rare and inspiring, one echoed in his later words to Timothy: “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3).
Church planting is not easy for the planter, nor for the sending church. It requires both to step into uncharted waters with faith and fortitude. It involves loss: the loss of leaders, the stretching of resources, and the breaking of comfort zones. For the planter, it often means long hours, spiritual warfare, loneliness, and discouragement. For the sending church, it requires a willingness to release some of their best people, to give generously, and to pray fervently.
Yet, in its most authentic expression, church planting is a beautiful, Spirit-led act of obedience. It reflects the heart of Jesus, who left the comfort of heaven to step into our world, to serve, to teach, to heal, and ultimately to give His life so that new life could spring up in others. When a church says “yes” to planting, they are saying “yes” to following that same path of sacrificial love.
Paul’s experience in Lystra is a powerful metaphor for what it means to press on in the face of adversity. He was bloodied and bruised, yet he got up and kept going. That kind of tenacity is needed today as we pursue new gospel works in hard places. The spiritual soil may be dry. The community may be skeptical. The culture may resist. But as Paul reminds us in Galatians 6:9, “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Hebrews 12:1-3 also exhorts us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus.” Endurance is not optional in ministry…it’s essential. And it is only by fixing our eyes on Christ that we can continue the hard, holy work of planting and strengthening churches.
For churches today, the challenge is clear: will we pay the price to see new congregations rise up in places of spiritual need? Will we send our best leaders? Will we invest financially? Will we walk alongside planters with encouragement and support? Will we trust God to provide as we step out in faith?
The reward of church planting is not just in the numbers, it is in the changed lives, the transformed communities, and the visible advance of God’s Kingdom on earth. It is in the joy of seeing people who were once far from God now passionately walking with Him because someone took the risk to plant a church.
Let us, like Paul, rise up even when beaten down. Let us return to the hard places, led by the Spirit, compelled by love, and strengthened by grace.
At Converge Great Lakes, we are here to support your efforts at Kingdom expansion through evangelism, discipleship, and starting new congregations. Let us know how we can help.
Ken Nabi | Regional President of Converge Great Lakes