Yesterday I was asked by a young guy in the audience at the Christ and City conference what was the major mistake I have made and that other pastors often make when planting a church. I told him that by far it was elevating questionable people into leadership. I’ve planted three churches and believe me, this is one is not hard for you to make over and over again. For this reason Paul instructed the young church planter in Timothy with these words:  “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure” (1 Timothy 5:22).

The more I thought about the question I was asked in light of these instructions the more it became clear to me that elevating questionable people into leadership (being hasty in the laying of hands) is an indicative of a deeper problem in the heart of the leader. I’m talking about a gospel problem. When you lack a thorough understanding of the gospel as a church planter you will often mislead and mishandle people. Here’s what I mean by that. Say a good looking, smart, successful young Christian couple starts attending your church plant and let’s say you are in desperate need leadership (you’re always in need of leaders). Now suppose as you spend sometime to get to know them over dinner you find out that you’re not all that comfortable with some of their theological beliefs or with something that the wife has indicated about their marriage. It’s very natural for you to reason this way:  “Oh well, no one’s perfect. I’m sure this is a minor issue and it won’t affect at all what they will be doing in the church. Besides, I can come along side to correct and to encourage. Most of all, I’m going to go ahead and ignore these red flags and recruit them, because we have a real need for leaders.” Let me bring out the buzzer here. Wrong choice!

If the gospel affected the way you lead, you would have great compassion to love them enough to care for their family and to disciple them with some healthy theology regardless if you will get something out of it or not. You would also possess enough courage not only to resist the temptation to recruit prematurely but to appropriately rebuke, to honestly express your concerns and, to stand up for what you believe and value regardless if they will fall in love with you and your vision.

Too often planters will make room for people that they are not even willing to make time for and to be truthful with.  The reality is: these planters are not willing to love the people they lead because they are too concerned and too busy with loving themselves and their success. They have made an idol out of these two things and idols my friend, deceive your heart and blur your eye sight.

If this is you, you are missing out on the Gospel because at the bottom of it, you’re insecure of God’s love for you and your church therefore, you don’t trust enough. You are also too concerned with your own self image so you bend yourself backwards all the time to gather people by getting them to love you.  In that process, you have forgotten about your identity in Christ, the seriousness of his calling on your life and the command to love the people he has entrusted you with.

The remedy of course is to go back and dwell in the truth of the gospel that preaches to our insecurities and fears as planters/ pastors that we are loved unconditionally in Jesus. We need to feed our souls not only daily (devotional time) but at every occasion when a situation presents itself to feed our soul’s deepest craving with trash.

If you learn to do this often (in a way that it almost because of second nature) you will have a healthy inside and a healthy outside (church community) because you have realized that a good diet of truth and love (which only the gospel can give) is not only what you need but what every church needs. With this realization you will in the end produce the right leaders for the ministry. They will help you to create a culture of honesty and vulnerability.

And, honest and vulnerable people are the kinds of small group leaders, worship leaders, officers, preachers and, teachers that you and your people need. But it all starts with developing them first.

Don’t be a fool like Aaron that helped the people of Israel to build a golden calf to worship.