Infiltration

Church Planting Series, Part seven

I read about Cameron Hughes the other day. He’s a Super Fan. He’s a hired gun to fire up crowds at sporting events. Hughes sits in the crowds—-just like any other fan. He blends in. But once the stadium crowd settles in and settles down, Cameron Hughes springs into action. He gets out of his seat. He dances. He urges people to cheer and shout for the home team. He peels off layers of team t-shirts and launches them into the crowd.

The strategy works. The team owners pay Hughes a couple of thousand dollars to do his thing, and it’s worth the investment. Fans enjoy the game. The crowd responds. The home team gets the home-field advantage.

It’s all about paying a price to send someone in so everything can change.

Sound familiar?

God paid the highest price as He sent His only Son into the world so everything could change. Jesus infiltrated the world-—beaten, bleeding, dying, forgiving, rising. He still infiltrates our lives—-the living Word, the water and the Spirit, bread and wine. Because of Jesus everything has changed. Life is new. Life is eternal.

Now you’re the Super Fan. You’re sent to infiltrate the crowd-—the sin-sulking, fad-lulled, hope-drained, reality-blinded crowd.

Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter worship are not necessarily your acts of infiltration. You’re equipped and sent at those gatherings. You’re fed and forgiven. You’re renewed and returned to the grace and will of God.

But where’s your infiltration?

I’ve been speaking to church planters and ministry entrepreneurs about infiltration lately. I’ve been calling this infiltration work “splash” events (thank you, Rev. Paul Meyer for the term!). How and where are you “splashing” in your community? A church planter is not as much about meeting in a building as he is about splashing in the community.

For example, you schedule an extra Easter service (on Saturday) in a growing area (or Christmas service—start planning now!). You publicize it and make it as visible as possible. You recruit a core team to attend. Then you watch for the community’s response. Who knows, you may find some servant-leaders who crave getting together as children of God! Infiltrated! A new beginning!

What if you decide to offer four weeks of Christian parenting classes in a local community center? Once again, you publicize, recruit and bring a core group. Splash! Infiltration! What might God do?

What if you offer Bible study time in two area nursing homes? What if you bring your VBS to a neighborhood that needs a church presence? What if you start a Christian young adult gathering in an area of town that is new and growing? What if you reach back into an urban area with a weekday kids ministry or after school program or mother’s day out?

Do you get the idea? Splash! Infiltration! Seeds planted! Something may grow. Momentum has begun. The Spirit is at work.

Planting churches and expanding outreach means that you pay the price to send someone in so everything can change.

It’s the infiltration that God demonstrated in Jesus and shows us so clearly during this Holy Week.