Article
Four Anchors for Growth and Health in Church Planting
Philippians 1 gives us four anchors that keep a planting team from drifting into either of the two ditches we all know too well: a mission without love or love without mission.
A few years ago, I sat at a Christmas dinner table with our elders, deacons, and their spouses—good men and women who had labored, sacrificed, and stayed steadfast in the work when it would’ve been easier to drift. We ate. We prayed. We laughed. We talked about burdens that some hadn’t said out loud yet. There was that rare kind of warmth that doesn’t come from “good chemistry,” but from shared scars and shared hope.
And because I was about to begin preaching Philippians in the new year, when I went home that night, I wrote something down that still feels like a needed reminder for planters:
The mission matters. So do the missionaries.
Philippians 1 gives us four anchors that keep a planting team from drifting into either of the two ditches we all know too well: a mission without love or love without mission.
- Gospel partnership
- Growing affection
- The good work out there
- The good work in here
If you’re planting, rebuilding, or leading a young church with a small team and big needs, Philippians 1 doesn’t just inspire you; it stabilizes you.
1. Gospel Partnership: More Than Shared Tasks, It’s Shared Life
Paul opens Philippians like a pastor who genuinely loves his people:
“I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” (1:3-5).
“Partnership” is more than teamwork. It’s more than “we serve at the same church.” It’s the deep conviction that God has bound our lives together around the gospel.
Church planters need this because the early years can subtly form a church around function instead of fellowship. You’re building systems, recruiting volunteers, raising money, solving problems, and trying to survive week-to-week. In that pressure, partnership can shrink into “Who’s doing what?” and “Did you get your piece done?”
But Paul’s partnership is thicker than a task list. It includes prayers, tears, generosity, suffering, and a shared “yes” to the mission of Jesus.
A church plant doesn’t need mere contributors. It needs partners. And if you’re the planter, you model partnership with your team first. You call people into meaningful ownership. You invite the church into the joy of sacrifice. You teach them that Christianity is not a spectator sport and church planting is not a product they consume. It’s an on-mission family they belong to.
When partnership is real, you can endure hard seasons without turning on each other. When partnership is thin, any stress fractures the team.
2. Growing Affection: Planting Requires More Than Strategy
One of the most striking lines in Philippians 1 is how emotionally present Paul is:
“For God is my witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus” (v. 8).
Notice what he does not say: “I appreciate your help.” Or, “Thanks for the offering.” Or, “Great job staying on mission.” He says, “I long for you.” And he roots that longing in the affection of Christ—not personality fit, not shared hobbies, not “we’re the kind of people who connect easily.” This is spiritual affection. Covenant affection. Gospel-formed love.
Planters, we talk a lot about vision, traction, clarity, systems, and culture. We should. But don’t miss this: a church plant can be strategically sound and relationally hollow. And when that happens, growth doesn’t heal it—growth exposes it.
Growing affection is not sentimentality. It’s not avoiding hard conversations. It’s not creating a vibe. Affection is what makes correction possible without collapse. Affection is what keeps leadership from becoming transactional. Affection is what helps a team fight the real enemy instead of each other.
Paul’s affection wasn’t abstract. He had people in mind. Stories. Names. Shared memories. He had real relationships with flesh-and-blood saints. If you want an honest diagnostic question for your plant or your core team, try this: Do we enjoy each other? Not perfectly. Not always. But genuinely. Is there warmth, honor, and gratitude? Or just efficiency and shared stress?
You can’t manufacture this affection. But you can cultivate it. You cultivate it by praying for people by name. By celebrating evidences of God’s grace. By assuming the best. By confronting quickly and humbly. By practicing honor publicly and privately. By refusing to let disappointment calcify into cynicism.
Churches don’t just need direction. They need devotion, both to Christ and to one another.
3. The Good Work Out There: The Mission Moves Forward Through Hard Things
Paul is writing Philippians from prison. And yet he says something shocking:
“Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel” (v. 12).
Paul doesn’t deny hardship. He interprets it. The mission is not fragile. It’s not at the mercy of your circumstances. Jesus is building His church, and He’s not wringing His hands over your limitations.
For church planters, this matters because we often assume the mission is most effective when everything is stable: the launch is strong, the finances are clean, the core team is unified, the kids ministry is staffed, the venue is perfect, the city is responsive, and our own hearts are rested. But Paul shows us a missionary mindset: even the painful chapters can become platforms for gospel advance.
Here’s the tension planters must hold: we plan wisely and we trust deeply. We work hard and we refuse panic. We pursue excellence, and we resist the lie that everything depends on us.
There’s also a subtle leadership warning here. Some planters only feel “on mission” when they’re preaching, recruiting, growing, or achieving. But Paul sees the mission advancing through conversations in confinement, through watching guards listen, through believers gaining courage, through gospel clarity in contested spaces.
If you’re planting, you need categories for faithful mission that aren’t limited to Sunday attendance. The mission advances when your people speak about Jesus at work. When they repent quickly in their marriages. When they endure suffering with hope. When they share the gospel with a neighbor. When they disciple one person deeply. When they give sacrificially. When they choose courageous obedience, even when it costs them socially.
The mission “out there” is not merely an event your church hosts. It’s the people God sends.
4. The Good Work In Here: Church Health Is Not a Luxury, It’s a Stewardship
Paul’s famous line is often quoted in isolation:
“He who has started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (v. 6).
We usually apply it individually. And that’s right. But don’t miss the corporate setting. Paul is talking to a church. God is doing a good work in them together.
And then Paul prays not for comfort or ease, but for depth:
“And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment … filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ” (vv. 9-11).
In other words, the mission can’t be separated from maturity. Gospel partnership can’t be separated from gospel formation. The “good work out there” can’t be separated from the “good work in here.”
Planters, hear this plainly: team health and church health are not distractions from the mission. They are part of the mission.
If the church grows but the leaders burn out, you didn’t win. If the church multiplies but marriages collapse, you didn’t win. If conversions rise but prayer dies, you didn’t win. If the church becomes “known” but love becomes thin, you didn’t win.
God cares about the holiness of His people and the love of His church because the church is not merely a vehicle for mission. The church is a display of the gospel. Jesus didn’t just save individuals; He is forming a people.
So yes, you should pursue growth. But you should pursue it in a way that produces “fruit of righteousness” and “sincere and blameless” lives—not exhausted volunteers, anxious leaders, and superficial discipleship. This is why healthy churches have rhythms. Not to feel “organized,” but to keep first things first. Word and prayer. Shepherding and discipline. Confession and reconciliation. Generosity and mission. Rest and resilience. Joy and endurance. It’s why elders must be more than a board, and deacons must be more than utility players. They are gifts from Jesus for the health of the body.
The good work “in here” is God making you a church that looks like Jesus.
Holding the Four Together
The danger is not that we’ll forget all four. The danger is that we’ll emphasize one or two and neglect the rest.
Some plants obsess over the mission “out there” and treat people “in here” like tools. They burn bright and burn out. Some plants love “in here” so much they stop reaching “out there.” They grow warm and grow inward. Some plants have “partnership,” but it’s built around personality and preference, not the gospel—so when pressure hits, it fractures. Some plants do “affection” but avoid truth and discernment, so love becomes vague, and discipleship becomes shallow.
Philippians 1 won’t let us choose. It calls us to hold all four—because that’s what a Jesus-shaped church looks like.
The mission matters. So do the missionaries. Because the mission is carried out by missionaries. And missionaries are formed through the mission. And both are sustained by the God who finishes what He starts.
A Closing Prayer for Planters and Their Churches
Lord Jesus, give us true gospel partnership—shared joy, shared burden, shared sacrifice, shared hope. Grow in us real affection, not manufactured connection, but the love of Christ that can endure disappointment and press toward unity. Advance the gospel “out there” through our weakness, through opposition, and through ordinary faithfulness. And do Your good work “in here,” making us a healthy, holy, discerning, fruitful people – filled with righteousness through You, for the glory and praise of God. In the strong name of Jesus, Amen.
