Note: This blog entry is part of a series on church planting. If you would like to see all entries that have been posted so far in this series, you can bring them up by doing a search for “church planting series” on this blog. You can also purchase the full 27 page Church Planter Coaching Guide, with multiple coaching questions for each subpoint, in the Logan Leadership store.
- How would you assess your overall spiritual health? What indicators are you using to evaluate that?
- How would you assess your relational health? What indicators are you using to do that?
- If you booked one hour with a spiritual director to talk freely and openly about your spirituality, what might God bring to the surface?
Engage with God through spiritual practices/b>
We all need to find ways to be proactive with our relationship with God– and those ways need to be ones that work for us. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and get creative. Think of as many different ways as possible to engage with God and list them.
Maintain healthy balance in all areas of life
Just like people need a healthy balance of rest and exercise to be physically healthy, we also need a healthy balance of how we spend our time in order to be mentally and spiritually healthy. That doesn’t necessarily mean spending equal amounts of time everywhere, but spending our time in a way that reflects our values. For one week, keep a tally sheet and mark one tally for each hour you spend in each of the following areas over the course of that week: God, alone, social, work, exercise, relaxation, ministry. What does the tally total at the end of the week tell you?
Spend quality time with spouse, family, and friends
Who do you spend your time with? Most church planters feel relationally stretched and it can be easy to begin taking much-needed time away from areas that feel stable– often relationships with family and friends. But when we take away time, those relationships begin to feel less and less stable. Planting a church to the detriment of your spouse, family, or friends is a dangerous undertaking. It will collapse eventually—guaranteed.
Seek out and establish healthy accountability
We all need two kinds of people in our lives: truth-tellers and grace-givers. Truth-tellers are people who aren’t afraid to get in our face and call our bluff. Grace-givers are those who don’t ignore sin, but show mercy and grace in the face of it. They remind us of Christ’s sacrifice for us. We need both kinds of people. And even more, we need people who are both grace-givers and truth-tellers—for these aren’t opposites, but complements.