The Conviction of a Replanter
Author: Brandon Sutton
To be an effective replanter, you must be a person of conviction. A conviction is more than an opinion; it’s a deeply held belief that moves you to act. It’s a truth so deeply rooted in your heart that you will not abandon, alter, or compromise it when the road gets hard.
Even well-meaning people will challenge your conviction that dying churches should be replanted. You’ll hear things like:
“You’re just a big church trying to take over small ones.”
“What about those people and their sense of identity?”
“Just plant new churches and let the stubborn ones die.”
“It’s too much work; focus on your own flock.”
This is where conviction must persevere through the noise. True conviction meets every objection with both grace and truth.
Here’s a simple but powerful syllogism that keeps the embers of conviction burning:
The gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16–17).
The church has been entrusted with the gospel (Matthew 16:19; 1 Timothy 3:15).
Therefore, the church is the hope of the world (Matthew 5:13–16).
It’s that straightforward. If Jesus is the only way of salvation (John 14:6), and the church is God’s appointed means of proclaiming Christ (Romans 10:10–14), then the church truly is the world’s only hope.
That’s why we must have healthy churches. And that’s why dying churches must be replanted. We don’t need fewer gospel-preaching churches—we need more. But this won’t happen without Christian men who possess unshakable convictions and are willing to lead the way.
