After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few’” (Luke 10:1-2).

As a church planter who has been recently sent out by Jesus to prepare a place for Jesus, this passage of Scripture hits me in a fresh new way.

There seems at first appearance to be a contradiction of priorities. Jesus wants the 72 to go into every town and every place. But He wants them to go in pairs, and that’s where I struggle. After all, 72 people in pairs is only 36 teams. And since there are not a lot of workers, that means that only 36 towns can be ministered to at any one time.

Wouldn’t it be more efficient just to send out 72 individuals? I mean, wouldn’t that have meant twice as much ministry potential, and twice as many lives changed?

Everything changed for me when I invited people to share the burden for our city.

The math doesn’t make sense — unless you’ve planted a church. Because then you know that nothing of significance has ever been built by just one person. Jesus didn’t just want the 72 to go. He wanted them to be successful.

Jesus was sending a subtle message to the would-be missionaries: You can’t do this alone. Unfortunately, so many of us in the 21st century (me included) did not get the message.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, we church planters love people. We all want to reach people. And we’ve always known that you can’t have a church without them. But what I’m learning is an important and distinct variation of that truth: You can’t build a church without them.

My mistake was that I thought I was called to plant a church. I wasn’t. I was called to gather, lead and share life with a group of people who are called to plant a church. The calling is not mine alone.

Two by two. Everything changed for me when I let others in on the responsibility, sold some of my stock, and invited people to share the burden for our city. These individuals were not just team members; I had to let other pastors and leaders in as well.

I shared the stewardship of my church because it was not mine alone, and I found out later (through pain) that I could also share the stewardship of my soul. I invited other pastors and church planters in. And I left every encounter with my peers more encouraged and inspired to bring change.

In summary, whatever you do, don’t do it alone.