This post originally appreared on Justin Buzzard's blog.

At our informational meeting for Garden City Church I shared a list: The Top 10 Reasons Why People Should Not Join our church plant.

1.  If you’re looking for the next cool thing in town (We want to grow by conversion growth, not church-goer transfer growth).

2.  If you’re a Christian and you don’t like your current church (You will find reasons to not like this church).

3.  If you have a bad track record at churches of being unteachable and causing problems (You won’t change here, you’ll repeat the pattern).

4.  If you’re a consumer wanting to “go to church” 1x a week for a nice show (We are not a Sunday show, we are a community of disciples on a mission).

5.  If you want religion (This church will be built on the radical gospel of grace).

6.  If you have an agenda (We have our vision, our mission, and our values—your private agenda does not supercede them).

7.  If you’re a wolf (We will sniff you out).

8.  If you think this will be a nice little church that stays the same size, where everybody knows your name and you have my cell number on speed dial and we have a picnic lunch together every week (By God’s grace, we want to grow).

9.  If you think this will be easy and smooth (This will be hard and difficult; this will be a fight, a battle, and a challenging mission).

10. If you want to hold onto your comfortable life (You must lose your life).

I also shared a quote from Sir Ernest Shackleton, from the advertisement he used when recruiting men for his expedition to Antarctica in 1914:

Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.