If you’ve seen one dog and pony show, you’ve seen them all.  Yet every one claims to be different and unique and thus demands that you come and see.  But is there really any difference?  Is there really something unique?  This is a very real and important question that needs to be asked in regards to church planting.  The temptation for church planting today is to be novel, cutting-edge, totally unique and thus distinct from the “run-of-the-mill” church.  The temptation is to make yourself appealing to people based upon the uniqueness of your ideas and techniques.

Admittedly, there is much that goes on in church that is based in unbiblical traditions that could be and should be done away with.  Too many churches have gotten bogged down in, traditionalism, the promotion of preacher personality, and have been over run by what is little more than American Idol auditions.  In seeking to disassociate itself from these unbiblical traditions, many (too many) modern church plants inevitably go to the other extreme and ultimately do away with the most important, essential tradition of the church, namely the gospel itself. 

In our attempts to be different and unique and to make ourselves appealing to the “unchurched” or “anti-church” crowd we supplant the offense of the gospel with the appeal of our own self-perceived novel ideas.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is downplayed while our cutting edge techniques are lauded.  People are attracted, not to the cross of Christ that calls for repentance and self-denial, but to our unique forms of entertainment, self-fulfilling and self-appeasing programs.  So prevalent is this today that the irony is that the church that is really unique and different is the church that actually preaches Christ and Him crucified. 

Think about, if everyone is trying to be different and unique, no one is really different and unique.  Your dog and pony show may have a different time slot and may have different color dogs and ponies but once you’ve seen one show, you’ve seen them all. 

Yet, Christ has not called us to be different as much as He is calling us to be faithful.  Not faithful to unbiblical traditions, God forbid.  But we are to be faithful to the biblical tradition of preaching Christ and Christ crucified.  God does not need shows to bring people to faith.  The preaching of the Gospel has worked fine in the past, and by His grace and mercy continues to be sufficient. 

While everyone is clamoring to be different, the true difference today is not found in our technique or in our format, but in our message.  While most churches are trying to win the praise of people through entertaining methodology, the faithful church (and church plant) is desiring the favor of God through the proclamation of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  This is the real difference – even eternal difference – that gives praise to God, not our ingenuity and creativity with dogs and ponies.