The call to start a church

I have church planters frequently ask me how to know if you are called. The typical answer is some combination of: 1. I sense God calling me. 2. People tell me they think I would be good at starting a church. 3. I am passionate about evangelism. 4. I love the church and would rather raise children in a new church than raise the dead in an older one. 5. I have a history of starting things. 6. My mother thinks I could do this. 7. I did this monster church planting assessment process and scored really high.

All of this is helpful, but at the end of the day the calling comes down to one primary sine qua non. Do you have a bedrock passion from God to start a church? If you do not have this divine passion burning inside of you then forget it. Church starting is too hard, pays too little and has too many ups and downs for people who do not have this core passion at the center of their being. It is the source of strength and courage every church planter must have. Maybe this is what they mean when people say "He or she has a church planting gift."