Church Planting or Church Splitting?

I'm doing a series on the Great Commission and church planting in our Adult Bible Fellowship class. During the first session, I asked some diagnostic questions of our members and attenders.

Here's one: How many of you have been in a church that has carefully planned and executed a church plant in a neighboring community? I clarified that what I meant was not whether you were personally involved in a plant, but were in a church that did a plant, no matter what your role was.

The answer was a show of a few hands.

The follow-up question: How many of you have been involved in a church that has split into two or more churches?

The answer was a show of many hands—far outnumbering those who have been in a church that did a plant.

I know my study was totally unscientific, but it does represent the reality of the saints in our church. I suspect it represents the situation of many believers in many churches across our land.

Now a question for you: why are things like this?