How does the church multiply? (part 1)
So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
(Acts 9:31 ESV)
What would you think if I told you that you could be used of God to reach your school, place of work, family, city, state, nation and world for Christ? Would your mind immediately tell you that this is impossible as your heart beat with with some hopeful passion? Would you give me an ear...or in this case an eye?
Multiplication vs. Addition
Let's begin with the difference between addition and multiplication when it comes to evangelism. First, let us agree that anytime someone comes to faith in Christ this is awesome. However, there may be a "best" model to follow in our evangelistic plans and strategies. This is where multiplication, I believe, is a better way when it comes to discipleship and even numerical growth of the church. Let me explain. Here's two guys, Austin and Blake, who both love Jesus and want to be part of telling the world about their savior.
Austin is a guy who loves Jesus and wants to see people come to know him. He sets out every day to love people with his life and words. He makes it his goal, as far as it depends on him, that he will share the good news of Jesus each day until someone comes to faith. Austin knows that it is not within his power to save or convert anyone, but he believes that God draws men to himself primarily through gospel proclamation. Austin is also a fun-loving easy going guy that does not set out to pound people with all his insight and put them into a submission hold with his mind, but he genuinely loves them and respectfully shares the gospel with all it's bad news and all it's awesome news. He depends on the Holy Spirit to move as he obeys the commandment to preach the gospel. Over a years time, Austin only sees 100 people come to Christ. This does not discourage him because he knows that although it is his goal to share the good news of Jesus and see someone come to Christ each day does not mean that this will happen. He trusts the Lord on the days people come to Jesus and he trusts the Lord on the days they don't. After these friends, strangers and family members come to Jesus he gives them a bible and encourages them to find a good local church, be baptized and begin reading God's Word. He even calls each of them on there spiritual birthdays to check up on them and let them know that he prays for them. He sees many of them at his church and he makes a point to speak to them each time he sees them. He is close with some of them and they have good fellowship with one another.
Blake is a guy who loves Jesus and wants to see people come to know him. He sets out each day to be a light in the world and share the gospel with his live and his words. He desires to make the most of every opportunity to share the gospel as he prays for two or three guys to profess faith so he can begin teaching them one on one about how to know Gods Word, share their faith, spend quality time in encouraging fellowship, and how to pray. When someone comes to faith, his passions to share the gospel does not diminish but his additional responsibility begins to weigh on him. How can he be about sharing the gospel and give his time also training his new brothers in the faith? Yes he can do both, but thinking for himself and another is a pretty heavy load. He knows that Jesus himself was about proclaiming the good news and taught his disciples to do the same. He also wisely sees that Jesus was the Son of God and saw fit to spend time mainly with twelve guys, therefore there must be a reason for this. He sets out to have a ministry of multiplication rather than addition. At the root, he believes that in the long run if he disciples the guys he leads to the Lord, and other Christian guys that want and need training, he will reach more people with the gospel of Christ than if he led a 100 people to Christ each year hoping that they would receive training from someone else. With this said, Blake is all about the church, the body of Christ, and encourages his disciples to be active learners, servants, and protectors of the church. He does not avoid the church and do his own thing, he disciples these men in the context of a loving body of believers.
Both guys love Jesus, but Blake is taking the path of discipleship evangelism in which we see modeled by Jesus.
Math
Each year Austin see 100 people come to Christ and points them to a great church etc. Blake leads two people to Christ and begins discipling them, those disciples see the need to evangelize and disciple and they set out to do the same thing. The first year Blake sees two guys come to Jesus, then the next year those two each see two guys come to Christ...and on and on. Austin's numbers represent 100 a year and Blake's represent 2 guys coming to faith with each believer. X2 + themselves.
Year Austin Blake
1 100 2+Blake=3 guys sharing their faith
2 200 9
3 300 27
4 400 81
5 500 243 (Blake's discipling 10 guys)
6 600 729
7 700 2,187
This is to show that multiplication will always trump addition and in this case will leave new converts trained and equipped to fight the good fight of faith. This equation is somewhat misleading because most Austin's and Blake's of the world using both methods know that they are not guaranteed to see anyone come to faith each year. The point is mainly to help us see the importance of life on life discipleship and it's deeper lasting impact.
But wait!
Often in discipleship centered churches and ministries there is a heavy focus on the method of multiplication with all it's training. So many things become the main thing. It may be leadership training, theology training and many books that deal with humility all the way to being a person of vision. We seek to master the way of the Master and spend great deals of time working on our presentations and observations about the culture we live in. We have retreats for men that focus on how to be a real man, and retreat for women on how to be a real woman of faith. We unintentionally even start dressing and talking the same. In addition and multiplying ministries the main thing can become the most popular book, musician, pastor or sermon. These things are not bad in and of themselves but should not be the main thing. They should support the main thing or really...they should be about the main One.
And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. Acts 9:31
I read and was filled with joy this past April by these words! I believe that these words of scripture and the power behind them gets overlooked often within driven disciple-making ministries. Notice I say often and not always. Deep down we know we are to depend on God but this "fearing the Lord and Holy Spirit comfort" language in not that common. You can't really draw out a neat little Math chart for this one. I read this with joy because it revealed to me where power in discipling men really comes from that results in multiplication.
What I am getting at is that there must be an underlying motivating faith factor that empowers our methods and I believe that Acts 9 gives this to us. Our methods must be about God and less about things we do to see fruit. In other words, multiplication cannot be our primary goal and drive, God himself is to be our goal, drive and passion.
More on this in "How does the church multiply?" (Part 2)
Any thoughts?
The danger of receiving rewards now.
As believers we know that our goal is to not make much of ourselves but to make much of Jesus. At the root of all sin is this desire to be independent from God and live for our own glory. Or to put it another way, at the root of all sin is a belief that we know better than the creator of the world and would prefer to live by our own standards for our own glory. We truly are a me and we generation. We are quick to point out in our churches and ministries that we are very self-centered, we think the opposite of that is to be we-centered or community centered. If I can't have it my way as an individual maybe I can find a group of people that want to have it the same way I do and call it good. Regardless of how we flesh our sin out, individually or corporately, this is not my main thoughts today. The bottom line is that we are to be about lifting up God's name and living according to his kingdom, not lifting up our names and living according to our kingdoms.
We see in Matthew 6:1-6 that the desire and goal of many as they give to the needy and pray is to be seen by others. God says that they receive their reward! What is their reward? They wanted people to see them, and that is what happened. They want to use the world and people to make them feel special and important by looking spiritual and together.
But, for the believers our reward is not received now, but later. Yes, we have Jesus now and this is enough right. Right, but we long to have and know him in full and this will happen when we see him face to face on that great day of death. Just like we know that our sin has been dealt with, we long for the day where we sin no longer. Reward is always a strange thing for me to grasp. What can I possibly do in and of myself to deserve a reward? I don't think I will ever receive a reward or crown on my own. I also don't think that as a body of believers in great community we can achieve this future reward either...that we would be able to look to Jesus together and say hey look how we lived...give us our reward. But, I do believe that Jesus has earned the reward for us and as we individually and corporately live in faith by grace according to his kingdom rules we will, because of Jesus, certainly one day receive this reward. I personally think that this reward is seeing our savior individually and as a community.
The immediate and fading reward for the self-righteous was being seen. They receive "their" reward.
The prolonged and eternal reward for the believer is seeing Jesus face to face. I may be pushing this too far but...we receive reward...the word here does not say "your" reward.
The world is but provision for the saints, it is their spending money; but it is pay to hypocrites, it is their portion. Matthew Henry
The drive for the self-righteous is our name, fame, kingdoms, and agendas.
The drive for the righteous in Jesus is God's name, fame, kingdom, authority and agenda.
The self-righteous receive the reward of being seen but miss seeing Jesus for eternity.
The believer may miss the applause of men but will clap their hands forever with joy.
As I pray, I am to see how much of a privileged it is that the magnificent one is my Father. I pray out of a need to know him and see him more. I pray to ask him for everything I need to minister and love those around me. I pray, not so others can see me and know me more. Prayers create movement. My prayers do not move God's hand but God moves my hands away from "my crown" and leads me to depend on him to work for his name's sake in all my relationships. True prayer is at the core a stepping away from self and a resting in God's promises by talking to him about them, him, and everything else.
Practical questions for me.
How do I use this blog, social media, and my life? Do I use it for his name and kingdom or mine? Do I use it to love myself or love others? I'm I more concerned with how many hits I receive per post than I am for possibly encouraging someone? When someone stops following me on twitter do I feel like my empire is shrinking or am I content with being encouraged by those I am following and hopefully encourage my "followers".
Unfortunately, in some circles foreign missionaries are considered to be high up on the holy ladder...right under the VBS directors who are on top...sorry that was bad. Those of us on the foreign field know the truth full well...we are losers saved by grace in Christ. But, I often forget this and desire for others to see me for my sake? I did not have to deal with this as much as a youth pastor because we are automatically humbled right when we visit someone in the hospital and they ask for one of the "real pastors." As youth pastors we also try to fight for our name, glory and kingdoms but often from a bottom up proving kind of way. My point here is that all the proving we do for the sake of earthy reward is stupid. My reward from others as a missionary is received now...we are praised often. How do I receive this? We are to encourage one another, but I should always be aware of the traps of vain-glory. My worth is not based on how much praise I receive or do not receive from man. With all that said, encourage your church's youth pastor today. Don't worry, if they were in it for the praise of adults they would have checked out after the first month. Our problems as youth pastors in this area is often a need to feel important from the students and our pastor and co-workers...that is another post for another time.
How do we love other churches and ministries well in light of this? Sometimes I wish churches would just say what they are really trying to say. "Our kingdom over here is better than all other church kingdoms out there. We do things better, other ministries are really stupid." "Did you come from a bad church, welcome...ours is good". I know that is silly, but it only takes a minute to see how self focused a church or ministry is. I have been and am guilty of this. Right doctrine, thoughts, values, leadership structure and right methods do not make one right with God. We are to always point to him and live according to his kingdom rules. As we do, we will display love to the world and other churches, not pride.
How do I love my family according to this? This is where I believe my name and kingdom building shows up the clearest. May I love my wife and daughter more than myself. May I find my worth not in their approval...that I so long for...but may I find my worth in Jesus. Once I am freed from depending on being loved well by my family and once I see that I am completely love by God I can then live for his name and kingdom in my home. This will free me to love well!
May God's name be hallowed not mine nor ours.
Leaving Organized Religion to Organize My Own
Why We Love the Church. In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion by Ted Kluck and Kevin DeYoung
Have you ever read a book that you know is important but it's not where you are in life? Well this book was like that for me. I made myself finish it, not because it was not good, but because the contents are not directly related to me here in Thailand, or at least our church in Khon Kaen in 2009. However, I was glad to receive their point of view. I was rebuked in some areas and I am glad for that.
If you are looking for a book to add some balance to all the books on why some people are leaving the church (the organized church) then this book is for you. Another title could have been Why 'They' Don't Love the Church. Are you cynical and jaded and just fed up with the way people are "doing" or "having" church? Would you rather just hang out with your favorite buddy at Starbucks or the local golf coarse or family deer stand and maybe talk about Jesus and call it church? Do you find that you are constantly critical of the music, the preaching, the music, the lack of evangelism, discipleship, and community involvement of your church, and the music? Actually, they don't write too much about the music. We will leave the worship wars to the musicians and choir members and sneak off to Sunday school, small groups, or lunch and talk about how we need Jesus which will lead to worship, or at least the big game from the day before. Are you tired of your pastor wanting to talk about doctrine, sin, and holiness? Do you wish your pastor was? Kluck and DeYoung have devoured so many books written by the disgruntled camp and have written a response (at least that's the way I read it). I did find myself growing tired of the constant responding, but that is what they were purposely doing. I was desiring a read on why we should love the church more than why some don't with their valid issues but improper application to them. With that said, this book has a place in many circles and is a great read/tool for the debate. If you are desiring to read a book that is not reactive this is not for you. As a matter of fact, if you just became aware that some people are writing books encouraging people to leave their churches and how most churches are just bad, then this book is not for you. Don't even get your mind thinking on these things(at least past this post, sorry).
But, if you are a professing Christian and if you find yourself not wanting to gather with a body of believers for worship, discipleship, preaching, good works, missions, discipline and fellowship-- whether it be in a huge building or in your living room, then walk yourself through this book with humility due to the possibility that something could indeed be in need of perspective shifting within your "if I ruled the world" thinking. Maybe only my college room-mate and I would speak in ways of how everything should be. These times would often end with "if we ruled the world" as we smiled, regained some reality and went to the GC&SU Chic-fil-a to start it all back up again or just laugh. I still do this...do you Shane (say "if I ruled the world", not go to Chic-fil-a at GC&SU)? Funny thing is, as I have gotten older I am glad I don't rule the world, I will be satisfied if I can just serve and lead my family well.
I would encourage all pastors to read this. There are many things for the church to learn from the debate.
I think they should have defined "religion" earlier than later in the book for clarity. Maybe they did.
If you are confused with the title of this post, I am not talking about me.
Endorsements from guys much smarter than I or me.
“An attitude of indifference to the church has become tragically common within American Christianity. As a result, many people fail to make a solid commitment to congregational life and responsibility. The New Testament is clear – to love Christ is to love the church. Kevin and Ted provide a powerful word of correction, offering compelling arguments and a vision of church life that is not only convincing, but inspirational. This book will deepen your love of the church – and for Christ.”
R. Albert Mohler, President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“If you’ve written off the church, I dare you to read this book.”
Joshua Harris, author of Stop Dating the Church
“Jesus loves the church. Yes, the church is imperfect, and we have made mistakes. But if we love Jesus, then we will love what Jesus loves. This book moves us to a thrilling portrait and future of what the church that Jesus loves and builds can look like and the hope we can bring to the world.”
Dan Kimball, author of They Like Jesus But Not the Church
“Well, they’ve done it again. The two guys who should be emergent, but aren’t, have followed up their first best seller with what I hope and pray will be a second. In Why We Love the Church DeYoung and Kluck have given us a penetrating critique of church-less Christianity and a theologically rigorous, thoroughly biblical, occasionally hilarious, but equally serious defense of the centrality of the church in God’s redemptive purpose. In spite of her obvious flaws, DeYoung and Kluck really do love the church, because they love the Christ whose body it is. You don’t have to agree with everything they say to appreciate and profit from this superbly written and carefully constructed book. This is a great read and I recommend it with unbridled enthusiasm.”
Sam Storms, senior pastor, Bridgway Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
“If you’re looking for reality, authenticity, and honesty, you’ve found it in this book. Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck, shrewd observers and faithful practitioners, have once again written a book that is like the best of foods – good tasting and good for you. Their style is easy, creative, and funny. They are theologically faithful, fresh, and insightful. They are sympathetic with many concerns and even objections to much in the church today, yet are finally defensive, in the best sense of the word. They are careful critics of the too-popular critics of the church. They are lovers of Christ and His church. I pray this book will help you love Christ’s church better, too.”
Mark Dever, author of 9 Marks of a Healthy Church
“Two young men, a pastor and a layman, here critique the criticisms of the institutional church that are fashionable today. Bible-centered, God-centered, and demonstrably mature, they win the argument hands down. As I read, I wanted to stand up and cheer.”
J. I. Packer, professor of Theology , Regent College
“If Jesus thought the church was worth dying for, it may just be worth living in. While not ignoring the sins of the church, DeYoung and Kluck remind us why church bashing is often shallow, and why the institutional church remains the most authentic place to encounter the good news of Jesus Christ.”
Mark Galli, senior managing editor, Christianity Today
