What Is Discipleship Multiplication?
One thing we as Christ-followers can be clear on is that two thousand years ago, Jesus called us to “make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19-20) We’re clear on the mission, but we’re not always clear on how to accomplish it. The best way to accomplish the mission of making disciples is to multiply disciples, but I do not believe many christians and churches are clear on what multiplication actually means.
If you think about it, the Church can make disciples through addition or through multiplication. I even know a few churches that are trying to make disciples by subtraction and division. That’s another blog!
One of the best ways to describe the difference between adding and multiplying disciples is like this: if you make disciples, that is addition. If you make disciples who make more disciples, that is multiplication.
Without question, Jesus made disciples. He spent approximately three years training twelve men and then He commissioned them to go out and reproduce the process with others. Jesus’ disciples started making more disciples in the Church in Jerusalem following His ascension, and that movement has never stopped. Whether or not it is still a movement of multiplication is debatable, but the movement is still growing.
Jesus started the Church to be a movement of multiplication so that the Church would grow exponentially. In order for the Church to even keep up with the population growth of the planet, it would have to do more than add disciples. If the Church is only a movement of addition, it will never keep up with the population of the world, and we will not be able to accomplish the mission of making disciples.
So what is the answer? How do we get the Church back on track with Jesus’ original mission? Here are two suggestions.
1. We need as many disciples as possible to start prioritizing making multiplying disciples.
That means you! Chances are good that if you are reading my blog you are a disciple maker or want to be a disciple maker. Here is the million dollar question: are you currently investing in a handful of disciples? If you are not, start investing in disciples around you.
2. We need as many churches as possible to become Disciple Making Churches.
A church with a discipleship program is not the same as a Disciple Making Church. We need churches that are invested in helping untrained seekers become fully trained disciples who are sent out into the world to multiply disciples. That doesn’t not happen automatically. A church needs a plan and a strategy to make that mission a reality.
By Ken Adams
Used by permission. Originally posted here:
