Multiplying Together
If I offered you two options for financial success, which would you choose? Would you choose to receive one penny today and double that each day for the next 30 days? So the second day you’d have two pennies and on day three you’d have four pennies and so forth. Or, would you rather receive 10,000.00 each day for thirty days?
Some people might say, “Go for the fast $10,000.00! He might run out of money!” And humanly speaking that would make sense. Besides, after only ten days, one person would have $5.12 and the other person would have 100,000.00! That seems like a no brainer. And that is probably why we don’t follow the Lord’s principle for discipleship in ministry.
A good math student knows that after thirty days, the person receiving the $10,000.00 each day will end up with $300,000.00, which seems like a sizeable amount and a good investment from any perspective. Yet, the person who received the penny and doubled each day would have $5,368,709.12. Yes, that’s over five million dollars!
Friends, that’s what happens when we disciple and multiply other people. Reach them with the gospel and then fulfill the Great Commission by discipling faithful people. Paul said it very well,“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”1 Do you see the four generations involved? The first generation is Paul and the second generation is Timothy. Then the third generation is “faithful men” and the fourth generation is “others” who are taught by the faithful men.
Jesus spent time with twelve men. He spent time with them. He taught them. He put them to work. He helped them practice what He was teaching them. After just a little over three years, they went out to disciple others – some more and some less, but they transformed the world! Multiplication always produces more fruit than addition.
The third statement of our Grace Church vision statement is “Multiply together to reach the world for Christ.” Jesus gave the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen” 2
If a believer discipled two people who then discipled two more people, then the number would climb slowly but multiply exceedingly! If they each discipled three or four then the potential for growth and impact would increase exponentially. Going back to the initial doubling illustration, after 30 generations there could be five million followers or disciples of Jesus Christ. My friends, we might not see the impact now but we will when we get to heaven!
Let me give you several thoughts on multiplying at Grace:
First, train your children to walk in godliness. They are your first responsibility and can effectively influence their world to come.
Secondly, train someone how to do your ministry. If you are ushering, ask someone to come alongside you to observe. If you are teaching, find an assistant who can watch you teach, so that you can entrust that class to them if the Lord leads you on to another opportunity.
Thirdly, help us reach out to your neighbors. If you know of someone who would like a visit, the outreach team is more than willing to go with you or make the visit. If they become believers, we can help them multiply by discipling them to godliness. Then they can, again with our help, become disciplers of disciplers!
Fourthly, become equipped to disciple others by being discipled yourself. Then begin discipling two or three other faithful people who will be able to disciple others.
There are many ways to serve Jesus Christ. The most fulfilling, in my view, is discipling people to take the next spiritual step to become disciplers of disciplers. Discipleship is multiplication, which produces more results than addition. As we assume personal responsibility for building in the kingdom, we will multiply and watch the exponential growth! Join the team and see the growth!
12Timothy 2:2; 2Matthew 28:19-20
Shepherding Truth 