Last week, we said, "If a very small number were committed to following Jesus' disciple-making strategy, they could quickly make a breath-taking, even world changing, difference." 100 laborers could see a harvest of over a billion within the span of a single generation. (See the Nov. 30 post for details.) But the absence of such a movement betrays the church's failure. Despite the fact that millions attend church every Sunday, we can't seem to muster a mere 100 to do the job.
There are two kinds of oak trees surrounding my house. The young oak trees do not have acorns. All their energy is focused upon "personal growth." But there comes a time of transition, a time when the viability of an individual tree is no longer so tenuous. When the tree becomes "mature," it produces acorns, those amazing chemical and data packages by which a single oak tree can produce a forest. The church is incapable of breath-taking progress when its energies are focused on growing oaks without acorns.
What does a "mature oak" Christian look like? He understands the reflexive logic of this simple command from Jesus: "Make disciples . . . teaching them to observe all that I have commended." Being a disciple of Jesus means observing all that Jesus has commanded. But "make disciples" is a command. So observing all that Jesus has commanded means obeying the command to make disciples.
This reflexive logic applies to the new disciples made by this "mature oak" Christian. He is not to produce sterile trees whose only end is "personal growth." He produces disciples who observe all that Jesus has commanded, including His command to make disciples. "Mature oak" disciples are MAKERS OF DISCIPLE-MAKERS just as mature oaks are makers of forest makers.
The church will not spawn a movement until it does two things. First it must help disciples see that "personal growth" is not the destination but an important leg of the journey. An oak and a disciple must never stop growing, but there comes a time to start reproducing. The church must help disciples become disciple-makers. Second, the church must help these disciple-makers to produce nothing less than more disciple makers. If 100 disciples produced 77 more disciple-makers in the span of a single generation, there would 1.7 billion more souls saved. THAT'S A MOVEMENT!
This article is profound. We must be intentional and strategic. Sadly, most church goers are content to merely focus on personal growth, if that. I'm content to go with the "goers" no matter how small or unimpressive that group may appear to be. I'm convinced God would delight to use a Gideon-size band of brothers. Time is short; let's go!
Posted by: RLF | December 04, 2007 at 12:02 AM