by Alan Rathbun
Eastern PA District Team
I love words. Maybe I love words too much. To me, there is something beautiful about creating a great combination of words that clarify important ideas for others in a memorable way.
When we think of gospel multiplication, there are essential ideas about which we must have clarity and which we must keep at the forefront of our minds. Concise and precise words keep these ideas from slipping into the background of our ministry thinking. Clear words help us partner with Jesus in His mission. My prayer is that the words and ideas below give you clarity for fruitfulness in His mission.
First, “Gospel multiplication is biblical, central and doable.” If we do not believe these three words describe gospel multiplication, we will hesitate to pursue it. God is a generous God who has sought to multiply His glory, goodness and life in the world since creation. Jesus’ mission of making disciples who receive and live in the new life He has brought is God’s plan for restoring and multiplying His goodness and glory in the world. Since the Gospel is a fruit-bearing seed, it’s normal for gospel-preaching, disciple-making churches to not only add, but also to multiply disciples, ministries and churches. Multiplication is biblical and it is central to the whole story of God. With the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, it is also doable.
Second, “Equipping is the foundation of multiplication.” To see increasing gospel impact and ongoing multiplication, we need to discover, develop, and deploy leaders from within our congregations. We can’t just look to Bible colleges, Christian colleges and seminaries for future leaders. We bless people when we invite them to serve in Jesus’ mission and equip them to serve with joy and fruitfulness. We bless them when we invite them into increasing leadership roles and utilize opportunities like MSP, LEAD, and other online training to help them follow God’s call on their lives.
Third, “Cooperation energizes multiplication.” Gospel-shaped disciples and churches multiply in a greater way when we have regional, like-minded networks of churches working together for the sake of multiplication in their region. When Paul left Titus behind for ministry on the island of liars, evil brutes and lazy gluttons, otherwise known as Crete, he gave Titus the responsibility to appoint elders in every town. Why? Because Paul wanted the grace of God that brings salvation to be multiplied to all the liars, brutes and gluttons.
Fourth, “There are not enough gospel-preaching, disciple-making churches in Eastern PA.” There may be plenty of church buildings, but there are not enough churches engaged in God’s saving and disciple-making mission. We do NOT have enough gospel-preaching, disciple-making congregations! We must affirm Jesus’ declaration that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. We need all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people.
Fifth, “Sending is more important than seating.” Jesus didn’t die so we could attend services. He was sent by the Father and He has sent us to bring His saving and transforming truth to the world. If we evaluate our churches by attendance, we will only get attenders. If we evaluate our ministry by people who are equipped and sent, we will make disciples and see increasing gospel impact. Hopefully this season of pandemic and polarization has helped us see our need to be renewed and refocused on Jesus’ disciple-making mission
Finally, “We talk about what we care about.” It’s time for us to admit that sharing and showing the good news of Jesus has not been normal for people in our congregations. While there may be many reasons for this, chief among them is that people do not fully believe that family, friends and coworkers need Jesus more than anything else, nor do they believe Jesus’ words that the harvest is plentiful. To see increasing gospel impact, we need to help our Eastern PA Alliance people understand the gospel fully, believe the gospel whole-heartedly, and proclaim the gospel confidently and joyfully.
May the Lord give us an overflowing abundance of His grace to let these ideas determine the desire and direction of our ministries and may we discover the joy of fruitful mission with Jesus.