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Tally HO The Fox! Chapter 6 God’s Multiplication
Table II Timothy 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among
many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to
teach others also. 2
Timothy 2:2 The
great spiritual blast-off stimulated by the Day of Pentecost was
underway. The early church was about
to be propelled by the force of that blast-off to the ends of the world of
its day. Peter had just concluded his
sermon, explaining the Gospel of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus and the
coming of the Holy Spirit; and verse 41 of Acts 2 says, "Then they that
gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added
into them about three thousand souls."
Pretty prolific addition! No pastor
on earth would be anything but elated over the conversion of 3000 people in
one day after he had preached the Gospel.
Give special note to the word "added." The same word recurs in verse 47 of the
same chapter. Scan verses 42 through
47a, then hear this sentence: "And the Lord added to the church daily
such as should be saved." Note
again the word "added." Now
turn to Acts 5:14. The tragic story of
the sin and judgment of Ananias and Sapphira has just been recorded. Verse 13 says, "And the rest dared no
man join himself to them: but the people magnified them." How would you like to belong to a church
that is so spiritually powerful that people are actually afraid to join it? But verse 14 said, "And believers were
the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women." The "adding machine" has broken
down! They can't number them any
longer because so many are being added to the Lord. Now
notice a significant change. In
chapter six, God's mathematical strategy of growth for the early church
apparently accelerates. In verse one
we read, "And in those days, when the number of the disciples was
MULTIPLIED, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews,
because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration." The proper "M and M" order is
"multiplied," "ministration," and
"murmuring." When members
multiply a church, additional ministries must follow, both to provide for
them and to employ them; and as surely as daylight follows darkness,
murmuring will follow multiplication.
It is part of the territory that more people will always mean
more problems. After all,
aren't you a problem of one kind or another? Note
the nature of the problem. A daily
"deaconing" (the word translated "ministration") took
place to distribute food, supplies, and money to the vast number of new
Christians who had come under immediate economic stress and social ostracism
because of their faith in Christ. The
"Grecians" were Hellenized, Greek-speaking Jews who had been born
outside of So
the murmuring arose (reasonably) from the minority group as a protest against
their widows being neglected in the daily distribution of goods. "The majority was taking care of
itself to the abuse and neglect of the minority," they said. To take care of the problem, the Apostles
appointed seven men, all with Greek-speaking names. This is sensible, isn't it? To solve the problem and stifle the protests,
men from the ranks of the murmuring party were appointed to supervise the
distribution of goods. The problem was
solved, "and the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples
MULTIPLIED in In
chapter 9, the acceleration continues.
Chapter nine records the conversion story of the greatest of all
Christians, Saul of Tarsus. When the
turmoil over his conversion and early preaching had subsided, we read in
verse 31, "Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee
and The
answer may be fairly seen by attending almost any pastor's conference in the On
the day Noah's ark landed after the flood, the animals were emerging from the
ark in a spirit of great celebration.
All, that is, except two—a pair of snakes. As they came out of the ark, they were
weeping heartbrokenly. Noah said,
"What's going on? Don't you know
that this is the greatest day in world history? Why are you weeping while everyone else is
celebrating?" One of the snakes
sadly answered, "We're sad because you told us to multiply—and we're
ADDERS!" That silly story points
to a great tragedy in the Christian community. God has called us to multiply, and we have
tragically reduced ourselves into mere adders. The magnitude of this tragedy cannot be
measured. We
must not underestimate the value and importance of additions (conversions) to
the Christian community, but we must force ourselves to face a tragic error
in our procedures if the additions do not become catalysts for multiplication
in the total Christian world community. The
only marching orders Jesus ever gave His church is called the Great
Commission. There are seven verb forms
in that Commission, but only one of them is a command. There is only one strong imperative,
only one command, in the Great Commission! The verb is translated "teach" in
the KJV, but it is again apparent that somebody is hiding something from
us. The verb means much, much more
than mere teaching! The verb means to
"make disciples," or "turn men into disciples." We need to immediately stop asking,
"How many decisions did you have?" and begin asking,
"How many disciples are you building?" The
early church multiplied by using the standard and the procedure patterned
perfectly in the three-year public ministry of Jesus with His twelve
apostles. He was the original
disciple-maker, and the procedure He followed must be examined, studied,
mastered, and copied by us if we are to reproduce reproducers as He
did. I personally do not believe an
individual can be a disciple without also being a disciple-maker. Our obedience to His Lordship necessarily
includes a priority in the fulfillment of His Great Commission. I believe disciple-making is built into the
contract of being a disciple. If one
is a New Testament disciple, he will necessarily be a disciple-maker. The PROFILE of a Multiplying Disciple Now turn to Second Timothy, chapter 2. In Second Timothy 2, we find seven great
pictures of a disciple, and a great presentation of God's
"multiplication table."
First, the profile of a disciple.
Each of the seven supplies a part of the portrait or picture of a New
Testament disciple. 1. A "Son" First, a New Testament disciple is a
"son" (verse one). He is a
son of God by a birth from above; but here, he is the spiritual son of the
believer who led him to Christ. Paul
called Timothy "my son," because he had led him to Christ. Paul had come to the town where Timothy
lived on one of his missionary journeys.
He found a family which included two great Old Testament students, a
grandmother named Lois, and a mother named Eunice (II Tim. 1:5). Eunice had a hybrid son (his father was a Greek)
named Timothy. When Paul found how
well-taught the boy was in the Bible, he easily led him to Christ. As he began to disciple him, he saw an
apparent spiritual potential in the boy that was very exceptional. When Paul left to continue his missionary
journey, he encouraged the boy to continue his walk with Jesus. Paul promised to pray for him daily, and
also promised that he would return when possible. Sometime later, on another missionary journey,
Paul did return to Timothy's town.
When he checked on the young boy, his fondest dreams were
realized. The boy had grown beyond
Paul's expectation spiritually. When
Paul was ready to leave, he said, "Timothy, how would you like to make a
trip with me?" Timothy was aghast. "Me?
With you?"
"Yes," Paul replied, "a trip with me." "What will we do?" "You watch me, pray for me, and we'll
talk at night." When you are a
visionary Christian, that is disciple-making! What does a good son do? He learns from his parent, loves his
parent, obeys his parent, and extends the family traits. And so does a spiritual son. 2. A "Soldier" Second, a New Testament disciple is a
"soldier." "Thou
therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this
life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." What does a good soldier do? He abandons all of his own plans and
purposes to fulfill the duty assigned him.
He trains with great discipline and effort. He defends the interest of his
homeland. He fights when it is
necessary. In short, he is ready for
struggle and sacrifice, which are essential if he is to fulfill his
assignment. Captain beloved, battle wounds were Thine, Let me not wonder if some hurts be mine. Rather, O Lord, let my deep wonder be, That I may share a battle wound with Thee. 3. An "Athlete" Third, a New Testament disciple is like an
"athlete." Verse 5 says,
"And if a man also strive for masteries [competes to win] yet is he not
crowned, except he strive lawfully."
It has been estimated that there are more than 50 references in the
New Testament to athletics. What does
a good athlete do? He applies himself
totally to his sport, trains rigorously and steadily, masters the required
skills, strives for mental discipline as well as physical, and does his best
to excel. A Christian disciple will do
no less in following Christ. 4. A "Husbandman" Fourth, a New Testament disciple is pictured as a
"husbandman," or a farmer (verse 6). What does a good farmer do? He labors, he breaks up the soil, he sows seed,
he cultivates, and he reaps the crop.
All of these activities have evident counterparts in the spiritual
exercise of being a disciple and making disciples. 5. A "Workman" Fifth, a New Testament disciple is a
"workman" (verse 15), and a specialized workman at that. He is to be "a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." In order to do this, he must "study to
shew himself approved unto God."
As Christian disciples, we are here to labor and not to loaf. 6. A "Vessel" Sixth, a New Testament disciple is a
"vessel" (verses 20-21).
What is a vessel? A vessel is a
hollow object intended to contain something or someone. As Christians, we are intended to contain
and convey the very life of Christ Himself.
What does a good vessel do? It
sits on its master's shelf, empty and available, and waits for him to fill it
if he wishes. The Christian disciple
never has to wonder whether his Master wants to fill him or not. Ephesians 5:18 commands him to “be filled
with the Spirit.” When it is filled,
it waits for him to pour it out. It
simply waits for him to employ it as vessels are normally used. So should it be with a Christian disciple. 7. A "Servant" Finally, a New Testament disciple is a
"servant," or bondslave (verse 24).
A bond-slave has no will of his own, no schedule of his own, no rights
of his own, and no property of his own.
He is completely at his master's disposal. However, he is not lacking in
resources. His master's checkbook
endows any assignment the slave may receive.
And so it is with a Christian disciple. The PROCEDURE for Multiplying Disciples Now, having seen the profile of a disciple, as
presented in 2 Timothy 2, let's examine the procedure for multiplying
disciples. I call it "God's multiplication
table." It is recorded in verse
2, where Paul said to Timothy, "And the things that thou hast heard of
me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be
able to teach others also."
Notice that there are four generations of disciples in this one
verse: "Me . . . thou . . .
faithful men . . . others also."
The process of multiplication in this verse can be diagramed like
this: è Others è Faithful Men è Others è Others
Paul è
Timothy è Faithful Men è Others è Others
è Faithful Men
è Others è Others You get the impression
that the process is like a widening funnel, with the little end being where
Paul and Timothy stand. Everything
begins with "me" and "thou," Paul and Timothy, and this
association indicates two crucial things about disciple-making: (1) The importance of the individual, and (2) The importance of positive relationships. Take away either of the
two initial individuals, Paul or Timothy, and the process collapses at its
inception. No multiplication can occur
without a solid integer at the beginning—and others to relate to. Both Paul and Timothy
must each be of a certain quality and commitment as disciples if
multiplication is to happen. Then, they
must be related to each other in a winsome, open, trustworthy way. How the church needs to extensively explore
and apply relational theology! This is
an entire universe that generally is hardly touched in the church at
large. If Paul and Timothy had not had
a relationship based on trust and availability, the chain would have broken
as the first links were being forged.
But, happily for us and all future generations, Paul was a winsome,
attractive, disarming ambassador for Christ; and Timothy was an available,
teachable, faithful disciple. 1. How does the process reach a disciple? A question arises: How did Paul "get it across" to
Timothy? How did the process reach
Timothy? How did Paul's contagion
spread to him so that he himself became contagious with it? Paul said, "The things that thou has heard
of me . . . ." Is it merely a
matter of hearing? Is the
curriculum merely academic concepts, or philosophical ideas, which may be
classroom taught from one generation to the next? Hardly!
What does "hearing" mean in the New Testament? Why is hearing singled out to picture
spiritual intake instead of seeing, or smelling, or tasting, or
touching? Indeed, there are spiritual
counterparts to each of these physical senses. Then why is hearing singled out? Could it be because hearing is the sense by
which objective reality goes most directly to the inner being? In every other sensory intake, a
translation is necessary. Sight
(visual images) must be translated to ideas and thoughts to reach the inner being. The same is true of touch, smell, and
taste. But in hearing, the most direct
communication occurs. So "faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by the word (hrema, a vital, lovingly
addressed word) of God." 2. What does the process of hearing entail? In the process of
disciple-making, just what does this all-inclusive "hearing"
entail? Two verses in 2 Timothy 3 give
us a clue (verses 10 and 11). Paul
wrote, "Thou hast fully known (Paul lived a
perfectly transparent life with Timothy;
transparency . . . transmission . . . transformation, that's the
order) my doctrine (teachings), manner of life (lifestyle), purpose,
faith (actually, faithfulness or fidelity), longsuffering (ability
to suffer a long time), charity (love), patience, afflictions
(so Paul didn't hide the severity from Timothy)." This is the natural
outcome of what has been called the "with him" or the "with
me" principle. Jesus
"ordained twelve that they should be with him" (Mark
3:14). Being a disciple and making
disciples are lifestyles that are caught more than they are
taught. Can you imagine anybody making
a lengthy trip with Paul and not being changed by it? 3. Once a disciple is equipped, what does he do? Now, once Timothy has
been "equipped," or "fully furnished," or "fully trained,"
what does he do? "The things that
thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful
men." Two words call for
special treatment in defining Timothy's role.
He is to pass it on (the entire faith, lifestyle, and commitment) to
"faithful" men. Great care
must be taken here. This is one of the
essential features of the genius of Christianity. When it functions properly, it always
guarantees second and third-generation
leadership. This is why it is
absolutely essential that a discipler only seek to instill the process into faithful
men. If his disciples prove to be
unfaithful, the entire process stops with them, and all future generations
may be left without skilled spiritual leadership. The other word which
calls for special attention is the dominant word in the verse. It is the word "commit." Again, great care must be given to
understand this word. It is a banker's
term. It literally means to
"deposit." When you make a
deposit in a savings account in a bank, you are hoping to gain a dividend, to
draw interest. So it is when you make
a disciple. You are not merely
disinfecting a sinner. You are making
a quantitative and qualitative investment that will accrue interest
indefinitely into eternity. An Investment or An
Expenditure? So, let me ask a crucial
and sober question: Is your present
life more of an expenditure or and investment? Are you spending it or investing
it? Think carefully here. If you are spending it, the
expenditure is final. There is
no dividend from the act. Frankly,
most "Christian activities" we engage in—whether church attendance,
Bible reading, prayers, etc.—are expenditures more than they are investments. They are "survival" activities to
make us "good Christians" instead of investments which will impact
the world to the ends of the earth 'til the end of time. Thus, they betray the Commission of Jesus. Timothy was to take the
total investment of Christ's life that had passed from Paul to him and
"deposit" it in turn in the lives of faithful men, and the process
has not been properly passed on unless they are "able to teach others
also." So, the process should be
constantly enlarging into an expanding funnel that encompasses more and more
territory and includes more and more people. Illustrations to Show the
Importance and the Potential of Multiplication Let me employ some common
illustrations to show both the importance and the potential of
multiplication. An Evangelist Suppose there was an evangelist
who could (and did) win 1,000 persons per day to Christ (as converts). If the present population of the world were
"frozen" so that nobody else is born and no one dies until the last
person on earth is won to Christ, it would take over 15,000 years to win this
present world population to Christ! A Daily Day of Pentecost Or, suppose the day of
Pentecost was reproduced daily, with 3,000 conversions every day. It would take approximately 5,000 years to
win this present world population to Christ!
And the population is hardly standing still! It is multiplying at a staggering
rate. Seems pretty hopeless, doesn't
it? This is why we must
implement the Bible standard of multiplication. This is a mechanical, hypothetical,
theoretical illustration, but it will serve to let us see the possibilities
of spiritual multiplication. If one
discipler were thoroughly "infected" so that he could be an
adequate trainer, and he were to enlist a disciple for a year of training
which would enable him to enlist and train another the following year, and
this were to go on, mechanically and consistently multiplying through the
years, this process would pass the "1,000-a-day" evangelist at the
beginning of the 23rd year; and would (hypothetically) disciple the
entire population of the world in about 35 years. Note the difference between the
"converts" of the evangelist and the "disciples" of the
visionary reproducer. Doubling of Pennies Another familiar
illustration: If I were to offer you
one penny on the first day of a 31-day month, and offer to double the sum
each day for 31 days (so that on the second day you have 2 cents, on the 3rd
day 4 cents, on the 4th day 8 cents, etc., etc.); or offer you the outright
sum of $1 million, which would you take?
If you took the million dollars, you would be losing over 9.7 million
dollars. But remember where it
starts—with one penny. Without the
invested first penny, the process never begins. Why is disciple-making
working so poorly? Frankly, God cannot
find enough qualitative "first pennies." And remember, it is Paul to Timothy,
a "second penny." The
process largely depends on the quality, commitment, vision, and work
of the first two pennies. Why? Because they are usually the only models of
this process their companions will ever see, as tragic as this may be. So, penny number one and
penny number two are all-important.
But think for a moment all the way to the 31st day of the doubling
process. On the last day, the sum goes
from approximately 5.3 million dollars to approximately 10.6 million
dollars. So each day's
multiplication is crucial to the finished result. No enlisted individual can afford to
fail. If one Christian fails in the
multiplication process, he cuts the potential for fulfilling the Great
Commission in his lifetime exactly in half.
However, if one Christian succeeds (multiplies), he doubles that
potential in his lifetime. The Vision of World
Impact by Disciple-Making Christian, do you have
the vision of world impact by disciple-making? Are you qualitatively investing the
Jesus-lifestyle, the Jesus-vision, and the Jesus-commitment in the lives of
individuals so that they have a similar vision and commitment and can impart
them to others? Someone has wisely
said that in order to impart a vision to others, you yourself must: See it clearly, Say it consistently Show it continually Share it compassionately, and Safeguard it carefully. Stacy Rinehart wrote in
his book, Living in the Light of Eternity, "Some of us who came to
Christ in the 1960's thought we would change the whole world in our
generation. We had visions of great
throngs of people, cup in hand, waiting patiently for us to dispense the
Water of Life. The world has long
since slid into an abysmal state. We
have personally lowered our expectations to helping a moderate number of
individuals over the course of a lifetime.
But the real question, the one that rescues us from disillusionment
and feelings of failure, is this: Is
that really a lowering? Is it a small
and insignificant vision unworthy of real sacrifice? Not when we consider the One who reached
the world with a handful of men, who constantly multiplies His own life in
people, whether or not we happen to be around to tabulate the 'results.'
" In fact, not only is
"helping a moderate number of individuals" not a
"lowering"; it is the only way one individual can qualitatively
impact the world TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH UNTIL THE END OF TIME. Later in the same book,
Mr. Rinehart says that "every Christian has the potential for an eternal
impact in countless lives."
However, some serious, almost embarrassing questions must be
asked. Is our "fox" the same
one Jesus went after—the whole wide world of people? Are we actually qualitatively and
systematically investing in the lives of the individuals we work with to
guarantee that we are closing in on that "fox"? Are we imparting the vision so that our
disciples are consumed with it and thus will communicate it automatically to
others? Think your way through to
the finished outcome of world impact and create your own sober questions to
test the process. Disciple-making
requires continued education, information, indoctrination, study, discussion,
encouragement, accountability, and personal refinement. Peter Wagner said,
"The mission fields of the world are overloaded with evangelistic programs
that are not functioning properly.
Sadder yet, many people deeply involved in them don't even realize the
fact. In many of these programs,
believe it or not, the results are not even tested." Friends, we cannot afford the luxury of the
unexamined life or ministry. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once
boldly said, "A righteous person is one who lives for the next
generation." Disciple-making,
properly done, both forces and guarantees that kind of righteousness. Are you still thinking of occasional
"additions" to the church, or are you a solid integer in God's
multiplication table? Think carefully,
because many generations may depend on you. |
Copyright © 2005, by
ToBeLikeHim Ministries