Dare to Multiply

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Dare to Multiply

Let’s suppose that you and four other friends decided to spend the next 20 years of your lives reaching the world for Christ. You got your heads together, plotted your strategy, and laid out your plan. Each of you would commit yourselves to a plan of spiritual addition, setting up meetings or personally to share Christ with at least 25 people every day, for 20 years. That means that you would collectively share Christ with nearly one million people. Now that would be some kind of accomplishment.

But reaching one million people is never going to reach the world, so you decide to find a different strategy. Each year you and your four friends would select two individuals whom you would disciple, training them to feed themselves from the Word, showing them how to share their faith and how to minister to new Christians. At the end of one year each of your disciples would be ready to disciple two more Christians. There would now be 15 of you involved in discipleship ministries—not a big crowd, but it’s a start.

However, if each of you trained two more for a year, you would then have a total of 45, the next year 135, and the next year 405. You would have developed a multiplication network. In ten years there would be 295,000 in your multiplication network. In fifteen years you would have 71,744,535 and in 21 years over six billion— the present population of the world!

Now, not everyone is going to become a multiplying disciple at one-year intervals. God works uniquely in everyone’s life. And of course there will be dropouts. But the point is still well made. If you want to reach people with the message of Christ you will want to do it through multiplication. It’s God’s idea (Genesis 1:27; 2 Timothy 2:2).

Paul’s Ministry Plan

  1. Personal Spiritual Growth

To be one who is giving out to others we first need to be taking in spiritual food ourselves. In other words, to be a disciple, you need to be discipled. You need to be learning from someone who is leading you. In 2 Timothy 2:2 we have four generations of spiritual multiplication. Paul is the first, Timothy is the second, faithful men are the third, and others are the fourth. Multiplying spiritual training from one generation to another had to begin with Paul and the specific things he taught Timothy. Are you learning?

Who has had the greatest impact on your spiritual growth?

What would you consider the most significant spiritual lessons you have learned?

What are the three most important things you would teach your disciples?

1.

2.

3.

  1. Discipling in Groups

The second principle in 2 Timothy 2:2 is found in the statement, “in the presence of many witnesses.”

This may seem like the most difficult part of this verse to understand. What is Paul saying? If we look back at Paul’s ministry with Timothy, we find that there were times when Paul taught and challenged Timothy in the presence of other Christians (1 Timothy 6:12; 4:14). The witnesses could have been those present. But Paul, in this statement, is also drawing Timothy’s attention to the fact that he discipled men in groups, a principle that we should take into consideration.

Why do you think it would be wise to have a group of disciples rather than just one?

In your opinion, what size group would be best, and why?

Jesus had all the spiritual gifts and resources possible, and still chose only twelve disciples. From those twelve He chose three with whom he spent most of His time. Why? Because the time He had would not allow Him to spend quality time building men if He worked with too many. He would be spread too thin; His multiplication ministry would have broken down.

This is a good guideline for you. Two to four disciples is a good number to begin with.

  1. Pass It On

The third part of 2 Timothy 2:2 is this, “these things [that you have learned] entrust to faithful men.”

The dictionary tells us that entrust means to invest a trust or a responsibility; To commit as if with trust or confidence. In this verse Paul is not talking about just casual communication from one Christian to another. He is talking about building leaders—people who will be entrusted with communicating the most critical message in the world, and that requires trust and faithfulness.

Think of an example of someone you know who is faithful. Describe why this person is faithful.

If you had the cure for cancer, who would you trust with the message? Why?

Paul is not talking about men and women who are just faithful believers, but faithful in the sense of trustworthy, true to one’s word, loyal, can be relied upon, thorough. So when Paul is talking about entrusting faithful men, he is talking about investing his time in people who are loyal. These people will take what they have learned and pass it on to others.

Paul was talking about people who were not quitters, but those who would stick with the job.

  1. Develop Leaders

The fourth thing Paul tells Timothy is that he is to enlist faithful ones “who will be able to teach others also.”

How would you describe a person who is able to teach others?

When Paul tells Timothy to invest his life in able men he is talking about people who will someday be able to lead, leaders of multiplication. Who is an able person?

  1. First, he is someone who has ability, but not unique abilities. Leading is something we can all do, whether we are leading large numbers of people or just a few. We don’t have to be exceptionally gifted.
  2. Second, he is a person who is learning from God’s Word, in order that he can pass it on to others.
  3. Third, an able person is one who is growing in character. This is primarily what Paul is talking about when he uses the word “able.” “These things commit as a trust to trustworthy men who are of such a character as to be adequate to teach others also.”

Character includes such things as honesty, humility, faith, confidence, teachability, selflessness. Qualities like this grow as we grow spiritually. It is character that makes us faithful.

As you lead others, why do you think your character is more important than your ability?

The purpose, then, of your multiplication ministry is to build up others and train them to do what you are doing. Leadership x leadership = the fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).

Selecting Potential Multipliers

Where do we find men and women to disciple? We are not looking for super-Christians. We are looking for people who simply want to grow spiritually, who want to be used by God, even through they might be young in their walk with Christ. Even if you are young, you can be a multiplier.

What, in your opinion, would be some indications that a young Christian is ready to be part of a discipleship group?

Putting it All Together

Have you thought about your life objective? How do you want to your life count? Describe any goals you have for your life and the type of ministry you want to have.

What is the most significant thing you have learned in this study?

Remember, multiplication is the key to reaching your campus, and the world.

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What they’re saying about Cru

Students run in packs like fish run in schools. Ethnic, interests, sports, classes, and friendships naturally group the student world together. Jesus said, “Follow me and I will make you a fisher of men.” Your school is a perfect place to present the love of Christ, because students will listen more readily and be most comfortable when they are within these natural groups. That’s why a good dose of creativity can open up opportunities for many students to hear.

The Right Environment

Remember the parties and sleepovers you used to have in junior high? Great videos! “TP-ing” the heck out of the neighborhood! Food! All night discussions on juicy topics! Kissing pillows and swapping most embarrassing stories. The right friends. A good place. Good video. It might be awhile since you gathered together like that. Did you know the same kinds of great fun and ideas can be turned into opportunities to share Christ? What made those times so memorable? Chances are it was the environment. You were totally relaxed in a setting that jazzed you. Your friends were safe people, well sort of at least until you went to sleep. First one to go to sleep always got the shaving cream and the hand in the warm water trick…remember? Ha! You’re gross! An evangelistic outreach needs to be on a turf that students know, enjoy and can make an escape from if it gets too hot. Remember, you’re sharing about Jesus Christ. Your church wouldn’t be the best place. Too many students have negative feelings about places of worship. Your youth worker’s grandmother’s place wouldn’t work either. I don’t care if she does have a nice living area, to replace the antiques you break would take seven years of allowances.

Great Places for an Outreach

Here are some ideas for places to hold an outreach:

  • Your place
  • Your friend’s place
  • A teacher’s classroom at school
  • A local pizza parlor
  • The gymnasium
  • Parks and recreational areas
  • The beach

It’s Gotta be Relevant

Along with the right place, you need a relevant topic to discuss. What’s that mean? Simply put, it has to hit a nerve in your friends, something they think about, or want to discuss. When they hear about it, they say to themselves, yea I want to take that further … A relevant topic will give credibility to your special gathering. Not only does the topic need to be relevant, but it has to be able to naturally lead into spiritual things. In other words, you could talk about how high the corn is getting, but how will you turn the conversation to spiritual things?

Outreach Topics

Some topics for your outreach might include:

  • Relationships
  • Getting Along with Parents
  • Goofy Stuff We Do
  • How to Have a Great Senior Year
  • Ten Things you Don’t Want to Do During Homecoming
  • What’s the X in X-mass?
  • Spring Fever – How to Cool It!
  • How to Tame Stress
  • How to Get Better Grades and Have More Fun
  • Easter Bunnies or Something Else?
  • Winning Over Worry
  • Your Personal Story

Get the drift? It’s gotta relate! Felt needs lead to real needs and an opportunity to share Jesus Christ in a way that your friends will want to listen. Once you’ve got your idea and location set you need to choose the kind of activity that you’ll invite them too. Most students want to come to an event that has some spark and sizzle. It’s gotta have food, and it should be uproariously fun! Christianity has taken a bad rap. They think we’re all constipated living on prunes and looking with wonder across the road at the world wishing we could play. Rubbish. Let’s show them that we can rock with the best of ‘em!

Activity Ideas

Here is a list of ideas that have actually been tried in real life … proceed at your own risk.

  • Burger Bash: Get a local fast food place to donate burgers, find a good band, and chow down. Your friends will love the party atmosphere.
  • Viking Dinner: This works well with both sexes. Have parents make as much food as possible, and the “guests” can only use their hands as utensils.
  • Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl: What could be more unique than rolling a frozen turkey at bowling pins in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday. Students love it!
  • Super Bowl Party: A great video which is produced each year featuring prominent athletes is easy to show during half-time.
  • Valentine’s Day Outreach: This highly social party type idea could be done in a home or at school. Don’t forget the long stemmed roses.

Helpful Tips on Evangelistic Events

  • Team up with several other Christians.
  • Publicize the event as broad as possible. Use through word of mouth, fliers, Internet and phone calls. Be persistent with some who may need multiple invites to show up.
  • Pray for the event before, during and afterwards.
  • Ask your parents to help you with those things you can’t get donated.
  • Be organized. Here’s a simple method: On a piece of paper have three lines:
    • What do I need to do?
    • When do I need to do it?
    • Who can help me?
  • Use comment cards. Use pre-printed cards or 3″ x 5″ cards to get the students’ response from your message. Include: Name, school, phone, and comments, then have them check one or more of the following:
    • [ ] I received Christ at this meeting.
    • [ ] I would like to grow as a Christian. Call me with details.
    • [ ] I’d like a related article about what you talked about tonight.
    • [ ] Contact me about the next meeting.

Answers to Most Asked Questions

What if I don’t have many non-Christian friends? A: Begin with those you do have. Start with simple outreaches and begin to build a broader base of friends. When they come to Christ you will have a broader base from which to invite others to future events.

How do I prepare a talk for one of these outreaches? A: It’s a lot like doing a research paper. Write up a simple three-point outline on your topic, and then research for the content. Always use your personal testimony as a transition between the content of your felt need topic and the gospel. Use tools to share a simple gospel presentation. You can use some ready made talks; simply adapt them to your audience and use current illustrations.

Review

  • The right place.
  • The right environment.
  • The right topic.
  • The right talk.