Fruitpickers

The advent of social media has meant that an already loud church is able to proclaim many messages of greatness and achievement to an ever-sceptical world. I have been aware for some time, of the constant presence of many who spruik their achievements for God; from pastors to prisoners, evangelists to street preachers it seems we are all telling of what God has done for or through me. (When you’re on the stage though, you want to hope your life measures up, as you are an easy target for the enemy). You wonder what he is doing for himself?

Recently Sally and I sat in an airport waiting for an early morning flight, listening in silence to the story of one remarkable disciple maker. This was a man who has faithfully, simply and yes noiselessly practiced obedience by simply introducing people to discover Jesus, and then mentoring them to multiplication. Many in the now hundreds-of-thousand churches that have risen over 20yrs wouldn’t know who he is, so there’s probably not much point in me mentioning it here. He wouldn’t be concerned (and he didn’t tell me that number either, I found it out elsewhere).

He actually started practising disciple making in 2005 to prove to his mentor that it wouldn’t work in his area. He began knocking on some local, mostly Muslim doors, offering a simple survey to people of what their community should be praying for locally. At the same time, he was assessing whether their house was big enough to hold gatherings, and asking if anybody would like to join him. From there, 8 groups put up their hands to gather and pray and read the Bible, 3 of whom were already believers. (He had to tell them they weren’t needed, but they persuaded him to let them join him).

Within a year, that fledgling group had grown into just a few churches – then, 25, then 150 on into a thousand, several thousand and so on. As they say, the rest is history.

It all sounds so easy doesn’t it? Well the principles really are, because Jesus ensured he left us with a task that anybody can do. The question is, why don’t we do it? Will we pray, sacrifice Netflix, our church gatherings and everything and anything that gets in the way to achieve the goal? When we do it, will we not shout about all our efforts everywhere, such that it becomes our work, and not the work of the one who ‘will never share his Glory’ and who actually does the majority of the work?

Disciple making multiplication is very simple, yet so hard for so many. It requires a quiet spirt before the Lord, listening and then just opening our door and our mouth to find those whom the Lord sends to us, and begin to work with them. It asks us to go against the (Christian) crowd, often lonely and invest time with little to show in the early years.

Few may ever know, but the one to whom it matters most, will notice more than anything else.