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We’ve been talking about what Pastor Bobby Warrenburg defined as four culture shifts that need to occur if churches are to be intentionally disciple-making and wrote about the first one:

• Attendance culture to transformational culture
• Collection culture to mobilization culture
• Competition culture to collaboration culture
• Addition culture to multiplication culture

With respect to mission, this last is the most important: can we move from an addition culture to a multiplication culture?

Jesus was firmly committed to a multiplication strategy, else why would he invest so much time in just 12 men? His last command, which we know as The Great Commission, included, “…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” And he has just commanded them to make disciples. So if we are making disciples, our disciple (Jesus’ disciple!) isn’t finished until that disciple is making disciples. Paul’s instruction to Timothy includes four generations:

You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. (NLT, emphasis mine)

Paul -> Timothy -> Trustworthy people -> Others

We have talked before about lasting ministry: there’s no better way to ensure that our ministry lasts than to invest in others who will continue to carry it on! In 2 Timothy 2.2, there are no permanent students. A culture with permanent teachers and permanent students is an addition culture. A culture where students become teachers is a multiplication culture. That’s the meaning behind Colossians 1.6:

In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world… (NIV)

Fruit is an apple. Bearing fruit and growing is an apple tree! I’m more interested in apple trees than plain apples! Or, as someone said,

“We can count the number of seeds in an apple, but we can’t count the number of apples in a seed!”