Have you ever stopped to think about how it is that you came to be a part of God’s family? What about the people who sit next to you at church each week? What about those in the church down the street? What about the estimated 2.6 billion Christians seeking to know and follow Jesus worldwide?
Well, as amazing as it is to consider, it is very likely that nearly every one of us can trace our faith story all the way back to a group of 12 unschooled, ordinary men who were Jesus’ first disciples. They were committed to sharing the good news of Jesus and seeing that message spread from believer to believer, generation after generation, right up to today! That’s the power of spiritual multiplication!
2,000 years later, Cru remains committed to this model for expanding God’s kingdom throughout the world and helping as many people as possible come to know and follow Jesus. So, what is spiritual multiplication, and why are we so committed to it as a movement?
Spiritual multiplication is a model for mission in which everyone is involved. Each new follower of Jesus shares the message they have received with people, who in turn pass it on to others. In this way, God’s kingdom can advance quickly, and the message of salvation through faith in Christ can spread far and wide. This model is one of the key distinctions between a ministry and a movement.
So, why do we believe so strongly in this model, and why are we committed to seeing spiritual multiplication take place in our movements?
Modeled in the Bible
First, we are committed to seeing spiritual multiplication take place in our movements because spiritual multiplication is modeled in the Bible. We have already discussed how the gospel has spread over the past two millennia though the faithfulness of a few key disciples and generations of believers who followed them. During His earthly ministry, we know Jesus multiplied His mission in the lives of His disciples through empowering them to baptize (John 4:2) and sending them out to proclaim the message of the kingdom (Luke 10:1-16). Others who were transformed by Jesus were given similar opportunities (Luke 8:39). In the parable of the sower, Jesus describes the fertile soil (a receptive heart) as someone who produces “thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” (Matt. 13:8, 23)
We see this pattern continue in the life of the early church members. Paul exhorted Timothy to teach what he had been taught about Jesus “to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.” (2 Timothy 2:2) In this one short verse, we see four generations of faith in Christ: Paul, Timothy, trustworthy people, and others!
As leaders, we must cast vision and create space for students to share their faith and disciple others.
Accelerates the Spread of the Gospel
Second, we are committed to spiritual multiplication because it allows the gospel to spread at an accelerated rate. You may remember seeing a similar model in your high school algebra class when you studied exponential growth functions. The financial industry also uses this thinking to grow wealth in the form of compound interest. Spiritual multiplication works in the same way!
Allow me to share a hypothetical example. Imagine a campus where four Cru leaders were each able to lead 10 people to Christ each year, but these new believers did not share their faith with anyone else. This is a model we call “spiritual addition.” After six years, 240 new believers would be added to the family of God! That sounds great, right?
But now consider what would happen if each of those same leaders were able to lead just two new people to Jesus each year. However, in this spiritual multiplication model, each of those new followers of Jesus did the same, year after year. In that scenario, after six years, 2,916 people would come to know Jesus! That is the power of spiritual multiplication!
Grounds Disciples in Their Faith
Third, spiritual multiplication grounds disciples in their own faith. People love to talk about the things they love. Whether it is the local sports team, a new restaurant, or a musician or artist, we naturally want to share the things we love with others. And often, in sharing the things we love, we find our love for them growing even stronger. Author and theologian C.S. Lewis once said, “We delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment.”
The same is true of our relationship with Jesus. If Jesus has truly rescued us from sin and adopted us into His family, then it should only be natural that we would want to share that news with others and invite them into a relationship with Jesus as well. In doing so, we express the joy we have found in Christ, and that joy is enlarged in our own lives!
As new Christians share their faith with others, their faith will grow and they will increasingly delight in the God who loves them. Furthermore, when new believers actively share their faith, they typically see themselves as an important part of the movement, rather than just passive participants. They tend to stay more involved, help cast vision, and lead by example, so younger believers also become multiplying disciples.
C.S. Lewis once said, “We delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment.”
Outlasts Any Individual
Last, we strive towards spiritual multiplication because it goes well beyond the scope of any individual. Spiritual multiplication grows faster and can outlast any individual leader within a movement. In fact, when spiritual multiplication is really taking place, much of the fruit of the movement may not even be known by those who would be seen as “leading” the movement, as the gospel runs down various relational tracks and expands into ever-increasing circles of influence.
In campus ministry, we sometimes ask ourselves, “Are we here to reach people, or see people reached?” If we are simply here to reach people, then the ministry is really about us, our influence, and our sense of significance. We will never impact the world beyond our very limited time, resources, and availability. But, if we are there to see people reached, we will invite others into the mission with us, trust God with the results, and expect to see a much larger impact in the world.
Three Challenges to Spiritual Multiplication
In order to embrace and implement a movement of spiritual multiplication, it is important that we identify and overcome some challenges and false beliefs that can serve as potential obstacles to our success.
1) I Don’t Know How to Create a Movement of Spiritual Multiplication.
For many of us, we have never seen or experienced a consistent movement of spiritual multiplication. It can feel mysterious, challenging, and overwhelming. But that should not prevent us from taking steps of faith to see disciples multiplying their faith.
As leaders, we must cast vision and create space for students to share their faith and disciple others. Cru has created an array of transferable tools that can help in this process. Students can be trained to share their story, communicate the Gospel, and disciple others in their faith.
2) My Disciples Are Too Immature to Spiritually Multiply.
This can be a difficult belief to overcome, especially for those of us who work with teenagers. Middle and high school students can often be a bit unpredictable as their brains develop and they grow in valuable life experience. But we know from experience that students can, in fact, be powerful leaders and influencers. In recent years, we have seen massive student-led movements related to climate change, gun violence, and racial injustice, just to name a few. Surely, these same students are capable of leading spiritually as well. It may not always look exactly as we would do it (more on that in a minute), but if we challenge students and give them the support they need, they are capable of incredible things. We simply have to give them the opportunity!
3) It Is Just Easier to Do It Myself.
This challenge can be particularly difficult to overcome. Empowering others to multiply can be difficult and time consuming. Sometimes, things will not go as planned. Things can get messy and unpredictable. It can be easy to believe, “No one else can do this as well as I can.” And you know what? Those thoughts may actually be true, in part!
But if we fail to empower others and embrace spiritual multiplication, our movements will remain stunted in their growth and lacking in influence and power. The end result will never reach beyond our own limited capacity. I wonder how often Jesus witnessed a disciple struggle through a task which He could have accomplished faster, easier, or better. And yet, He allowed His disciples to serve, fail, learn, and try again, and we should do the same.
It is only through spiritual multiplication that we have any hope of reaching our goal to build spiritual movements everywhere, so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus!
Next Step
Consider the Christian students you know and identify one you can equip to share their faith using the God Tools app. Help them consider someone they would like to see know Christ, and go with them to share the gospel with that person. For more training on how to do that, check out How Judy Shares Her Faith.
god tools apphow judy shares her faith
