The Proven Strategy

When Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission (to go and make disciples of all nations), He was making the most important assignment ever given to His followers.  The success of this urgent task was being placed into the hands of a few fallible and fragile human beings, and He was about to leave them.  The spiritual destiny of the whole world rested on their shoulders.  How was it physically possible for these few men to get the story of Jesus out to the whole world, and even if they could, how long would it take?

Yet, without modern telecommunications and rapid travel modes, history reveals an amazing story.  Within the span of just 20 years knowledge of “the Way”, as early Christianity was called, had permeated much of the Roman Empire.  How was this possible? 

The secret was in obeying fully the Great Commission, which also included the words, “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”  Obviously, that would have included passing on to the new disciples they were making the same instruction they had received to go and make disciples. 

The apostle Paul in writing to Timothy, one of his closest disciples, laid out the strategy plainly,  “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim 2:2 NASB).  That simple formula resulted in four rapidly expanding generations of disciples in a relatively short time.

It’s interesting to note that the business world has adopted this kind of plan through programs such as referrals and network marketing as a fast and effective means to distribute their products.  Sadly, the Church seems to have forgotten this proven method, and, as a result, in two millennia we still have not reached the whole world for Christ.

How long do you think it might take to reach the rest of world today with the Gospel of Jesus Christ if the original plan were adopted again?  But, you might say, “Well that was a different time in history, it was a new idea and might not work the same way today?”  I would counter with this:  How do you know it wouldn’t?  Are you one of the few Christians who has actually been discipled?  If so, are you one of the few of those who was trained to make new disciples?  Have you ever discipled anyone and taught them to make disciples?

It has been observed that Christianity is always just one generation away from extinction, which is exactly what would happen if each new generation was not discipled by the preceding one.  Thankfully, there are numerous stories of success in church growth around the world today where the Great Commission strategy of making disciples who also go and make disciples has been put into practice, including in the USA. 

One of the most dramatic examples has occurred in Asia since the beginning of this century.  Through the teaching efforts started by a single couple dedicated to the principle of making new disciples and training them to also make and train disciples a total of more than 1.7 million baptized new believers has been documented within less than nine years through at least 18 generations of disciple making!

So, let’s review for a moment.  A disciple of Jesus is one who has counted the cost of following Him, choosing to place Him at the head of his life.  Scripture does not seem to indicate that becoming a disciple is an option for the true believer.  To be a fully mature disciple requires being trained in spiritual disciplines to include reaching out to others to make them disciples and to also train them to do the same. 

It’s exciting to realize that God has chosen to allow us to share with Him in the grand plan to reach a lost and dying world with the Good News of eternal life in Christ!  He has given us the strategy to accomplish it and promised to be with us always, even to the end of the age.  If Christianity is only one generation from extinction, I believe it is equally true that it is only one generation away from completing the Great Commission.  Could it be ours?