The Church’s Hidden Crisis: Leadership Without Multiplication
However, for decentralized groups to work, a new brand of leader must be developed. This requires leaders who are self-sufficient in their walk with God, leaders who can invest and train up other leaders with little to no oversight, and leaders who can multiply themselves, their groups, and other leaders at a rapid pace. In short, decentralization needs disciple-making leaders. Our times right now cry out for this new caliber of leader.
Another reason we need disciple-making leaders is because the gospel requires it. We won’t reach the unreached in our communities and around the world with the number of leaders we have now. The shortsighted superstar might think, Well, if my ministry is good, then everything is good. But we know better. While a few churches are still growing at a minimal rate, the church in America is in decline. The old models and old strategies are inadequate for the new frontier ahead of us.
We Can’t Wait: The Gospel Requires Urgency
How will we plant more churches unless we have more qualified leaders? How will we start new ministries without more qualified leaders? How will we multiply disciples without more qualified leaders? The short answer is—we won’t. Without multiplying leaders, the movement stops. That’s why we must raise up new disciple-making leaders who will raise up more leaders to take the gospel to those who desperately need it.
Let us not forget that Jesus commanded disciple making. If you go to the top of Mount Arbel along the western edge of the Sea of Galilee and stand on its peak, the Jezreel Valley stretches out before you like a patchwork quilt. From that vantage point, you can see glimpses of the nations of Syria and Jordan. On a clear day you can make out the chimney stacks of a power plant located next to ancient Caesarea Maritima, where the apostle Paul was kept in prison and later sent by ship to Rome.
The Last Words of Jesus Still Resonate
Most people believe this was where Jesus gave his Great Commission, his final command. And with those last words, he did not say, “Go and make more leaders.” He did not say, “Go and make more superstars.” He said, “Go make disciples of all nations.”
Jesus’ command was to make disciples who make disciples to the ends of the earth. But how will we do that if we do not have disciple-making leaders in our churches? Jesus trained twelve disciple-making leaders and commissioned them to make disciples and lead by example. As a result, twelve men turned the world upside down. It can happen again.
Your Maximum Redemptive Potential
I started this chapter with a simple statement: every leader has potential, but not every leader reaches their potential. The pressing question is this: Are you reaching your maximum potential? Disciple-making leaders have known what you now know. Your greatest redemptive potential is not measured in what you alone can achieve but what can be achieved through you and those you train to multiply!
Before you press on, stop and ask yourself about your own leadership journey. Are you an experienced leader but have never been discipled? Are you a proven disciple maker but have never moved into a leadership role? What needs to change for you to maximize your potential as a disciple-making leader?
Pathway + Pipeline: A Strategic Framework for Leaders
Up to this point I have focused on two important aspects of leadership development. First, I introduced the disciple-making pathway and how Jesus moved his men down this pathway to develop them spiritually. Next, I unpacked the leadership pipeline where we looked at the five leadership levels and how to recruit and develop leaders at every level.
Now I want to describe how the pathway and the pipeline work together to produce disciple-making leaders within your church.
Jesus Made Disciples AND Developed Leaders
Jesus was a movement builder. He was able to do both—make disciples and multiply leaders—at the same time. To the casual observer, Jesus might have appeared not to do much. Some think Jesus just went from village to village preaching and performing miracles with little thought of developing his leaders. However, when you dive deeper, you find that Jesus was very intentional in his actions. He was intentional to develop men who could make disciples after he was gone. He was also intentional to develop leaders to lead the movement.
For your ministry to be healthy, you must accomplish both things simultaneously. You must fixate your thoughts on both making disciples who can multiply and developing leaders who can multiply a movement. It’s slow work. Arduous and painstaking at times. There is no quick fix.
Multiplication That Looks Like Failure—At First
Even after Jesus had worked consistently for over three years, he still had only 120 leaders in an upper room waiting for the Spirit to come. In modern terms, that doesn’t look like success. However, those 120 leaders—because they were disciple-making leaders who had been trained and prepared—were the ones to ignite a movement that quickly swept the world.
Most churches fixate on the platform more than they do people. Most are enamored with the personality of the key leader or the worship experience more than working on an intentional process for making disciples and developing qualified leaders to grow the movement.
Shift From Superstar Leaders to Multiplying Leaders
The disciple-making pathway focuses on building disciples. The leadership pipeline focuses on building leaders. The pathway aligns your ministry with the life of Christ. The pipeline ensures that you’re not doing it alone. You will never grow a movement of multiplication alone. Jesus didn’t. He built leaders who would carry the movement forward.
The pathway and the pipeline must function together. As a disciple matures, they should also take steps into leadership. They don’t have to be on staff, but they must lead. Every disciple is called to be a disciple maker. Every disciple maker is called to develop others. This is leadership!
Don’t Wait—Start Where You Are
The best time to get started was years ago. The second-best time is now.
Get in a disciple-making relationship. Begin growing. Embrace accountability. Make an “I Will” decision to invest in others. Then allow God to shape your leadership influence in ways you never imagined.
Let’s reclaim the movement Jesus started.
This blog features an excerpt from one of our books, The Disciple-Making Leader.
