The Seeds of Exponential Church Growth

Take Up the Multiplication Intent of Jesus

For more than a year, the church in America has grappled with the challenges of a pandemic that turned the world upside down. Yet amid a shifting sea of regulations and a flurry of new methods to engage with church members, ministry leaders are finding solace in the knowledge that nothing has caught God off guard. The church’s mission to multiply to the ends of the earth has not changed and neither have the building blocks to accomplish that mission.

In Matthew 7, Jesus paints a picture of a wise man who builds his house on a rock. “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock” (v. 25). While the wise man did not escape the storm, his house remained standing. Like the wise man, the church has experienced the rain, floodwaters and winds of a global pandemic. Still the gospel message and the church’s purpose remain solid.

Throughout his time on earth, Jesus called his followers to multiply. To make disciples that make disciples. To be his witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Todd Wilson, CEO of Exponential, a national nonprofit dedicated to accelerating church multiplication, suggests that when we embrace the multiplication intent of Jesus over the accumulation bias of our own human nature, we will begin to produce the fruit that Jesus desires from us. Specifically, we must manage this tension in the areas of making disciples, mobilizing everyday missionaries and building capacity. Read More