Many fields throughout our needy world are presented to us by the missionary-minded as “the most needy.” No one would think of North America as included in that list. But here are some startling facts:
North America is one of the few continents where biblical Christianity is not growing faster than the population. The current population in the USA is about 295,500,000 and growing at a net gain of one person every 11 seconds. In 1900 there were 27 churches for every 10,000 people. Today there are only 11 churches for every 10,000 people. Church attendance is declining, with actual attendance at only about 20 percent in the US and 7 percent in Canada. At least half of all churches last year did not add one new member through conversion.1
God’s purposes are never stagnant, dormant or sterile. The plant life He designed with “the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself” (v. 11). To His new animal creatures in Genesis 1, He commanded: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth” (v. 22). Likewise to the human family He said, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (v. 28).
The New Testament (or Covenant) was made with a new creation, incorporating “better promises” (Heb. 8:6). And it too, like the first creation, had multiplication in mind. The Lord Jesus turned His disciples into disciple-makers (Mt. 28:19). When, in Acts 2, the Church was born, it was not only made a living organism, but, like the first creation, it had been given a kind of life—by God’s enablement—that could reproduce as well. So we read, “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly…” (Acts 6:7). “Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied” (9:31). “But the word of God grew and multiplied” (12:24).
If this is going to happen in our day and on the North American continent, what must be done? How can we multiply? First, five negative positions must be taken:
1. We must stop assuming that it’s normative Christianity to be fruitless and powerless, seeing almost no one saved from year to year. That is not God’s program.
2. Let’s not excuse our lack of blessing, blaming it on the times, the trends, or the truths we hold. How long will we use the lame excuse that the reason people won’t come to our assembly is because “we have the truth”? We need to repent of this, realizing that the truth (including whatever we know of it) is beautiful—since “the truth is in Jesus.”
3. Stop focusing on what you don’t have instead of what you do have. “If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not” (2 Cor. 8:12). Can’t do this? Then do that—or encourage those who are doing what you can’t do. It’s that willing mind we need. Then God will put us on the active list, giving us something that suit our abilities.
4. Don’t look back. “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). If we could get the same mileage out of our cars as we do out of old hurts and grievances, we’d never have to buy gasoline. Get over it. Life is too short and the issues are too serious to fuss about what someone said or did to me. If I’ve tried to set it right and it hasn’t worked, turn it over to the Heavenly Collection Agency (1 Pet. 2:22-23) and carry on. Soldiers often have to fight on after being wounded.
5. Refuse to judge another man’s servant (Rom. 14:4). We will have more than enough to give account for ourselves at the Judgment Seat. Easy enough to sit on the sidelines and criticize those on the field; but three cheers to the ones who, though fearful, put on the uniform and join the fray. If you aren’t failing at something, I’d suggest you’re not trying to do enough. The Lord let His disciples fail (see Mt. 17:16), in fact encouraged then to take risks (Mt. 13:3-9). But He is angry with talent gravediggers (Lk. 19:20-24), calling them “wicked” servants. His word, not mine.
Now for some positive suggestions (remember to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good,” 1 Thess. 5:21):
1. WE NEED TO RECLAIM THE THREE KEYS
“Then…the churches…were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied” (9:31). Note the three ingredients in the multiplication process. Edified + Occupied + Sanctified = Multiplied
First, they were edified. They were in the Word. They were in each others homes and lives, sharing what they had learned. They were building each other up on their most holy faith. Construction crew—not wrecking crew.
Second, they were occupied. Occupied with things above where Christ sits. Walking in the fear of the Lord means living life consciously under the eye of God, having a holy reverence for Him that changes everything from the way you treat your spouse (in private), how you spend money, and what you laugh at. It changes your thought life, your goals in life, everything from stem to stearn.
Third, they were sanctified. They responded quickly to the Spirit’s promptings regarding sins to confess, wrongs to right, ministries to perform, and people to visit. They co-operated with the Spirit in His interior decorating project; He co-operated with them in evangelizing the world.
2. THE WORD WILL NEED TO GET OUT
Notice the vital part the Word played in the process of multiplication in the early church: “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly” (Acts 6:7). How does the Word increase? It was the speaking of it that increased. The good news spread far and wide, to high and low, in season and out of season, publicly and from house to house. Without any mass media, they got the word out world-wide!
The psalmist first declared the process: “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it” (68:11). During the Lord’s earthly ministry, the same thing happened. We read of the same two stages in the story of the demoniac: “…he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him” (Lk. 8:39). He had a life-changing encounter with the Saviour and didn’t stop talking about it until everyone in town had heard! (See Acts 10:37; 13:49.) It’s that simple: God has spoken to us; we speak to others; others hear Him.
3. THE WORK IS ONE SOUL AT A TIME
The Lord’s commission was to preach the gospel “to every creature.” Of course there needs to be public proclamation, but souls must be reached individually. In His marvellous plan, the Lord has suited us for the work by giving us all different personalities, varied contacts, and unique testimonies. Yet God mixes more than He matches, using little children to reach hardened seniors, simple words to reach intellectuals, and the most unlikely to do His work “that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Cor. 1:29). Our weaknesses may very well be our weapons.
Michael Loftis writes: “Today’s church, currently estimated to be approximately half a billion gospel-believing people, is larger than any army in the world.” 1 Even if the number were only one tenth that, such an army of witnesses could, by sharing the gospel with not much more than 100 distinct people, reach the whole world.
4. WE MUST RETHINK NT SIMPLICITY
The New Testament church was God plus redeemed people at work. We may have things far too complicated. If we’re going to see thousands saved, we probably won’t be able to build million-dollar buildings across the landscape. We must keep firmly in mind that the church in its most vigorous days could rapidly deploy, shift gears quickly, move into promising regions, and felt no obligation to maintain shrinking assemblies because there were no buildings to care about. Deacons, instead of repairing structures and cutting grass, were out visiting widows, caring for the poor of the flock, even street preaching.
Here’s what Norm Nickas, a leading Baptist, has to say:
The church must commit itself to developing a reproducible system or method of church multiplication that is not primarily dependent on money, land and buildings….1
I certainly don’t object to modest, functional buildings (hopefully used for more than a few hours a week). But if we hope to see many new gatherings springing up across the landscape, there are all sorts of public rooms available (as well as homes) so our resources can be put once again into missionary enterprise at home and abroad. In several instances that I know personally, the cost of one new assembly building could have financed an evangelistic campaign that would—by conservative estimates—have placed a gospel CD into the homes of five million people!
I remember years ago travelling with Bill MacDonald past the Mormon temple overlooking San Francisco Bay.
“I’m sure glad they build those things,” he said.
“Why?” I asked, incredulous.
“Because then the money doesn’t go into literature.”
He’s a man that knows the value of getting the Word out. So should we all.
1 Message magazine, Vol. 53, No. 1, p. 9