GROWING HEALTHY MISSIONAL PASTORS, CHURCHES & DENOMINATIONS
For many years I have shared both the pain and the joys of those who work with churches. Like many of you, I have asked many times whether there are better ways forward to thrive together and have missional impact on our world. And sustainable ways - it's not about trying harder - but doing different things in different ways. Interrupting and reflecting on practice. That is what I do as a pastoral supervisor/mentor. What I do as a church and non-profit consultant. And what I endeavour to do as a blogger and writer. I hope what is posted here is water, God willing, for those planted in churches that we may thrive together.
Please let me know what you think in the comments. Or you can contact me through my website: www.ianduncum.com.au
MULTIPLY!
Matthew 13:23 “The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.” MSG
I find the parable of the soils (or sower, but its mostly about the soils) an intriguing passage to preach on, as I did this week. I have heard lots of messages over the years about being responsive to the Gospel, about Jesus as the sower. But not too many about having a holy ambition to multiply the Gospel by sowing into the lives of others. I like the way the Living Bible phrases this verse:
Matthew 13:23 The good ground represents the heart of a man who listens to the message and understands it and goes out and brings thirty, sixty, or even a hundred others into the Kingdom.” TLB
I think we somehow don’t expect that God would multiply our efforts. Even 30 times, let alone 100! But here is the thing, even in this secular age. There is good soil. The farmer will have a harvest. There are people receptive to the Gospel. There are churches that are growing because of this. There are those with responsive hearts. And this passage teaches us that there always will be in this age. Therefore we shouldn’t despair over the apparent failures, the blindness of unfaith, the defections, or opposition. We can be assured the harvest will come from the response of the good soil.
Sowing in the Old Testament is a metaphor for God’s work of renewal. However we now have a new kingdom of God, new leadership (12 disciples), and a new method of renewal - sowing the Word into lives. Jesus comes to renew, but it is subversive, hidden. It is an undercover sabotaging of the existing system that hasn’t been able to bring transformation individually or together.
But here is the even more staggering thing! God invites you and me to join him in sowing truth with love into the world. Heaven comes to a place called earth through your and my sowing the Word into lives. You and I have been designed and commissioned to change the world. And here’s one thing that we can sometimes lose focus on. Sowing the Word into lives is central. It is sowing the transformative Word into lives that will bring individual & social renewal.
Receptive hearts expect fruit, & invest time, talents & treasure in bearing Kingdom fruit. This is ongoing.
So our faith or expectancy is important. When we say, “I couldn’t do that. God couldn’t possibly use me,” we show our lack of faith. God has designed us & commissioned us for fruitfulness! 30, 60, 100 times.
What could you pray? What larger vision could you expect?
Without a God sized vision for our lives we can be unfruitful. This parable teaches us that we should expect fruit – fruit of a transformed life, and fruit from sowing the Word into other lives.
And a central part of Jesus’ parables is this: there is multiplication alongside the subversive hiddenness. Yeast through the loaf, a mustard seed becoming the largest of trees, grain multiplying 30, 60 or 100 times.
This is a searching word when we apply it to our lives on a number of levels.
Firsly, do we invest in multiplication? Do our disciples produce other disciples? Our leaders raise up other leaders? Our churches plant other churches? Because we can easily come away from a passage like this overwhelmed by a target of 100 converts. But if you were to witness for six months and reach one person, and disciple him/her for the next six months, at the end of the first year there would be two of you. If you both did the same again, there would be 4 of you. After 10 years there would be 1024. After 33 years, over 8.5 billion!
Secondly, the parable makes clear that fruit bearing is an essential mark of the Kingdom of God, of Kingdom disciples. Both the fruit of transformed lives and the fruit of disciples, leaders and churches. The sower reminds us that this is difficult work. But the sower also graciously and encouragingly reminds us that there is fruitful soil. So we understand that not all spiritual conversations result in a conversion, not all church plants succeed. But neither do we give up or lose heart, because there is good, responsive soil. So this passage is an opportunity for us to reflect on our fruit-bearing. Maybe our expectations have lowered. Perhaps we need to review our hearts (Shallow? Rocky? Thorny?). Or examine our methods. Or sow generously like Jesus, whatever the ground. Or think about prayer in softening unfruitful hearts. Or get a fresh vision from God, maybe 30, 60 or 100 times what our previous vision was. Because hidden, subversive multiplication thru the power of Gods Word transforms lives.
Thirdly, multiplication lifts the lid on leader development. It gives them somewhere else to serve. A static church with all its rosters filled doesn’t needed more leaders, more servers. But a multiplying one does. So maybe that is one of the takeaways from this: Jesus expects us to develop others, at all levels of discipleship and leadership, so that multiplication happens. This is God’s expectation for every Christian.
So this is a relevant word for each of us and for the church in our day. Are we sowing? Do we invest in multiplication of others and of churches? And, alongside multiplication, are we developing the leaders that will enable that to continue to happen?
© 2024 Ian Duncum. All rights reserved. No reproduction without written permission.
Rev Dr Ian Duncum is a trained and accredited (with John Mark Ministries) church consultant with over 20 years experience of working with non-profit enterprises and churches across a number of denominations. This has also included denominational leadership in church health and development and church research in the tertiary education sector. An accredited minister with a track record of growing churches, Ian also trains church consultants, facilitates training for ministers and leaders, and mentors/supervises pastors and other leaders. He can be contacted at ian@ianduncum.com.au
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