This post is part of the Is Your Church Healthy Series
US Marine Corps boot camp specializes in one thing: transforming men and women into Marines. The entire process is designed to produce basic infantrymen from every recruit that joins. Due to the extreme nature of the role, not everyone can qualify to be a Marine. Likewise, even those who are accepted into the Corps must complete the rigors of boot camp training before they are Marines. Approximately 11 – 14 percent of the recruits do not make it through
boot camp.
When a recruit drops out for whatever reason, this costs the USMC thousands of dollars. As a result, there is a vested interest to help recruits succeed. Conversely, drill instructors are acutely aware that if they do not train recruits properly, lives will be at stake. So, there is a balance between achieving success and ensuring only qualified individuals are produced.
What does this have to do with multiplying disciples on your church? The USMC uses two key components to effectively transform men and women into Marines: Culture and strategy.
When it comes to multiplication in the church, these two components are just as vital. Let’s examine how each of those elements helps us multiply disciples.
Culture
The very first step to experiencing consistent multiplication is creating the right culture. Too often, our churches have a culture of consumerism. Our primary focus is getting people to the church, and so we struggle to mobilize people to leave the church to do ministry. To shift this paradigm, leadership must embrace a new mindset and work to change the mindset around them. The focus must be on multiplying disciples at all levels. Every ministry must have an easy to understand on-ramp to multiplication. Again, this starts with key leadership. The pastor must be multiplying through discipleship and evangelism. He must mode this for the other key leaders in the church and hold them accountable to do the same. Then the leaders have a platform from which they can equip others to multiply. Over time, this will shift and shape the culture of the church toward multiplication. Just as the Drill Instructors at Boot Camp shape the culture to transform men and women into Marines, church staff are to shape the culture of our churches to make disciples who make disciple-makers.
[bctt tweet=”Just as the Drill Instructors at Boot Camp shape the culture to transform men and women into Marines, church staff are to shape the culture of our churches to make disciples who make disciple-makers.” username=”ChrisSwain73″]
Strategy
As the culture shifts toward multiplication, churches need a plan to keep the process going. Church leaders also need a map to help guide those they lead to become multipliers. The most effective strategy is the one that works. What we have experienced at Replicate, working with thousands of church leaders across hundreds of churches is the model Jesus emulated for us is still the most effective. Jesus ministered to the crowds, the congregation (120/72), in biblical community (the 12), and with a Core group of 4 (Peter, James, John, and Himself). This mode is already practiced in most every church with the general exception of the Core group. Most churches do not have a strategy in place for high, consistent multiplication. This is where discipleship groups (ministering and multiplying the Core) come in to play. Generally, church leaders focus on preaching and teaching that we should multiply but have no strategy to ensure it takes place. This is why we are so passionate about discipleship groups. This is the environment in which multiplication is consistent and ongoing in the life of the church. Just as Marine Corps Drill Instructors map out the start to finish strategy for transforming men and women into Marines, we must map out a strategy for our people to be multiplying disciples consistently.
[bctt tweet=”As the culture shifts toward multiplication, churches need a plan to keep the process going. Church leaders also need a map to help guide those they lead to become multipliers.” username=”ChrisSwain73″]
At Replicate, we have developed a training tool to help focus on these two key components. Our Disciplemaking Jumpstart is explicitly designed to help you create a culture for multiplication and provides a plan for how discipleship groups happen. These two training courses are the buts and bolts of everything we teach in our ministry. Additionally, the Jumpstart provides a tool to help you gauge the growth of your team and your people along with the MARCS of a Disciple book. Finally, the Jumpstart provides a unique workbook designed to help you create a playbook to work from as you implement the culture and roll out discipleship groups in your church. You’ll get daily emails for 30 days and weekly videos that walk you through the process. If you’re interested, go to
disciplemakingjumpstart.com and use the code:
sbc2019 to get 20% off for a limited time.
