Let me ask you a question – Do you consider every person in your congregation to be a potential neighborhood missionary? If you do, you’re well on your way to being part of a multiplication ministry because multiplication ministry is not so much about you as it is what you cause to happen in others.
If you are a radical disciple-maker, you are becoming part of the multiplication movement.
The heart of Dinosaurs to Rabbits: Turning Mainline Decline Into a Multiplication Movement is a to-die-for belief in radical discipleship – not people sitting on committees, or being involved in quilting parties, or functioning like consumers looking for the best “church deal,” or even just showing up for worship – but people who are willing to do and go wherever for the cause of Christianity.
Radical disciples are head and shoulders above mere church members.
They are the bread and butter of any multiplication movement – not the pastor, not the denominational official, and certainly not the seminary. Radical disciples are those who are sold out to living like Jesus lived and mentoring others to do the same.
The problem with most Mainline churches is they are filled with pew sitters at best and seldom show at worst.
Radical Disciples | Mere Church Members | |
Totally committed | Committed when it’s convenient | |
Give joyfully out of an abundance | Give out of scarcity and duty | |
Disciple others | Never make a convert | |
Act like a servant | Act like Consumers | |
Neighborhood missionary | Never invite others | |
Care for others | Expect pastor to care for me |
The final paragraph from chapter four of Dinosaurs to Rabbits sums up the radical disciple and the multiplication movement.
“My experience with young adults has taught me that they either commit to something 150 percent or they have nothing to do with it. There’s not much middle ground to them. They already live in a world filled with too much gray. The last thing they want from Christianity is a middle of the road faith. They are looking for a solid, loving, and authentic community that will produce results. Either we produce churches with radical disciples or we will miss an entire generation of people and fail to win back the West.”
For more on radical discipleship see:
Dinosaurs to Rabbits: Turning Mainline Decline into a Multiplication Movement