RUN LIKE A CHAMPION

Making Disciples – 13
Sammy Tippit: Well, it has been such a joy to be talking about being a disciple of Jesus and making disciples, people who follow him, out of others. Oh, that the whole world would be filled with his glory, with people who know him and love him. Corey, it has been great just doing these sessions, to be able to share with you and to have you share with me… We’ve shared our hearts for being disciples, authentic followers of Jesus, and making disciples. Let me just say that Jesus talked about a wineskin and new wine. I think discipleship is the wineskin.

Corey Webb: Sure.
Sammy: Making disciples is that wineskin. Jesus said we are to go into the entire world, make disciples, and teach them to observe all things he commanded. Well, what had he just commanded? He had just commanded them to make disciples. So we make disciples who will make disciples. Now let me throw out an interesting thing to you that I’ve found in the Scripture. See what you think about this.
Corey: Okay.
Sammy: What Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20, the last thing he said before he left the earth and ascended to heaven, is the same as the first thing God told Adam and Eve. The first commandment God gave them was, “Be fruitful and multiply.” Now that was before they fell, so they were in relationship with God, walking with God, loving God, and loving one another. God said, “Now I want this whole world to be filled with people like this.”
Then Jesus said, “I want you to make disciples who will make disciples.” That’s multiplication. He said, “Go into all of the world.” He wants the whole world. So the heart of God is that this planet we live on would be filled with people who love him. Spiritual multiplication is how you do that. Talk to me a little bit about multiplying and how important it is not just to make a disciple but to help someone grow to the place where they can make disciples.
Corey: Right. A key in all of this is our recognizing our responsibility on earth. We read Paul say in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works…” We look at that. I like to use this four-step phrase about multiplying yourself. The first step is that we do and they watch. Then they do it with us. Then they do and we watch. We give observation. We encourage. Then, once we see that we have this down, they do and someone else watches.
Sammy: That is great. I think we need to go back through it because I want people to really get this. We do and they watch.
Corey: Right.
Sammy: Secondly?
Corey: Then they do it with us.
Sammy: They do it with us. Then they do it and we watch, and we give helpful observations, tips, and things to help them be more effective in what they’re doing. The fourth thing is that they do it, and then the multiplication process starts.
Corey: Someone else watches.
Sammy: Someone else watches. That starts the multiplication process.
Corey: Yes.
Sammy: I don’t know if you do the whole numerics thing where you take one year, and if one person leads one person to Christ and disciples them, that makes two. The next year, it’s four. The next year, it’s eight. The next year… In a matter of just 20 or 30 years, you have millions of people who have come to Christ and grown in Christ.
Corey: That’s the plan.
Sammy: So if we could see that multiplication process… There are two Scripture verses in Zachariah, chapter 4, that say, “…Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” But it also says in that same chapter, “For who has despised the day of small things?” The powerful work of the Holy Spirit is when we take one person, say, “Man, do you really know and love my Jesus?” and help that person grow to where they can do the same thing so they can multiply that out.
There was a point in the book of Acts when so many were added to the church… On the day of Pentecost, 3,000 were added. Then you find more people being added, but there is a point in the book of Acts where it says, “But the word of God increased and multiplied.” That’s when it gets explosive. That’s when it becomes powerful. It’s when we begin to experience that multiplication process.
Corey: Yes.
Sammy: Out of these four things… We obviously aren’t doing it, because the world would be won to Christ by now. Where does it break down?
Corey: I think, Sammy, that a lot of times it breaks down with the relational part. We’re not having relationships like God wants us to have relationships with people. There are walls up everywhere. People are too focused on themselves, so we’re not taking the time to do that today.
Sammy: Let me take one word you said in there and then expand on it and see what you think about this. The word is walls. When I went into Romania back in 1980, a great revival was taking place. I mean, the Spirit of God was moving. Churches were growing in the northwestern region of Romania, and Oradea was the center of where that revival was taking place. Because of transportation… This was during the days of communism.
They didn’t have good transportation, so you had a mountain range that sort of contained it on one side, and then you had a political border that contained it on the other side, so there were these walls that sort of contained this move of God’s Spirit. One of the Christian brothers came to me and said, “Sammy, you have a car. You can go over those mountains. I’ll go with you if you’ll help me get across that mountain. Let’s spread this.”
We went across the mountain. Of course, then God just moved in the country, and there was a great revival that spread (not because of us). We had to get past the walls and go past those barriers. There are political barriers. There are sin barriers. There are racial barriers. There are language barriers. Whatever the wall is, we have to be willing to tear it down.
Corey: Right. As we watch Jesus, we see Jesus was the Master Inviter. He was always inviting people to join him. When we take the time to invite, to believe in the ones we don’t want to believe in… I can remember that as a youth pastor years ago… We had one kid named Bubba who invited his friend to a youth event.
His friend was far from God. He was in a gang. No one ever thought this friend would ever change, but this friend came to this event and gave his life to Christ. His life began to change. He went to a leadership camp with us and led his first person to Christ at a leadership camp. It was someone from Japan who was learning English.
He led that person to Christ on that campus. He went home, and then he called me the next day. He said, “Corey, the greatest thing that has ever happened to me happened last night. Well, wait a minute. It was the second-greatest thing. The first thing was when I gave my life to Christ. But last night, I got to lead my dad to Christ.”
Sammy: Wow.
Corey: He was weeping over the telephone. His dad saw a difference in him and asked him what it was, and his dad gave his life to Christ. It’s this multiplication piece. His dad became the bus driver for our youth events. I remember his dad standing at a youth event one time, weeping as he watched students begin to yield themselves to the heart of God.
Sammy: I love little phrase you said. Jesus is the master inviter. What I want to do right now is invite you, listener, not only to be a disciple but to be a disciple maker who will teach others to grow in their faith in Christ and help them to come to the point where they can do the same thing. I want to invite you to be a multiplier.
I want to invite you to do what Jesus said to do: go into all of the world and make disciples. Don’t let some barrier, some human barrier, whether it’s racial, ethnic, language-related, geographic, or political… Don’t let any barrier stand in the way of your making disciples of all peoples and all nations. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” God bless you as you make disciples of Jesus.
Corey: Amen.