Make Mature Multiply: Becoming Fully-Formed Disciples of Jesus edited by Brandon D. Smith

"Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.  And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” -Matthew 28:16-20

Last words are important. They communicate the lasting message and impact that someone desires to have after they are gone. In Matthew 28 we have Jesus’ last words to his disciples before he ascends into heaven. He of course is not done speaking to us and giving instruction through the Holy Spirit, but he nonetheless intends for these words to come with lasting authority as the marching orders for his followers. At the center of this commission is the command to make disciples of all nations. It is the marching order for all christians and the mission for the church, both the universal invisible church (the followers of Jesus throughout all the ages) and the local visible church. And yet, there remains so much confusion about making disciples and so little effort put forth in accomplishing this task. I pray that this new resource, Make Mature Multiply: Becoming Fully-Formed Disciples of Jesus,  by the folks at Gospel-Centered Discipleship (http://gcdiscipleship.com) edited by Brandon Smith will help call and equip the church to be engaged in making, maturing and multiplying disciples so that all the nations would hear the good news of the gospel and bring glory to our great God and King.
The book is a collection of articles from various contributors and is organized around the task of discipleship: making disciples, maturing disciples and multiplying disciples. This book has the potential to become a go to handbook for missional discipleship because of its balance and boldness. 

Balance

When someone becomes passionate about a topic, one error that can quickly develop is imbalance. Just watch a sports team that is really good on offense. If they don’t develop a balancing defense they may survive for a while, but when they are tested in the playoffs, they won’t be able to compete without the balance of a good defense. This book, by God’s grace, does not make that error. It develops passion for missional discipleship in a balanced way. Here are just a few examples that I noted of the balance this book strikes:

1. Missional living without being mission centered

The book is most obviously about being on mission in all of life, however the authors are careful throughout to not slip into being mission-centered, but remain gospel-centered. Mission-centered living makes participation in the mission of God more central and important than the enjoyment and worship of God Himself, for Himself. That God is the chief end in all our mission- not mission. This means we find our identity in being children of God before we see our identity as disciple-makers. These are connected for sure, one leading absolutely to the other, but there is primacy on our identity being rooted in the gospel (sinners saved by grace) and not in the mission. 

2. Practical without being devoid of theology 

The book is full of practical advice on a range of topics from prayer, to hospitality, to work and yet it is richly theological. All of the practical tips in missional living flow from a foundation of the gospel, and a strong handle of God’s word.

3. Challenging without being impossible

This book will challenge everyone, even the person who befriends every neighbor, shares the gospel on every plane ride, and raises the godliest of children. And yet, these challenges inspire us to move into mission rather than being afraid of it. The way this is done is by showing the ultimate impossibility of the mission. That may sound odd, given the way I introduced this balancing point, but hear me out. The mission of making disciples of all nations is downright impossible. We cannot change hearts, no matter how hard we try to it just won’t happen. “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27) So, this mission is impossible for us, but with God, it is not only possible, but sure. We already looked at the great commission which comes with the promise that Jesus will be with us and that brings us certainty that he will do it. This frees us to be enter the mission of God by depending on the Holy Spirit and taking steps of faith in our everyday lives to engage in making disciples of all the nations. It also frees us from the temptation that we have to be an all-star to make disciples. No. Disciple-making is for every christian and is possible for every christian, only by the power of the Holy Spirit. The book challenges us to take steps toward making disciples in and through our everyday life and leaning on the Holy Spirit to work powerfully.
    

 4. Integrating the mission of God in everyday life without losing gospel intentionality

This is maybe one of my favorite aspects about this book. As I said in the last point, we are challenged to make disciples in everyday life, from activities with our kids, to meals, to work, to church, but the balancing point is made equally strong- just living your life doesn’t make disciples. We still have to proclaim the gospel, invest in people with gospel intentionality, and call people to something bigger and more beautiful than themselves, namely Jesus. We want to engage in the mission of God everyday with all of our life, but we need to make sure we don’t just say that and fail to do it by just living our lives as “functional atheists” as one chapter puts it.

Boldness

This book is full of balance, but that does not make it sheepish in its call for us to take seriously the call to make disciples. The book is full of calls to boldness in gospel proclamation and boldness in holy living. The authors do not shy away from recognizing the failure of the church to make disciples, and call us back to our central task. This boldness is rooted in the confidence that Jesus will build his church, and is exactly what the church in the west needs to regain the biblical intensity for making disciples that will be necessary to see the completion of the great commission in our generation. Oh Lord, use this resource to that end!


You can purchase the book here:

ebook: $3.99

Amazon paperback: $9.99

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I have been engaged in disciple-making ever since I became a christian in college through the ministry of Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ). This discipleship has come in formal ways as a student leader and staff member with Cru, as an elder in the local church (New Life PCA), and in informal ways as a father, husband, and friend.
I am currently a ruling elder and a church planting apprentice at New Life Presbyterian Church in Yorktown, IN in pursuit of planting a PCA church in downtown Muncie, IN. 

There are lots of reasons for confidence in church planting, but here are 3 things in particular that give me great hope as we move forward (hint: none of them are found in me!)

1. Most importantly, God has promised that his kingdom will grow, that the gospel will grow.

If the results of our work in church planting were up to me- it would fail. We might be able to draw a crowd, get some emotional responses, and even see some financial or numerical success, but as far as seeing real kingdom growth, we couldn't do it. I have zero power in myself to make dead sinful hearts come to life so that that people repent of their sins and cling to Jesus, the only hope in this broken world. And that is why, I have zero confidence in myself to accomplish this work by myself.
However… God has promised that he is at work to grow his kingdom and that He will work to regenerate hearts so that men, women and children from every tribe, tongue and nation will worship Jesus. This is the source of our boldness and our confidence. Jesus will build His church!

I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. -Jesus(Matthew 16:18 ESV)

2. The witness of history shows that the gospel really does grow.

The apostles moved forward with the gospel at the promise of Jesus. He said he would be with them and that was enough for them to move forward with boldness in proclaiming the gospel. Well, they also had the Holy Spirit living inside of them, and they had seen Jesus raised from the dead (both pretty good boldness boosters!). We have all of that and more. We also have the witness of history. The witness of the apostles and the work that God did through them and that he continued long after they were gone. We have 2,000 years of church history to look at in order to answer the question "Does the gospel really grow?" And the overwhelming answer is yes! There are seasons of slow growth, and even some of decline, refining and darkness throughout church history, but the overarching picture is one of amazing, unbelievable growth. The gospel really does transform hearts, lives, cultures, societies, people groups, and the whole of the world. The witness of history is so overwhelming to the power of the gospel and serves as evidence that Jesus' promise to build His church was true. Which also gives weight to who Jesus claimed to be and who the church has always confessed him to be: God in the flesh. If the consistent testimony of church history is that the gospel grows as it is faithfully proclaimed in the power of the Spirit, why should we think it would be any different today?

3. Jesus has not yet returned.

This one may seem a bit odd. You may think, well, our confidence is that Jesus is returning, not that he has not yet returned. Well, I certainly have confidence that he is returning and that gives me great hope to persevere in faith. But, one of the driving forces for me to pursue church planting with confidence is that he has not yet returned, meaning, his work on earth through his church isn't complete yet.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. -Jesus(Matthew 24:14 ESV)

Jesus hasn't yet returned because the Father is not done drawing his people through the Spirit. So, we can be confident that God has people for himself that he will draw as the gospel of the kingdom, the message of the King and the salvation he offers, goes forth in all the world. This means we can walk forward boldly proclaiming the gospel and trusting in its power to seek and save the lost.


If you want to hear more about our heart for church planting listen to this sermon that I preached at New Life Presbyterian Church on May 25, 2014.