I am absolutely excited about Gail’s rollout of Multipli last week.
If you haven’t yet… watch the video introduction:
If you didn’t… read Gail’s blog from last week.
If you haven’t… sign up or or recommend someone for Genesis leader.
The bottom line:
- I’m seeing people all over the place who are stuck and have good intentions about stepping into God’s mission in their everyday lives…but not doing it.
- I’m seeing pastors who have the vision for it but not the follow through.
- I’m seeing the gap between
- We should… but don’t.
- We could… but don’t.
- We have the opportunity… but don’t.
As PLI primarily trains pastors and spouses and key leaders, Multipli is a companion ministry that zeroes in on moving the people of God past good intentions or guilt or whatever and…
- Shines the light on them
- Fills them with hope
- Allows them to inspire each other
- Builds tools and rhythms into their lives that creates resilient, passionate, confident participants in the mission of God
Here’s what’s wrong (from my humble perspective):
There’s a gap! A gap between “thinking” and “knowing” that I “should,” and actually “prioritizing” and “doing.”
It’s the gap between how do I get past the “Good sermon pastor” one Sunday but nothing ever changes next Sunday.
This is true for any learning. It’s particularly true with people engaging in the mission of God!
Learning becomes good intentions. A collection of ideas. A shoulda…coulda…woulda…but didn’t!
Let’s take this leadership challenge that the entire Christian church—magnify: that in the U.S.— is facing. Most everyone in this circle would agree that by virtue of our baptism we are invited into the mission of God. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, and we’ve been invited into it as His ambassadors.
- Aware? Check that box… 99% of us are aware of it. In our neighborhoods. Everyday places of life. Ambassadors! Aware? Yes
- Ponder? Yup. We’ve probably done a good bit of pondering. Thinking. Shoulda, coulda!
- Value? Yes. Certainly a value. Along with 40 or 50 other things I value that I have trouble isolating or focusing.
- The Gap? It all stops here. Unless someone… something… (might I say Genesis Leader in Multipli) enters the picture. Encouragement. Sustained accountability. Weekly teaching. Wow!
- Prioritize? Lift it out of just pondering. If we were all Baptists, this would be doing more than just saying, “Amen.”
- Own? Take action! Beautiful, blessed action. The mission of God is a part of who I am called to be. No more guilt. No more coulda…shoulda. Watching the Spirit of God move through my available, sometimes feeble attempts. Being used as the Spirit works through Words of God!
So, here’s an illustration.
When I was a little kid on the farm, my mom still used a wringer washer to do the wash on Mondays! (I’m emphasizing little kid to soften the age differential slightly!)
It was a simple process!
- Washing machine full of water and soap. Agitator. Clothes going round and round in the water.
- Clothes fed through the wringer into rinse tub #1.
- Clothes fed through the wringer into rinse tub #2.
- Clothes fed through the wringer into the basket for pinning to the clothes line for freshly washed and dried clothes.
- Consistently the wringer squeezed out the water from destination to destination. It connected the gap.
What’s happening today?
- Compounded by COVID
- Compounded by fatigue
- Compounded by people being conditioned to watch a pastor do the important Kingdom work.
There’s a lot of churning. A lot of agitating. Going round and round… but we’re not taking the simple steps of getting out of the washing machine and into the mission.
So, my thought, let’s see what happens when you get a group of folks around you on the Genesis Leader journey.
And then…connect right along with that in shifting the culture of the congregation as a whole to disciple people of the mission. Send out the pioneers in Genesis Leader. Start creating a different, future-oriented culture in the fully online, virtual D2MC learning community starting November 4-5 this fall.
We’re facing what may be one of the most difficult seasons for the church in a long time. And, the most difficult season for sustained leadership on your part.
Thanks!
