Explosive Exponential Growth

“Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,” and it will move.” (Matt. 17:20)

The mustard seed is Jesus’ preferred reference for all things tiny. We know now there are objects that are much smaller, but without the aid of magnification it’s rare to encounter anything significantly smaller than a mustard seed. If one does find something smaller, it is likely to be —a grain of sand or a speck of dust. The mustard seed is dynamic though, growing into a bush which begets more mustard seeds.

How exactly does it accomplish this remarkable transformation? The secret is exponential growth. The basic idea behind exponential growth is doubling: one doubles to two, two doubles to four, four to eight, and so on. At first, it doesn’t seem that impressive, but after just ten repetitions we’re over 1,000, and in twenty we exceed 1,000,000. If the cells of a mustard plant are doubling, we can begin to see how that one tiny cell can produce something so big in a short period of time.

We don’t commonly witness exponential growth, which is why the parable is so illuminating. Most things that grow, grow linearly. As children, before we can even speak, we can stack one block on top of another on top of another. Pretty soon we have a nice tower, but it can only grow one block at a time. If mom or dad helps, we can double our productivity, but parents still only have two hands, so the growth of the tower is still linear. We write one word at a time, we walk one step at a time, we score goals one at a time—all the ways we mark our progress are done linearly.

Unless an example of exponential growth like the mustard seed is brought to our attention, we might never experience this powerful image of faith. Only the principle of doubling can accomplish exponential growth. In terms of spreading the gospel, that’s accomplished when one shares with two friends, and they each share with two friends, and they each share with two friends, and so on.

Through the use of microscopy, we now understand that all living things take advantage of exponential growth at some point; it’s just that it often occurs out of sight. In the case of people, we go through our doubling phase in the womb. We all start life as a single cell. It takes about 24 hours to copy itself, so that one cell can become two after about a day. If we were stuck with linear growth, at a rate of one cell a day it would take over 100 billion years to make all the cells in a single adult human.

The power of doubling means we get most of the way there in 9 months; by the age of 18, we have roughly 50 trillion (that’s five with 13 zeroes after it) cells in our body.

Read Acts Ch. 2 Vs. 42-47

The Fellowship of the Believers

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.

44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.

45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.

46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,

47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

In the Book of Acts, we see nothing short of explosive, exponential growth. In Acts Chapter 1, there are 12 disciples and 120 believers. Jesus is no longer physically with them. They are bewildered and frightened but all that changes on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit comes upon them and they’re filled with power. These timid disciples are changed into bold witnesses for Jesus, who take the transforming Gospel into the streets. The results are electrifying. In response to Peter’s first sermon, 3000 were baptized and became followers of Jesus. (Acts 2:41 NIV) Then in Chapter 4, we read of Peter and John speaking to the Jewish leaders in the Sanhedrin. “Many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about 5000.” (Acts 4:4) From there, the Gospel message goes back out onto the streets, where there are miraculous signs and wonders performed by the Apostles. The result is “…more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number”. (Acts 5:14 NIV)

In fact, Acts tells us that “each day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” Acts 2:47 In every chapter of Acts, we see that the church is growing. But it really took off when the gospel jumped the cultural barrier, as Peter and then Paul began telling non-Jews, the Christian faith began to spread far beyond Jerusalem and Judea. The best estimates are that by 350 AD, 33 million of the 60 million in the Western world were followers of Jesus.

One of the lessons of the Book of Acts is that the church is a living, dynamic organism and all organisms are wired for growth. The explosive growth of the early church is testimony to the nature of the church to grow. Growth is inbred in the very genes of the church, and it is critical that every part of the church’s life and mission leads to growth. Even when it reaches maturity, growth still occurs. For example, the human body in adulthood, completely replaces itself with new cells every seven years, renewing it for the work ahead. The same goes for the body of Christ. Essential to renewal is that the church must reclaim its purpose to grow. God’s hope and dream is that every church would grow because its mission is reaching his children with the Gospel to return to a personal relationship with Him and to join Him in building His kingdom here on earth.

Let me be clear here. We are not talking about numbers. We are talking about people. We are talking about souls. There is an eternity hanging in the balance. And if a person is not reached for Jesus Christ, the Scriptures tell us they will live eternally separated from God. Numerical growth is never just numbers but rather individual persons who encounter the forgiving grace of God and are transformed by the renewing work of Jesus Christ.

Secondly, it is not about growing our church. It is about reaching our community. There are far more people in the community than there are in our church and there always will be. But we are called to transform the community as we establish the kingdom of God. We have to be more focused on the kingdom than Cane Creek Friends Meeting. The concept of church gets in the way of explosive growth. Because biblically, there is only one Church and the main purpose of that Church isn’t to grow but to transform the community by building the kingdom of God. Communities begin to change when a church grows and exerts more influence on its community.

So that raises a question? What is our vision for this church? Growth starts with our dream or vision for the church. If our dream is small so that we can accomplish it, then it means we don’t need God. This is a recipe against explosive growth. God’s dream is always bigger than the dream you have for your life or for your church. What we need to do is take our goal for this church or for our lives and stretch it beyond what we can accomplish on our own. Explosive growth is possible. It is possible to double, triple or quadruple the size of a church. We see this in the Book of Acts. Dynamic, explosive growth is God’s will and design for the church down to its very DNA. But explosive growth is difficult. Everything great for the kingdom of God or for Jesus Christ always is. It calls for us to invest everything we have and everything we are in God and His call for our lives. It takes time and effort, sacrifice and hard work. And, first of all, it starts with us.

First, pray for exponential growth. Is your goal doubling or tripling the number of people finding Christ and worshipping with us every Sunday. That starts with praying specifically for the people that we know need God. We cannot ignore the prayer principle: When we pray diligently, we get big results. Every great movement of God and every significant growth of the church and the Kingdom has been bathed in prayer.

Second, be committed to your spiritual growth and renewal. Explosive growth starts first when we invest in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ and in the unity of the Body of Christ. One cannot be bold in his or her faith if they aren’t excited and passionate about their faith and Jesus Christ. For the church to grow and grow dramatically, it starts first with your growth, with our growth.

Methodism is one of those stories of explosive growth in the church’s history but it started first with John Wesley’s encounter with Jesus and passionately pursuing his relationship with Christ. Alan Hirsch writes, “Following a life changing encounter with God, (John) Wesley began to travel throughout Great Britain with a vision for the conversion and discipling of a nation and a renewal of a fallen church….Within a generation, one in 3 people in Britain had become Methodist and the movement was becoming a worldwide phenomena.” When your faith comes alive and your passion fires for Jesus ignite, it’s then that God can do great things through you! So how’s your relationship with Jesus? How are the passion fires of faith burning in your life? Are you on fire for Jesus?

Third, become a missionary to our community rather than just a member of the church. We are becoming one of the most unchurched nations in the world. Less than ¼ of Americans are in church every week. We now have the first generation of people in America’s history who have no church experience as they were growing up. We are a biblically illiterate nation. The church is growing on every continent except in North America. That type of situation calls for missionaries. To be a missionary, you have to move beyond being just a member. The church is the only organization in the world where people come together and focus on others. Jesus said he “came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.” And we are to follow in His footsteps! We have to move beyond being a member and become a missionary.

There are three things missionaries always do.

First, they speak in the language of the people they are trying to reach. What’s the language of the day in Snow Camp?

Second, they speak in the technology of the day. What’s the technology of the day in Snow Camp?

Third, they speak in the culture of the day. You have to know the culture to identify with people. For too long, we have asked people to come into a foreign culture, the church, and they’ve heard a safe Gospel of love, grace and salvation. The problem is they never hear it because they are not comfortable. Most churches that are stagnant or dying have an uncomfortable culture foreign to most unchurched people today. People today need to enter a safe culture, their culture, to hear a Gospel where God calls them beyond themselves and into his loving world. Nothing is more important than a church’s worship. This is the place that most unchurched people encounter the church and the beginning point where everything else in church happens. This is where we need to invest to have a worship experience that communicates to people today through their language, technology and culture.

Missionaries are always available to share the Good News of Jesus and their personal relationship with Jesus. Missionaries are willing to be inconvenienced to bring other people along the spiritual journey. They are willing to leave comfortable places and live a sacrificial lifestyle. Missionaries know that no matter what you are doing, you can be a missionary. Whether you are at work, out shopping, at school or doing anything in your neighborhood or community, you can be a missionary for Christ.

Fourth, understand and claim that your mission in life is to share your faith story. If the pastor is the sole evangelist, the church will not have explosive growth. The only way a church will ever experience explosive growth is when everyone becomes an evangelist. You are the church’s primary evangelist. It takes a church to reach the community. We have an Outreach Committee. But we should all be members of the outreach committee. YES! You are the primary evangelist and outreach person of the church. Say it with me, “I am the primary evangelist and outreach of the church.” We have to invite people to church and bring them to church with us. 50% of all people who are invited to church will attend. Where explosive growth occurs is when people are invited to church every week and when they become committed missionaries, they begin inviting their friends. That is when growth becomes exponential and explosive.

Fifth, be sold out to the Gospel and the mission of the church. Every church that experiences explosive growth has a core group who have become sold out to the Gospel and the mission of the church. You can be in that number! Connecting our community to a lifestyle devoted to Jesus. Some are still trying to hold onto what this church was. The problem is it’s not the 20th century. It’s 2021 and the world is different, Snow Camp is different. It is time to get on board with God’s mission for our church so that we can have unity as we move forward.

Here are three keys for explosive growth.

First, we need to have big days like “Invite a Friend Day” and other outreach events. The biggest influx of people results when your friends bring their friends, who bring their friends and so on.

Second, we need to advertise. The No. 1 way to invite people is by word of mouth. And the cost for word of mouth is phenomenal: zero. If God is leading us to do something big, don’t invite just three or four people; invite ten, twenty, and even more!

But we also need to underwrite our efforts of inviting people with email, social media, text messages, and other creative ways. (tell my story about group text)

Third, more people have to step up and serve, freeing the pastor from administration, hospital and home visits, giving out assistance and even teaching responsibilities. In the end, the key is that the pastor and lay people have one on one conversations with the unchurched that leads to their conversion or their participation in the church. Together, we can experience explosive growth!