Small is Big. Slow is Fast.

When is less actually more? We believe that when it comes to helping people develop into disciples (followers or learners after Christ who love God, love people, make disciples, and multiply) that small is actually big and slow is really fast.

I can hear the objections though. People saying, "That doesn't make any sense! What do you mean?! No, Big is big! Fast is fast!!"

And I would say, "It makes perfect sense if you look at what Jesus did."

Consider Jesus' example...

• Jesus chose to spend 85% of his time with twelve Jewish teenagers of somewhat questionable aptitude according to the Rabbinical wisdom of the day. He didn't start a megachurch, He ignited a multiplying movement. He focused His efforts primarily on twelve men and changed the world! Small is big.

• Jesus made a very small geographical footprint on this planet. The Son of God came to Earth in the flesh and never traveled more than 100 miles away from His hometown, yet He impacted every corner of the globe! And the Gospel is still being disseminated throughout the nations, to the ends of the earth. Slow is fast.

• Jesus didn't cater to crowds. In one example, in John chapter 6, Jesus had 15,000+ people following Him. This crowd that had seen Him multiply some bread and fish were looking for miracles and a meal. But Jesus wasn't interested in people following Him for what they could get from Him, He was looking for people who would follow Him and give their live for Him. He sent the crowds away and went on with just the twelve that day. But those 12... make that 11... would change the world. Small is big.

• Jesus spent three years building up His small group - His band of disciples. Although His was (and is) the most urgent and important mission in all of history, Jesus was never in a hurry. Slow is fast.

An Upside Down Kingdom

In Dallas Willard's book, The Divine Conspiracy, Willard lays a foundation in the opening chapter by explaining the "upside down Kingdom" that Jesus ushered in. Willard tells the story of a fighter pilot on a training run at night who pulled up sharply on his steering column to ascend. Instead of climbing the stratosphere, the pilot tragically descended to his death, colliding with the ground at top speed. What the pilot didn't know was that he was flying upside down.

We are so used to viewing success in the Western Church as a large Sunday gathering, social media boasts - err, excuse me, posts - detailing the hundreds baptized that weekend, the mega church gone multi-site to amplify their pulpit... that we may have lost site of the goal. (Please don't misunderstand; these are good things. The problem is when we make these our measure of success we often exchange good for great.)

This is the kind of "Scoreboard" that still hangs in many churches today.

Who Moved the Goalposts?

Jesus did not command us to "go and make converts." He commanded us to "go and make disciples." Jesus is looking for disciples. That's what Jesus counts. While we're counting buildings, budgets, and butts in the seats (the Killer B's), Jesus is saying, "Where are the disciples?"

That's the R.O.I. He's expecting. But somehow, somewhere along the line, the Church has moved the goalposts. We've unintentionally redefined success. We've taken the starting line - baptism - and we've redefined it as the destination.

Here's the tough question to answer: What is the difference between a "convert" and a disciple? It's tough because no one wants to judge who's a disciple and who's not and we don't know people's hearts. I certainly don't want to make that call. But what I can tell you is that I've seen the difference in my own life. (Keep reading to hear my story.)

People of the Fourth Soil

Jesus explained it like this. (Mark 4:1-20) God is the farmer who throws out the seed near and far. The seed is the Word of God, the Gospel. That good seed lands on four different soils;

• Some seed falls along the sidewalk where it's immediately taken away. Birds (Satan) snatch it up and the seed never finds soil or takes root.

• Some seed falls in extremely shallow soil where it begins to grow, like gangbusters the seed sprouts up, but just as quickly it dies under the strain of the heat (trouble and opposition) and because of the lack of nutrients from shallow roots.

• Some seed falls in the thorny soil where it takes root and grows but the weedy surroundings choke the life out of the plant, making it unfruitful. The thorns and weeds are the worries of this world, the lure of money and possessions, and all that people place in importance before God.

• Some seed though, yes, some seed finds the good soil. And in that good soil the seed of the Gospel is received, believed, and acted upon in faith. There the seed grows into a healthy, reproducing plant that yields a great crop - more than 100 times the seed that was originally sown.

Do you see it?! So much of what we call the church today is stuck in the third soil, rendered useless for God's mission to make disciples of all nations because they love the world more than God.

I don't know what the condition of the souls in the third soil are - where they'll spend eternity - but I can't read this parable and think for a moment that life in the thorns describes the abundant life that Jesus came and died for us to experience. (John 10:10)

"God desires a people of the fourth soil."

We believe that God desires a people of the fourth soil. And because we believe that, we will do things differently to produce disciples whose lives are characterized by faithfulness and fruitfulness. Who never stop conforming to the likeness of Christ. Men and women who don't fade under opposition, who don't go with the flow of the world, but who love Jesus so much that they give Him their very lives! Charles Spurgeon said it best; "Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter."

My Story: From the Thorns to the Good Soil

For nearly twenty years I considered myself a devoted Christian. I had all the outward appearances of one: Church attendance (3+ times a week), avoiding the "bad" stuff, active involvement in youth group... And certainly there were real, even if brief, seasons of pursuing God during high school and college. I was a baptized believer but I'm not sure I was truly a disciple. I went to church. I believed in God. But I wasn't following God. I wasn't submitting my life and will to Him for His purpose.

In 2010 God used a co-worker's challenge to read the Bible to shake me awake. I realized so much of what I believed I wasn't living out. I read in Revelation that God would rather me be one extreme or the other - either hot or cold - anything but lukewarm. But the more I read I began feeling like the poster-child for lukewarm.

Then something changed. As I read the Bible God began transforming my heart. He tore down idols I'd put in place of Him and He gave me a new purpose in life. I found my primary calling was to know Christ and make Him known. In short, I finally gave up life in the third soil and took up residence in the fourth soil.

What led to this change? It was the small, slow, intentional prayer and investment of a co-worker named Rob Little over a period of months that led to real transformation and growth in my life. God used this friend to help uproot me from the shallow, weedy soil and replant me firmly in the good soil. From that healthy place God has used me to help nourish other fourth soil disciples who would become disciple makers themselves.

" That one investment - small and slow as it was -

brought about a big return."

That one investment - small and slow as it was - brought about a big return. Small is a seed planted and slowly nurtured that faster than expected produces a big harvest!

The Gospel was never meant to terminate with us, it was meant to germinate in us and spread. We are made to be conduits through which truth and life and grace flow. The Gospel was on its way to someone else when it came to you and me. The people of the fourth soil make sure that seed is planted in the hearts of others, taking up the mission of Jesus as their own and spreading the seed far and wide, looking for the few seeds that will land in good soil, take root, grow, and bear fruit.

Disciple Making is a Small, Slow Process that Yields Big Results

That's why City Church prioritizes disciple making. That's why we believe that people are the church and that every member is a minister. We're not an organization but an organism, planted and watered and grown by God to bear fruit that will last.

Because of this belief, our main focus isn't primarily on the Sunday gathering. That's an important part of the equation, but we believe the gathered and scattered church is made up of the people of God who are found all over the city every day of the week doing small things slowly that will yield bigger results than we could imagine, faster than we could have ever hoped for.

For more on this topic, see part 2 of this conversation; "Multiplication Wins Every Time."