church planting multiplication healthy leaders
Increasingly around our Nation, the concept of multiplication is gaining momentum. Many leaders desire to see the kind of multiplication that reproduces disciples, leaders, churches and networks.
The problem is that desire isn’t enough.
I can desire to run a marathon but unless I make changes to my lifestyle and adopt a training regime that will set me up for success, my desire will just be a fantasy.
At the recent Exponential Conference in Orlando Florida, a theme that came through strongly and consistently was that we can all be multipliers. As Dave Ferguson repeatedly said about being a multiplier “it’s in you!”.
When you think about it, that makes so much sense otherwise the Great Commission to go and make disciple makers wouldn’t have been given to all of us. Disciple makers are multipliers and we are all called to be disciples who are disciple makers.
So the big question if we want to be multipliers is “how do we move beyond desire to making multiplication a reality?”
Dave Ferguson’s new book “Multiplier: How Healthy Leaders Create Lasting Impact” has great wisdom here. It guides us through daily self-checks that Dave has been doing for over 15 years now. During that time Dave has not only championed multiplication through Exponential but practiced if through Christian Community Church and New Thing which helped plant 35,000 churches globally.
Dave is a true multiplier and swears by the simple self-checks he does daily and the impact that they have had on his life and practice and can have on our lives and practices.
In essence if regularly practised the self-checks will help you to re-wire your personal operating system, aligning it to move you from desiring to be multiplier to actually becoming one. The self-checks fall under two categories:
- The Four Gauges of a Multiplier, and
- The Four Practices of a Multiplier.
The Four Gauges of a Multiplier
The four gauges are all about monitoring your health as a leader. They are inner life gauges that help you become aware of what’s happening in you.
Dave defines a Multiplier as being “a healthy disciple making leader who champions reproduction”. The fact that a leader is healthy is a critical factor.
The four gauges help a leader assess their RPMS, that is their relational, physical, mental and spiritual health. Dave writes that “You cannot sustain multiplication in your ministry, church, or network if you are running on empty personally. These four gauges will make up a dashboard so you can monitor how you are doing and develop who you are.”
The Four Practices of a Multiplier
Whereas the four gauges are about your inner life, the four practices help you to focus on the external; what you do to create a culture of multiplication in your ministry, church or network.
The four practices direct you to consider:
- Are you making disciples who make disciples?
- Are you creating environments where disciples grow into spiritual families?
- Are you identifying, developing, and releasing leaders into mission?
- Are you sending people to start new churches in new places?
The Apostle Paul exhorted Timothy to train himself to be godly (1 Timothy 4:7). He didn’t tell Timothy to try hard, but to train himself. It’s when we train ourself by adopting new habits that we set ourselves up for success.
I’m excited by Dave Ferguson’s recently released book “Multiplier: How Healthy Leaders Create Lasting Impact” and by the potential that it has to ignite a culture and practice of multiplication in leaders across our Nation.
If you want to see multiplication happen in your ministry and want to move from desire to seeing multiplication become a reality, I encourage you to grab hold of this book and develop the daily habits of the Four Gauges and Four Practices of a Multiplier.
