Multiplying Disciples
Among the Nations
Pillar #13
In Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus charges the remaining 11 apostles with His last command. He says,
“I am giving you all authority and power to do what I am asking you to do.” But He does not
stop there. He goes on to say, “I want you to go to make disciples (not just converts) in all
nations (“Te ethne,” which indicates people groups, not just countries), and to teach them to
observe/obey (not just know), all the things that I have given you.”
Did Christ actually think they could accomplish this? Was this a wild goose chase, an absurd
command, or was it really possible? It took Him three and a half years to disciple these 11 men;
could they now disciple the whole world? Jesus told these leaders to go and do what He had
done with them. How did the disciples respond to what we call the Great Commission?
As Jesus ascended to the Father, did He think, “I have just given them an impossible task which
can never be completed. My purpose is just to see if they would obey. Is it even possible these
few men can start a process to reach not just this generation, but future generations with the
Gospel, all the way to My return to earth?”
Or was His thought, “I meant what I said, and it will be done. All nations are my inheritance
from the Father; this mission is empowered by my Spirit and secured by My Father’s will and
promise that people from every tribe, tongue and nation will bow before me as Lord.“
God’s Vision for the world
The Great Commission would have been an impossibility if Jesus had not done in His life what
He did, and had not empowered the disciples with the Holy Spirit living within them. John
17:4 says Jesus had already finished the work the Father had given Him. Since He had not yet
died on the Cross, it apparently was referring to something else. The Father’s ministry
assignment had been clear. Jesus, after concentrated time with the Father, picked a handful of
men…men whom God had given Him (John 17:6, 9). He incarnated the Father to them in a
relationship. He manifested God to them up close and personal.
God had a problem…getting the message of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection to the then
known world as well as to future generations. His solution was to make Himself, an invisible
God, visible through the lives of people who would be dependent on Him. This was plan “A.”
There was and is no plan “B.”
The word “world” is mentioned 18 times in John 17. This reveals Jesus’ heart to penetrate every
tribe, people, tongue and nation (Revelation 5:9), and to come up with the best means to get the
Gospel to future generations. The dimensions of this problem are massive…to every nation establishing a beach head in every nation for the Gospel…in every nation - so that every sphere
(political, social, educational, medical) would be affected by the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and…from every nation - sending laborers from every nation to every other nation. Then, He
said, the end would come (Matthew 24:14).
God’s Strategy to reach the World
If we were God what would we do? Choose angels to deliver His message? Secure primetime
slots on TV and radio to broadcast the Gospel? Get the printing press ready to go after His
death? Start a seminary? God had a better means that we could not improve on. His best
alternative – to have Jesus identify 12 men (after spending all night in prayer prior to their
selection), associate with them in real life, disciple them in community, pray for them, and
multiply through them into all the world. Christ’s ministry was not focused on His generation
alone, but was a strategy that would reach future generations. Multiplying disciples, led by the
Spirit, were the key for Kingdom growth into future generations and all the nations.
What was Christ’s part in this?
He came to disclose the Father to 11 men (John 17:7). These were men whom Jesus said God
had given Him (this phrase is mentioned six times in John 17). The disciples were convinced
that He was God, and became men of conviction. He produced 11 godly men in a world of
millions of people…just a small drop in the bucket.
How did Christ’s investment in the 11 show He cares about the rest of the world?
That is what the training of this small band of men was all about. They were not an end in
themselves. The end result of discipling is world evangelization. They were to produce other
disciples who would win yet others to Christ and disciple them. They were the means to reach
the world (John 17:18, 20-21). God sent one; Christ sent 11; and the 11 were to make disciples,
who would make other disciples until the message reached the entire world. In John 17:20-21,
we see Christ’s multiplication plan for the nations…“I pray not for them alone (first generation),
I pray for those who will believe in me through their message (second generation), so that the
world may believe that you have sent me” (third and beyond/to successive generations).
How did the strategy work?
Through the persecution thrust upon the young church, believers were scattered (Acts 8:4-6),
and as they preached the Kingdom, the known world was reached. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
and surrounding areas heard the good news as Acts 1:8 described. Paul, addressing the
Colossians observed, “The Gospel has come unto you as it is in the entire world” (Colossians
1:6). The multiplication principle worked. And it has worked through successive generations to
the present time…disciples making disciples who in turn made other disciples in authentic
relationships. And the process continues on.
Why did Jesus choose this method?
Those He personally tutored were the best suited to share the message of the Gospel, and He
was setting up a pattern that was sustainable. It was followed by Peter, by Paul, by Barnabas
and their followers. In the New Testament, the pattern was that disciples made disciples, who
in turn made more disciples. It’s the strategy set by Jesus; it’s a strategy that still works today.
How did Jesus teach this method?
Jesus prepared the disciples by demonstration and by teaching them to utilize the divine
resources (Mark 3:14-20). He showed them the Father and gave them His Word. He spent much
time in prayer for them. He related with them in real life experiences, investing His life in them.
He used their community to train them as a team. He entrusted them with increasing
responsibilities in ministry, while always making clear their mission to disciple the nations.
To see the Gospel most efficiently reach its goal we, as a penetrating community are to:
 Begin by focusing prayer and evangelism/discipling in a nation.
 Begin with a homogenous group so the Gospel will spread naturally and rapidly.
 Plant good seed by our lives as powerful dynamic relationships (John 12:24).
 Become insiders in the nation, living among the people - looking for the men of peace.
 Make sure the Gospel is pure - not encumbered by cultural baggage…faith alone.
 Sow good seed of Scripture in receptive heart soil, and harvest when the fruit is ready.
 As a team, equip the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-13).
 Entrust to faithful men who are able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:2). Entrust means
to teach in such a way that ownership of values and transmission to others occurs. Thus
multiplication results.
The transmission of the Gospel and disciplemaking is best illustrated by a relay race. One
runner entrusted with the baton (the Gospel and Kingdom values) makes sure the next runner
grasps the baton firmly in his hand, encouraging him to hand it on well to the next runner and
so on (2 Timothy 2:2). Jesus intended that the passing on of the whole Gospel would best occur
through authentic relationships that display the ornaments of Christ’s beauty, so that the
recipients hear and see the music of our lives before they hear the lyrics. It doesn’t take the
exceptionally gifted individual, the up-front speaker or the strong leader. But it does take a
man or woman ready to believe God and invest in the lives of those God has given them.
[Much of this article is adapted from a message by Jim Petersen, the man who began discipling me when
I was a highschooler. But it was not just this message that imparted the importance of the multiplication
principle…it was what I experienced as Jim invested his life in me. It was experiencing the vision in
action, life on life. It was developed in a relationship that continues to this day. And it is what God laid
on my heart way back then to be the focus of my ministry. These days one of my greatest joys is grandfather to my daughter’s boys – Espen, Leif and Jonas. But there are also wonderful moments of joy in
meeting spiritual grandchildren, such as when I was visiting a missionary in England whom I had
discipled years ago. John, one of the converts from David’s ministry brought a young relative of his to me
whom he had led to Christ, saying, “I want you to meet your granddaughter.” All around the world
multiplication is happening…God’s strategy at work}. Jim Feiker