For several years I grew increasingly frustrated that as a pastor I could challenge people to give to sponsor children in impoverished countries or dig wells to provide clean water or build new facilities, and people would respond with passion and dig deep into their pockets to be generous. But when I challenged people to give so we could plant more churches, it didn’t evoke the same emotion and there wasn’t the same spontaneous generosity. I could not understand why others were not as motivated to plant churches as I was.
So, when given the opportunity to meet with one of the very best chief marketing officers around, I asked him to give me the brutal facts regarding what I was doing wrong when it came to casting vision for planting more churches.
And he didn’t hold back.
“You want to plant more churches, but people want to know what kind of churches.”
I was confused.
He explained, “When you say more new churches are you talking about the kind of churches that mismanaged finances and then spent money hiding what they did wrong?” After a pause he asked, “Or are you talking about the kind of churches that grow large and tolerate a toxic culture, that bully people to get what they want?”
He let that sink in. Then he threw a knockout blow: “Or are you talking about the kind of churches that abuse children and women and then cover it up?
“People want to know what kind of churches.”
After another pregnant pause he added, “Or are you talking about the kind of church that helped my neighbor get sober? Or are you talking about the kind of church that have a student ministry that created real belonging for my teenage niece and nephew? Or are you talking about the kind of church that saved the marriage of my business partner?”
Then he got personal. “Dave, you are so close to it that you don’t understand that churches are both the problem and the solution.”
To make it painstakingly clear he added an agonizing metaphor, “Churches are both the arsonist and the firefighter.”
Churches can save lives and churches have also ruined lives. I represent the problem. I represent the solution.
If churches are both the problem and the solution, then the same must be true of church leaders. We start churches. We lead churches. We are the primary culture creators in churches. The hard truth is, you and I are part of the problem. But the good news is we can also be a part of the solution.
More and Better
Reading this may make you feel defensive. But maybe you will drop your defenses if I go first and admit I am part of the problem.
For nearly two decades Exponential has championed the cause of planting more churches. Exponential has had as loud a voice as any. And we have used that voice to challenge leaders, churches and networks to plant more churches.
In the last several years we have been very specific in our challenge to plant more churches with The 16% Mission. We want to see 16% of all churches in the United States become reproducing (what we label “Level 4”) or multiplying (“Level 5”) churches. When the vision is realized that 16% of the 356,000 churches in the U.S. become church planting churches we will have 60,520 churches planting more churches.
Have you noticed how many times I am using the word more? We do need more churches, but what I am realizing is that more is not enough. Should we continue to pursue The 16% Mission? Yes, absolutely. But we cannot keep multiplying both arsonists and firefighters. We can’t have some churches saving lives and some churches ruining lives. More is not enough. We need more and better.
‘Greater Things’
Jesus wanted both more and better for his church. When he stood before his closest followers and looked them in the eye he said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these” (John 14:12). Jesus was not just talking about more. Jesus was saying that with his Spirit dwelling inside them they would do both qualitatively and quantitatively greater things.
Jesus wasn’t just saying this to his disciples 2,000 years ago; he is saying that to you and to me. Jesus wants us to experience the greater things both qualitatively and quantitatively. He doesn’t want us to settle for good. As it’s been said, good can be the enemy of great.
To experience the greater things we must go about Jesus’ mission the Jesus way. Qualitatively, he is calling his disciples not to settle for a good life, but to pursue a flourishing life, to “have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
This is the life of a multiplier—a healthy, disciple-making leader who champions reproduction. It’s in you. How do I know this? Because Jesus’ Spirit dwells in you.
Healthy Churches, Healthy Leaders
Having better churches begins with better, healthy church leaders. We can prioritize health through four essential areas of our interior world as Christ followers: relational, physical, mental and spiritual. These four areas, represented by the acronym RPMS, act as vital gauges of your inner life, requiring regular attention and renewal. By nurturing these areas, you will experience greater transformation, living a life deeply aligned as a multiplier in the way of Jesus.
Quantitatively, Jesus is calling us not to settle for growing our churches (Level 3 “Adding”) but to join his reproducing and multiplying movement (Level 5 “Multiplying”). Leaders of churches that focus on greater things will contribute to his kingdom expanding from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This will require us to refuse to build our own castle in order to build God’s kingdom.
Imagine a future with more vibrant, thriving churches. It’s possible when leaders embrace four powerful multiplier practices: make disciple makers, establish spiritual community, mobilize new leaders, and launch church expressions. These aren’t just tasks; they’re a way of life. When lived out routinely, repeated again and again over years and decades, these practices pave the way for kingdom multiplication.
I believe Jesus is speaking specifically to you and me as church leaders and is saying, I want you to do greater things. Yes, I want more new churches, but I also want better churches.
We’re hosting two national Exponential conferences this fall so you can be equipped to be a multiplier. Come get connected to a community with a cause for kingdom multiplication. I want the result of your life and ministry to be a ripple effect of more and better churches.
Let’s step into this calling together and watch what God can do in us and through us. Let’s ask God for more and better.