Joby Martin: Why Churches Must Multiply, Not Just Grow (Part 1)
A happy accident, surely. In hindsight, what helped it work?
I’ve been asking the same question. Everybody is asking us this question. Because at this point, we’re 12,000 people and seven campuses, and our online audience size is crazy.
I think what happened between the heydays of “seeker” places like North Point and Saddleback and today, is that people increasingly want to be called to something real and practical, even if it is hard. They don’t need a lot of custom programming. They want to know what the real deal is.
When I was in high school, they would bring military recruiters. Representatives from the Army, the Air Force, the Navy and the Marines were all there. The Army guy went first: “You guys should all sign up for the Army. You can learn a great trade and earn good money when you get out.” Then the Air Force guy: “No, you should sign up for the Air Force, because you get to work nine to five. It’s the most normal job.” Then the Navy guy gets up. “Nope. Sign up for the Navy so you can travel the world on the government’s dime.” Then finally the Marine recruiter got up. “Well, those three guys took all my time. I only have three minutes to talk. But that’s fine.” He looked around the whole auditorium, then said, “That’s fine because most of you couldn’t be a Marine. But there might be two of you who could. If you think you’re one of those two, come see me.” Man, afterward the line to talk to him went out the door.
“We needed to see our church like an aircraft carrier—a place from which to launch people to the frontlines.”
In a sense that’s what Jesus did. I’m paraphrasing, but he basically said, “Hey, I’m not saying this is easy. I’m saying deny yourself, take up your cross. Sell everything that you have.” We tried to take a cue from that and water nothing down. Ultimately, we try to glorify Jesus in our worship. And I try to preach the Bible in a way that people can understand it. And then we just trust that God’s going to breathe on it. Everything we do is rooted in the gospel.
In my sermons, I’m less concerned about what my preacher friends think, or my old seminary professors. I really don’t care. I’m way more concerned with the average guy from Jacksonville.
Talk to me about how you are embodying church reproduction from those values.
In terms of results, I’m not sure of the precise number, but we’ve planted about 350 churches around the world in the last eight years. When we first started out, of course, I didn’t know it was going to be this big, but we already had about 1,500 people showing up to what in the church planting world would be categorized as your “core team.” I knew that wasn’t going to be like a normal church plant. We had some real Spirit-infused momentum going on.
We’re a nondenominational church, and I wanted to be a part of something for assessment and accountability. I didn’t want to be out there on our own. So we joined Acts29 in 2012. Around the same time I got connected with Dave Ferguson and the Exponential people. Through those relationships and conversations, I came to believe that the way for us to accomplish the Great Commission was not going to be by building the biggest church in Jacksonville. We needed to see our church like an aircraft carrier—a place from which to launch people to the front lines.
