I find myself speaking in various leader’s meetings and environments about Multiplication.

This subject is a bit of a passion at the moment, for I wonder if we as church leaders in the west we have been subtly and innocently sidelined towards being addicted to addition.

Looking at Jesus call to Simon Peter and the disciples that He would make them fishers of people in Luke 5:1-11, it’s a call to partner with others. It’s also a call to the purpose to make them partners with HIM in fishing for people and a call to follow HIM. But I have never until recently seen there is a huge back story to this passage of scripture. For it would have been a miracle to catch even 10 or 20 fish at that time of day. They were professional fishermen, they knew the lake and it’s environs. To catch any fish at that time of day would have been an amazing miracle. But Jesus asks them to launch out into the deep and let down the nets. They caught so many fish the nets began to break, note it was NETS not simply a net. Also both boats were in danger of sinking. That’s MULTIPLICATION. Out of control harvest and church planting! That’s certainly not addition! I believe Jesus is saying to us today, multiplication is my desire and plan for every disciple and church.

I am convinced Jesus wants us to fish with nets. He wants church planting churches! Don’t allow yourself to be a cultisac church. A dead end street church. A church that doesn’t plant churches.

The true fruit of an apple tree is not another apple, but another apple tree! We can count the apples on an apple tree, but have you ever tried to count the seeds of an apple tree? Of course the apple tree is meant to produce apples, but it’s also naturally meant to reproduce apple trees! Let’s think about planting not only one tree, but orchards and forests!

That’s multiplication. Where do you need to adjust and see multiplication in your life and church?