Win the World in 1 Generation, Part 2

In my last blog I talked about the concept of winning the world in 1 generation. By suggesting such a concept, I am not downplaying the extent of the challenge. But church planting movement strategy is one of multiplication not addition, and this explains how it can be done.

To begin with, let's do a simple exercise that is familiar to lots of people in some form. Keeping it simple (it usually starts with a penny and extends for 30 days) let me ask you whether you would rather have me give you 100 dollars per day for 21 days, or give you 1 dollar the first day and double it every day after for 21 days. If you choose the 100 per day option, in 21 days you will have 2100 dollars. If you choose the 1 dollar doubled option, in 21 days you will have more than 1 million dollars. That is addition versus multiplication.

Let's make it about souls. If you are a world class personal evangelist and win a soul by witnessing every day for the next 10 years, at the end of that time you will have about 3,650 believers. But if instead, you win and disciple 2 people the 1st year, and train them to do the same and repeat with all new disciples, at the end of the same 10 years you have over 57,000 disciples.

It has been demonstrated that 20 people who win their families and then disciple new families at such a rate would win the whole world in about 28 years. If such multiplying Jesus movements could be started in all UPGs the world could actually be won in less than a generation.

Yes, but has any movement ever multiplied at such a rate. The answer is yes, in 1 cpm in India the multiplication factor has exceeded this model. Beginning with 5 disciples in 1991, over 3 million have been baptized as new believers by around 2006 or 2007. This movement has been heavily documented by both denominational and independent researchers.

So, what should our goal be. In the next blog, I suggest a goal for completion of the great commission.

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