Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to the article “Islam growing faster than Christianity worldwide” posted on the en website on 11 July, about the recent Pew Centre report on the current and future comparative (competing) growth of worldwide faiths. The immediately urgent question for all Christian leaders is: “When are we all going to respond to this very serious situation worldwide and stop doing traditional evangelism and discipling “our way” (just like Frank Sinatra’s song!), and start doing it God’s way? (As in Hudson Taylor’s sentiment: God’s work, done God’s way, will never lack resources!)
In recent years, Operation World has increasingly identified nominalism as a major issue globally in the Body of Christ; together with the associated urgent need for discipleship – the missing jewel of the Body of Christ.
Last September in Seoul/Incheon, Korea, the Lausanne 4 Global Congress State of the Great Commission pre-report revealed via Dr Matthew Niermann’s presentation, that discipleship is the number one gap and need of the Great Commission worldwide. The report also showed the escalating growth effectiveness of “Disciple Making Movements” (DMM) in church planting.
DMM’s accelerating growth and impact results from the principle of the inherent multiplication impact when fulfilling Jesus’s Great Commission by “EVERY disciple being a discipler”. I would say that DMM is more Biblically correctly called “Disciple Multiplication Movements”, since there is no “make” in the Ancient Greek of Matthew literally reads, 28v19. [Correct – the Greek “Having gone, therefore, disciple all the nations...” – Ed.] Significantly, DMM also prioritises “raising up and training leaders with a missional vision”, which is the number two gap and need identified in the above-mentioned pre-report. DMM also uses exceedingly fruitful Discovery Bible Studies (novo.org/dbs), which are bringing thousands to Christ. By the way, DMM initial training can be done in a weekend, with ongoing coaching!
I can recall, years ago, reading of a Christian mathematician having calculated that if every disciple of Jesus worldwide shared the gospel with just one (or perhaps two) annually, the whole world could be reached with the gospel of Christ in about 40 years! Which army of the world in history merely leaves it to their top leaders to be engaged in battle? Come on ekklesia worldwide, we are in this together; and the best of all is that Jesus is with us – He promised!
Yours sincerely,
Brian Mallalieu, by email
