259. How to Be a Multiplying Disciple: Seek Pleasing Results, Not Pleasing Methods

How to Be a Multiplying Disciple:  Seek pleasing results, not pleasing methods

“When do you plan on moving?  How long have you lived at this address?  Where did you move from?  How did you happen to pick this area?  If you were to move, where would you go next?  And when would that be?” 

In the middle of the great recession and housing collapse of 2008, I clung to this sales script as if it were straight from the Bible.  I had only been selling real estate for two years when the real estate market collapsed.  In order to survive, I looked around for some way to list and sell houses in one of the worst markets on record.  I had a wife and three kids in elementary and middle school.  I had a mortgage and I had just bought a brand new Chevy Suburban. 

I saw an advertisement for a real estate sales conference held in Las Vegas taught by a man named Mike Ferry.  Mike made Donald Trump appear humble, but he guaranteed that anyone who followed his methods would sell in any market. I put the conference on a credit card and listened for three days as he expounded on how to sell homes.  I came back with the confidence that if I just put into practice what he taught, I could keep my head above water and sell homes. 

One technique he promoted was direct sales or door knocking.  This is a method that most realtors avoid at all costs.  However, desperation drove me on.  Nearly every morning I would knock on fifty to one hundred doors and recite the script Mike had provided.  Amazingly, it worked.  I started finding people who were thinking about selling their homes.  One lady said, “Yes, I need to sell my house immediately.  I called another realtor, but they never called me back!  Come right in.”  I listed and sold her home.  I found another couple that wanted to sell their home and then called my brother who was looking to buy in that same neighborhood.  He lives there to this day.    It wasn’t easy, but I was able to support my family on straight commission sales (I only earned money if I actually sold a house), build a new house and support the newborn church we had just planted in Ashland, Oregon.

Why would I do something so uncomfortable?  I was new, unknown, untested and had few relationships in the community.  I didn’t have time to build a relationship network in time to feed my family.  Desperation drove me to embrace unpleasant methods.  The result, however, was pleasant results.

If you desire to multiply disciples for Christ, you have to ask yourself the question, “Do I want pleasant methods or pleasant results?”  I talk to many disciples who sincerely want to save souls, bear fruit and help people to know God.  They’ve been praying for years to find someone open, but they remain barren.  The problem is they are praying for pleasant results while using pleasant methods.  They aren’t running to win.  Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, ²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

All disciples are running the Christian race, but not all are running to win.  They have a false expectation that even if I don’t beat my body and make it my slave, I can still win the race.  Paul understood that only those willing to crucify themselves would see the kind of life-giving results that most disciples pray for. 

When we were living in Japan, my wife, Pam, got sick of not saving souls.  She made a decision to start sharing with 100 people a day for seven days.  I was shocked.  Pam is a highly relational disciple.  She had never done anything like that before.  I joined her in the challenge.  During that week, she met a woman who got baptized within a couple of months.  She was the wife of professional baseball player in Japan.  Pam chose to prioritize pleasing results over pleasing methods.  Did she wake up every day, thinking “Yes!  I get to share with 100 people today!”?  No.  I certainly didn’t.  But in one week, she changed her entire situation. 

Last year, I decided to help out campus ministry recover from Covid.  It had shrunk from twenty-plus disciples to three.  I decided to simply go out and go sharing along with the few students.  It wasn’t easy inviting people to church who were 35 years younger.  One day I met a man named Hudson on campus.  He was a freshman.  We studied the gospel together and he got baptized.  The campus grew from three to 13 in one school year.  I had to ask myself the question, do I want pleasing methods or pleasing results?  I am pleased with the results.  God blessed the willingness to crucify ego and pride. 

If you want to save souls, you will have to decide to run to win, pay the price and practice methods that aren’t pleasant at times.  It starts with:

·         Inviting people you don’t know

·         Sharing your faith every day

·         Keeping invitation cards with you

·         Bringing people to church

·         Following up with people you’ve met 

·         Share with the first person you meet that day

·         Set a goal for how many people you will invite over the next 30 or 90 days

Saving souls is not a mystery.  It takes a run to win attitude.  It demands that you desire pleasing results over pleasing methods.  Take a look at your life right now.  If you aren’t multiplying disciples what’s your priority.

Practical application:

·         Set a sharing goal for the next seven days

·         Schedule a time to go sharing with another disciple in the next three days

·         Challenge yourself to practice an unpleasant method to accomplish a pleasant outcome