Passing the Baton: Generational Discipleship That Multiplies

One generation, that's all it took. The faith was not passed on with intention. An entire generation grew up not knowing the Lord. The result was a catastrophic cycle of idolatry and spiritual ruin recorded throughout the book of Judges. This is the cost of a church and of a family that is not purposeful about generational discipleship. So think about yourself. Are you being purposeful? Have you identified someone, a young believer, a new Christian, a child, a grandchild, and to whom you are pouring your faith intentionally. [00:44:15] (39 seconds)  #PassTheFaithForward

There's a moment in every relay race that determines whether the team wins or loses. Not the running, not the training, but the handoff as we saw today, the passing of that baton. If it is dropped, the race is lost no matter how fast the runners. The church of Jesus Christ is in a relay race, and the baton is the gospel. The question that confronts every generation of believers is not simply, have I received the faith, but have I passed it on? [00:37:12] (33 seconds)  #GospelRelay

So notice what Jesus did not say. He did not say make converts. He did not say fill buildings. He said make disciples. And embedded in that command is the assumption that changes everything, that those disciples will in turn make more disciples, who make more disciples, who make more disciples from generation to generation till he returns. And this is what we call generational discipleship. [00:38:08] (26 seconds)  #MakeDisciples

Generational discipleship is multiplying. There's a profound difference between addition and multiplication. A church that is adding converts one by one is doing something wonderful. The church that's making disciples who make disciples who make disciples is multiplying, and multiplication changes everything. Jesus understood the mathematics of the kingdom from the very beginning. In Mark chapter four, he described the fruit of the seed that falls on good soil. Says in four twenty, and those are the ones sown on good soil. They hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold. Thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. This is not addition. This is multiplication. [00:50:31] (51 seconds)  #KingdomMultiplication

Generational discipleship is intentional. Jesus did not gather a crowd. He invested in a core. If you study the mini ministry of Jesus carefully, you'll find something striking. The son of God, who could address millions with a word, chose to pour his deepest investment into 12 men. And within those 12, he drew even closer to three, Peter, James, and John, who witnessed his transfiguration, accompanied him into Gethsemane, and were present at the raising of Jairus' daughter. This was not an accident. This was architecture. [00:40:08] (37 seconds)  #InvestInDisciples

Now the most staggering thing about the call to generational discipleship is not its scope. Though it spans every nation and every generation, it's the promise that undergirds it all. Jesus did not simply give us command and leave us to figure it out. He gave us a promise, and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Always. Every conversation, every one on one bible study, every prayer with a new believer, every hard conversation with a struggling disciple, Jesus is with you. [00:58:18] (38 seconds)  #JesusWithYouAlways

There's a by this time reckoning that every believer must make. Given all that you ever see, all you've been taught, all the grace poured into your life, ought you not be teaching others. Now, this is not a guilt trip. It's a loving summons to maturity. And Paul drew a similar distinction in first Corinthians four fifteen. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. The world is full of people willing to give advice. Generational discipleship calls for fathers and mothers in faith who will pour themselves into spiritual sons and daughters until the character of Christ is formed in them. [00:57:21] (47 seconds)  #SpiritualParenting

So before Jesus chose his 12, he prayed all night. The eternal son of God spent the entire night in prayer before making this generational investment. The selection of these men was not casual. It was most purposeful personnel decision in all of history. These 12 men would be the foundation upon which the entire church would be built. The purposefulness of Jesus' discipleship strategy was generational from the very beginning. He was not simply training men to be good. He was training men who would train men who would train men to the ends of the earth and to the end of the age. [00:41:02] (58 seconds)  #PrayerfulSelection