Why Church Multiplication is Important

^{What would your church look like if every follower of Jesus was involved in making disciples who made disciples? Can you imagine a day when all of the leaders in your church actively enlisted and developed new leaders? What if your church had so many leaders that you had to send some of them out to revitalize and plant other churches in order for them to continue developing spiritually? Can you imagine the impact on global evangelism and missions if every church was sending people to the mission field? This isn't a dream, it is a Biblical expectation. Church multiplication is both prescriptive and descriptive in the Acts of the Apostles and early churches in the New Testament.}  

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” - Mark 4:20 ESV

When we look at churches in the New Testament, we see that they made disciples who made disciples, developed leaders who developed leaders, and planted churches who planted churches. 

But the word of God increased and multiplied. - Acts 12:24 ESV

In the Great Commission passage of Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus instructed his disciples to make more disciples. In Acts 13, the church in Antioch sent out leaders to spread the Gospel further and to start more churches. In Ephesians 4:12, Paul instructed the church in Ephesus to build up the body of Christ by preparing the people for the work of the ministry. 

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. - II Timothy 2:2

In the letter to the Colossians, Paul is writing to people that he did not know in a church that he did not start. We understand from the context in chapters 1 and 4 that Paul heard about this church from a disciple named Epaphras.  Evidently the church in Ephesus sent Epaphras to Colossae to preach the Gospel and start a church there. Then, the Colossian church started churches in Hierapolis and Laodicea.

This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. Acts 19:10 ESV

It is clear that the New Testament pattern is for church leaders to train new disciples of Jesus to obey His command to take the Gospel to all people groups everywhere. Church leaders also developed more leaders who served in the local churches and were also sent to spread the Gospel and plant churches in other places.  The church in Ephesus was so effective in following the instructions of Paul that they were able to reach everyone in their entire region with the Gospel as reported in Acts 19:10.

According to a study conducted by LifeWay Research, only 7% of the churches in America are practicing Biblical multiplication (You can download the report by clicking here).