MULTIPLYING MISSIONAL LEADERS: A REVIEW
Everything you own, have worked for and even the people you love will all be gone. Even your best-laid plans will, over time, disappear. A cheerful thought, no? The only thing that has any real staying power are the immaterial things we leave behind.
As a follower of Jesus I have learned to understand this in terms of making disciples. The more I give myself over to pouring into the life of another, the more they will do the same. As they do, parts of me (really, Christ in me) will spill out of their life. Most Christian men and women that I have met have some desire to do this. The problem is not that they don’t care, but that they do not know how.
Mike Breen’s recent book Multiplying Missional Leaders moves toward changing that.
It weds theory and practice and invites innovation on the part of all who are willing to take on the journey of making disciples. If you know Mike he is a pioneering leader – always on the move. Yet, I’ve learned much from him about serving others and even more about making disciples as I have seen him pour himself into others.
In Multiplying Missional Leaders he not only tells wonderful stories (in which you can almost hear him speaking), but lends imagination to the reader as to how we can empower more men and women than ever in their service to the Kingdom.
I say “lends imagination” because this is not a simple “how to” book. If it were, I’m not sure I would have liked it very much. It is not a formula to plug your church’s information into. It is much more of a form that serves as a framework and a starting point.
Those who read it will find themselves spurred on to greater thinking about how to care for and cultivate those who are a part of their faith communities.
The greatest importance of this book is it’s focus on making disciples who make disciples – this cannot be understated. The reason that you and I follow Jesus today is because for the last 2,000 years men and women have heard the call to make disciples (sometimes brilliantly and other times badly). Nonetheless, here we are.
Does it have all the answers? No. Is it the magical silver bullet? No. Is it worth the read? Yes.
My biggest dream for the city of Denver (and I hope it’s the same for you and your city) is that years from now, when my kids are old and gray and I’m dead, my grandkids and their kids will wonder why Denver is a city that is whole and healed.
And when they ask, my children will tell a story – not about me – but about thousands of us who believed that we can actively participate in the prayer of Jesus when he said, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven …”
This will only happen if we learn to mobilize mission minded men and women who learn to mobilize mission minded men and women. Then generations from now, we may not be remembered but the Kingdom will be visible in a way that it has never been before.
And that’s something that is worth leaving behind.