Lendle

Imagine you were to take an ordinary piece of paper and fold it once, twice, three times–fifty times. This is actually impossible because before long the paper will be so small you can’t keep folding it. Still, imagine you could. How thick do you think the resulting piece of paper would be? As thick as a big city phone book? As tall as a refrigerator? That is what my son thought. The correct answer is roughly the distance from the earth to the sun. This is the power of multiplication. Can’t believe it? Imagine this. Suppose I am right. How thick would the stack of paper be if we folded it fifty-one times? Roughly the distance from the earth to the sun and back, right? This is the power of multiplication. This is why I am enamored by small things. “Who has despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10). Not me, because I know that small things can lead to huge things. This is the divinely ordained strategy modeled for us through the apostle Paul. Every teacher should aspire to say this to a member of his or her group: And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Tim. 2:2) Note that the things that were imparted were not imparted one-on-one. This verse is often used to support a one-on-one discipleship ministry. I am not opposed to such a ministry. I just want to be quick to point out that this is not what this verse is talking about. This verse is not talking about one-on-one. This verse is talking about the church living out church life in the context of a group. We don’t know how big of a group it was. Perhaps it was 10. Perhaps it was 200. We don’t know. The text doesn’t say. I tend to eat, breathe, and sleep group life, so I think it in terms of a small group. I think of Paul speaking to Timothy and ten or so others in a small group. Then turning to Timothy saying, “The things we have been talking about–living the Christian life–I want you to impart to another group. In that group, find a leader that can start another group and find another leader, and so forth until the whole earth is full of His glory. It is my magnificent obsession.”