Over the past few weeks, we have been looking at White Oak’s Core Values. Our core values are not the only values we have as a church. There are many values we find in the Bible that are captured in our central beliefs about Scripture, God, and Jesus. There are also many commands in Scripture that undergird our actions and obedience. Our Core Values, however, are the things that we believe will drive the specific faith-actions necessary for White Oak to accomplish all the Jesus has given us to do.
The final value I want to talk about this week is the value of multiplication.
In order to be completely transparent with you, you have to know that I hate math. I always have. It has consistently been my weakest subject. My brain just doesn’t function with numbers. Words, yes. Numbers, no way! That being said, multiplication is interesting to me. Unlike addition, where you take what you have and continue to stack more on, multiplication exponentially increases what you started with incrementally and far more quickly than addition alone.
I believe Jesus knew exactly how that worked. He talks about it in some stark language in John 12.
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
Jesus’s directives in John 12 to those who would follow him was to go and die. We die to ourselves in order to find full and lasting life in Jesus. Jesus was predicting his death and resurrection in this passage. However, he’s setting the stage for more than that. We, too, will be the seed that Jesus talks about. Buried in the soil but springing up from the ground to produce life-giving impact for others.
We mistakenly believe that if we simply invite someone to church, recruit one more volunteer or one more person to our Life Group, or check one more religious to-do box, then we have followed Jesus’s directives. Not necessarily.
I notice a few things Jesus does in his style of math and multiplication:
He goes to the uncomfortable places to engage with unfamiliar people.
He brings more than one person along with him for every teaching moment.
He engages in a variety of spiritual habits keeping his heart connected to the Father’s.
He trains, equips, and sends out his disciples to multiply his work.
He was willing to die (and did so) in order that love would multiply.
This is why at WOCC we will strive to multiply disciples of Jesus by calling on one another to lead, teach, serve, and invite. We’ll pave the way with more life groups, more leaders, more church locations, and more opportunities for spiritual formation. It’s everyone’s job. Not just those who are already leading. Not just the staff. Everyone’s. (Read John 12 again for a reminder).
We believe that our impact on this world can be multiplied beyond measure. We are called to go and make disciples of all nations, to spread the love of Christ far and wide. And so, we are willing to go to great lengths to see that mission accomplished. We are willing to sacrifice, to suffer, and yes, even to die if that's what it takes to see God's kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.
In your next season of following Jesus, how will you join us in multiplication? What spaces will you create? What persons will you invite to join you? What habits will you practice? How far will you expand your circle? How big will you pray?
Let’s go, White Oak. Let’s multiply.
Nathan Hinkle
Lead Pastor
White Oak Christian Church