The Goal is Whole: Empower Others E1: Be Fruitful and Multiply

FULL STUDY:

The need around us is vast. So many people are yet to receive Jesus and enter the new creation He has opened up. We need to organize ourselves in such a way that our vision can scale, as Jesus Himself desires to impact so many lives. But this is not just about big numbers. The vision at its core places immense value on each person, and is focused on welcoming each one and nurturing them into abundant new creation life. There must be time for people to be welcomed and valued and for communities to form around the joy of Jesus.

Our plan for expansion and impact centers around multiplication and networking. Groups growing together, working together, and networking as Jesus leads – He is building His church! These core values create our “small-group” approach, for two main reasons:

a. Small groups are lean, low cost, and easy to start and reproduce. They do not need full time or paid leaders, or dedicated buildings. They can gather in homes, workplaces, or other locations like coffee shops, depending on the focus. Their size also makes missional outreach more workable, and the logistics of running small groups is relatively simple and manageable. Leading a group can be modeled and embraced readily in real time by others, to allow organic mobilization and multiplication.

b. Small groups allow the building of meaningful relationships, and the interaction of every member.

Whenever an INN launches, it embraces the call to be and do – be His people, and do His works. Also embedded within the “DNA” of each group is an anticipation of multiplication, out of fruitfulness:

“God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply.” (Genesis 1:28)

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5)

From the beginning of time the principle of fruitfulness and multiplication has been established. This is a very sustainable model, building on genuine high quality of life. The vision is not primarily energized by multiplication, but by fruitfulness. Within fruit though, we typically find seed, and in seed is the potential for massive growth, through calm multiplication.

In all we are doing, we are an expression of the life and presence of Jesus. That is why the John 15 passage is so central to us. Abiding in Jesus is the absolute key to fruitfulness in Him. In the INN vision we see this in terms of personal relationship with Jesus and community body life. Without personal growth and spiritual health, a person can become more of a drain on the community than a contributor. This is fine in different seasons, and especially when someone first receives Jesus. The community surrounds and encourages, pouring in from their abundance and nurturing in the life of Jesus. The goal for each individual in due course though is to flourish and take their place, playing their part in the body:

“but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love”. (Ephesians 4:15-16)

The purpose of INN life is to nurture fruitfulness, both in the manifest presence of Jesus in community and body life, and in co-working with Him to touch the world around. Inspired community and empowered outworking feed each other in a healthy expression of new creation life.

As we mentioned earlier, the INN building vision is intentionally organized around a small-group identity, for good reason. But that doesn’t mean the vision is small. Quite the opposite! It is the small identity that makes multiplication possible. Small creates the opportunity for rich body life, but it is also the means to mobilize and reproduce, with organic and potentially exponential growth.

Growth happens as a consequence of fruit. Be fruitful and multiply! Fruit produces seed to sow, although fruit is not just for producing seed. Far from it! Many “big impact” visions get over-focused on seed-producing for the sake of multiplying. Multiply, multiply, multiply… But, multiply what? In the INN vision we see fruit as the goal, just for fruit’s sake. The fruit is the purpose of the crop. Fruit is supposed to be appreciated and enjoyed, not just butchered to grab the seeds.

Fruit is why a farmer plants, and it is the same with us. We place ultimate value on enjoying the richness of new creation life together. This is our strength. Fruit is to be celebrated and appreciated. But then, we take a seed from the midst of the fruit, which is the beginnings of a new Inn. A seed that leads to a new plant.

John 12 explains clearly the multiplication process:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24)

That verse sounds a little confusing. How does the statement “and dies” relate to new life and growth? This is not literal death. If a seed were to actually die, it would never germinate and spring up into a seedling. No, what this means is dying to its identity as a seed. It falls into the ground to lay down its seed identity, and take up its new “plant” identity:

“That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; 37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.” (1 Corinthians 15:35-38)

The next verses in the John 12 passage explain this:

“He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. 26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.” (John 12:25-26)

The seed has to lose its “seed” identity, and embrace eternal purpose, which is fruit in Jesus! This is manifestation of the new creation and His presence, and it is all centered on Him, and yielding to Him. Becoming His instrument leads to the honor of the Father, which is a precious thing. Lives yielded to Jesus together attract the warm pleasure and honor of the Father, and this empowers and energizes the group in an immense sense of security and purpose.

So let’s consider how this happens. Out of a fruitful and healthy INN emerges the stirring of Jesus in one or more members to become a seed of new things. This is encouraged and nurtured within the INN community, where those who have matured in new creation life can help to steer and encourage this natural growth. But all that can be released from an INN is a seed. Those who are being led in that direction will have the grace and energy of Jesus working from within. The seed separates from the fruit, but must then “die to itself”. What is this?

This is where the embryonic group, probably with a few others invited to join, undertakes its own INNcubate launch project. Although they have been experiencing INN life for some time, the goal is not to produce a clone, or franchise. Instead, a new “INNcubate” process is put in place, so that the new fledgling group can lose the seed identity and become a new plant, just as Jesus leads. No two INNs are exactly the same! Jesus is head of His church and He is the builder. The goal through INNcubate is to embrace His purpose and become a fresh new expression of His life, focused on specific outworking, just as He directs.

“Dying” in this context is a positive growth-step. It is yielding the identity of the seed and the fruit from which it came, to take on the identity of a new “body”, as a plant, just as Jesus determines.

Through this process of prioritizing fruitfulness, and nurturing seed into being planted, dying, and emerging in its own identity, the vision abounds towards much fruit. This is the process of multiplication. The key characteristic of this is “calmness”. This is not a frantic, driven, multiplication strategy, but one where awesome fruit calmly abounds into new growth. The Vision is characterized by the lifestyle of Mary of Bethany, not her sister Martha (Luke 10:38-42)

It is worth thinking about the potential impact of this, which is astonishing. If each INN of say 10 people was to spawn one more INN every year, the whole earth would be reached from scratch in just 23 years. Of course, we do not need to start from scratch as there are already many believers on the earth. But this is why our focus is on fruit, leading to multiplication. Multiply is in the DNA, but day to day value is on the group and its glorious fruitfulness! Multiply naturally follows in its timing, as Jesus leads and releases new growth.