Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
Supply and demand – a basic tenet of modern business. Supply outpacing demand is a problem along with the opposite problem of demand outpacing supply.
Jesus said, “Go and make disciples!”
What happens in revival with many needing to be discipled and few disciplers? And the opposite – as a local church trains disciplers but lacks new followers to disciple?
Not good.
Let’s consider Fritos©. I love Fritos.
In the past few months, going to the grocery and not finding Fritos, I purchased Club Crackers© instead. Then, one day, I do find Fritos on the shelf, but have transitioned to Club Crackers. In my case, lack of supply, decreased demand for Fritos and increased demand for Club Crackers.
All local churches go through periods of growth.
What’s the result when new followers of Jesus have no disciplers? Do they stay faithful? After experiencing moments of discouragement or moments of temptation, and with no one discipling them – do they falter?
Eighty percent of those who accept Jesus in the American church walk away from faithfulness in the first three months.
I have spent years holding conference after conference in churches explaining one-on-one discipleship. We use the phrase, You can do this!, in our conferences and a significant percentage of those attending, believe after the conference, that they have the tools and the understanding to disciple a new follower.
But if there are no new followers in their church to disciple, their enthusiasm wains.
Disciples needing discipled and disciplers ready to disciple – the numbers must match! This is the Law of Supply and Demand.
When Jesus said, “Go and make disciples,” both evangelism and one-on-one discipleship are implied. All of us are commanded to share the gospel and be prepared to disciple.
The Law of Supply and Demand in the church can be overcome through obedience.
If we are willing “to go,” then Jesus will provide opportunities to preach the gospel. If we understand “how to disciple,” we can disciple those who accept Jesus through our testimony.
The Great Commission in Matthew 28 solves the issue of supply and demand as those who begin their journey are immediately discipled!
I pray for revival, but I pray more fervently that workers will be sent into the harvest.
A couple of weeks ago, I went to my grocery store and Club Crackers were no longer available. Now, I have transitioned from both Fritos and Club Crackers and am taking suggestions as to my next snack food.
I hope those becoming new believers in your church don’t have to look for a new church, a new religion or just return to the world.
Jesus said, “Go and make disciples!”