4 KEYS TO BEING A MULTIPLYING LEADER

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INTRO:

  • everybody knows Paul. Thirteen books of the New Testament. Missionary journeys. Church planter. Theological giant.
  • But Paul doesn't exist without a man most Christians can barely tell you one fact about. Paul planted churches. But SOMEBODY PLANTED PAUL.
  • And here's why that matters for this room: God is not asking you to be the next Paul. He's asking you to be a Barnabas!
  • Our DG networks should not be seen as just a group of people.
  1. They are breeding grounds for growing leaders..
  2. we're not just leading people, we're GROWING leaders. 
  • I want to show you the four moves Barnabas made, because they're the same four moves every multiplying leader makes.

Acts 11:22-26 (NLT) -"When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw this evidence of God's blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord. Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)"

PRACTICE #1 - MULTIPLIERS SEE WHAT OTHERS OVERLOOK 

Acts 9:26-27 (NLT) - "When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had really become a believer! Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus..."

  • A. Everybody else saw Saul's PAST. Barnabas saw Saul's POTENTIAL.
  • The whole church saw a threat. Barnabas saw a teammate.
  • Multiplication starts with vision, not for buildings, for PEOPLE.
  • This is exactly what God told Samuel when everybody was impressed with the wrong brother: "People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).
  • KEY!! Multipliers don't recruit finished products. They call out unfinished potential.
  • Here's the leadership question: Who is God highlighting to you that has untapped potential? How can you pull it out?
  • The inconsistent one. The rough-around-the-edges one. The one with a past.
  • we're sometimes quick to write off the one who is not very consistent, but maybe they require more leadership in their lives.
  • Quick reminder: BARNABAS HAD A PAST TOO, and so did you. Somebody saw past yours. Now it's your turn.
  • When you see potential in people and speak it out loud, you are doing Holy Spirit work.

PRACTICE #2 - Multipliers pursue the disciples

Acts 11:25 (NLT) - "Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul."

  • A. Barnabas didn't send a flyer. He took a TRIP.
  1. Antioch to Tarsus is roughly 100 miles. No cars. No phones. No "hey bro, you free?" text.
  2. Saul had been sent home to Tarsus about TEN YEARS earlier (Acts 9:30). He was off the grid. Forgotten. Benched.
  3. And Barnabas went and FOUND him.
  • B. Word study: "to look for" is the Greek word anazēteō, ana (thoroughly, up and down) plus zēteō (to seek). It means to hunt diligently, to search until you find.
    1. It's the exact word Luke uses in Luke 2:44-45 when Mary and Joseph realized Jesus
    2. was missing and searched everywhere for Him.
    3. That's not casual. That's DESPERATE searching. Barnabas hunted for his leader like a parent hunts for a lost child.
  • C. future leaders are WAITING.
  1. Waiting for someone to tap them on the shoulder. for someone to say "I see it in you."
  2. Jesus said "the harvest is great, but the workers are few" (Luke 10:2), and then He told us to PRAY for workers. But notice Jesus didn't just pray, He walked up to fishermen and said "Come, follow me" (Matthew 4:19). He pursued.
  3. Announcements don't make leaders. INVITATIONS do.
  4. You will never multiply by waiting for someone to volunteer. You multiply by pursuing people.

PRACTICE #3 - multipliers develop side by side, not from a stage 

Acts 11:26 (NLT) - "Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people."

  • A. Notice the two words: BOTH and YEAR.
  1. Both,
  • they did it TOGETHER. Barnabas didn't hand Saul a manual and wish him luck. He didn't just talk ABOUT ministry TO him. He did ministry WITH him.
  • A full year,
  1. development is not an event, it's a SEASON. There's no microwave version of multiplication. It's a crockpot.
  • B. This is straight out of Jesus' playbook.
  1. Mark 3:14 says Jesus appointed the twelve for two things: "that they might be WITH him" and that "he might SEND them."
  2. With, then sent. Proximity before platform. Relationship before responsibility.
  3. "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend" (Proverbs 27:17). Sharpening requires CONTACT.
  • C. Practically, this means your apprentice needs reps, not just a seat in the group.
  1. Don't just let them watch you lead, let them lead while YOU watch.
  2. Give them parts if the meeting. Then give away a discussion point. Then give away a whole night.
  3. Debrief after: "Here's what you did well. Here's one thing to grow in."
  4. Paul did the same thing later with Timothy: "Timothy has proved himself... he has served with me in preaching the Good News" (Philippians 2:22). WITH me. Same pattern, next generation.
  5. If everything in your group depends on you, you haven't built a group. You've built a bottleneck.

PRACTICE #4 - Develop them to do greater than you

Acts 13:2-3 (NLT) - "One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.' So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them out."

  • A. Watch the name order, because Scripture does something quiet and stunning here.
  1. Acts 13:2, it's "Barnabas and Saul." Barnabas is the leader. Saul is the apprentice.
  2. By Acts 13:43, just a few verses later, it flips: "Paul and Barnabas."
  3. And it stays that way for the rest of the book.
  4. The student became the frontman, and Barnabas never files a complaint. No meltdown. No "I found him, I made him." He just keeps serving.
  • B. That is the FINAL EXAM of multiplication: can you celebrate someone you developed passing you up?
  1. John the Baptist passed that exam: "He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less" (John 3:30).
  2. Insecure leaders build followers, because followers keep them needed. Secure leaders build LEADERS, because leaders extend the mission.
  3. If you're threatened by your apprentice's growth, you're not building the Kingdom, you're building a brand.
  • C. look at the fruit of released leadership.
  1. Because Barnabas released Paul, we got the missionary journeys, churches across the Roman world, and thirteen books of your Bible.
  2. Barnabas' name isn't on any of those letters. But his fingerprints are on ALL of them. That's the multiplication math of the Kingdom:
  • KEY!! your greatest impact might not carry your name. Jesus said in John 15:16, "I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit." Fruit that OUTLASTS you. Fruit that outgrows you.
  • homework:
  1. write down ONE NAME. One person in your DG that God is highlighting.
  2. This week: pray for them daily and PURSUE them, invite them to co-lead something in your next gathering.
  3. Within 30 days: give them a real rep, a discussion point, a whole DG meeting.
  • Paul planted churches. But somebody planted Paul.
  • Now go plant yours.