Internet Exponential
I often refer to Jesus’ “parable of the sower” in talking about Global Media Outreach’s evangelism efforts. Whenever a person says “yes” to Jesus Christ, only God knows if he or she will be truly “good soil” where the seed of the gospel will take root and flourish. This is true whether you’re sharing Christ one-on-one or with millions of people on the internet. Jesus is very clear, though, that a person who is “good soil” will “produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted” (Matthew 13:23 NLT).
In Matthew 28:19-20, the Great Commission, Jesus Christ gives his followers the task of evangelism and discipleship. Specifically, in verse 20, Jesus instructs us to “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.” Jesus’ commands are instructions on living an eternal lifestyle in the realities of His Kingdom, in both the present and future; through obedience a person experiences the fullness of God’s love and power. And, of course, one of Jesus’ commands is the Great Commission – His Kingdom grows through continuous cycles.
In nature, virtually every plant produces fruit with seeds containing the potential to grow into more plants. Similarly, spiritual fruit bears spiritual seeds: evangelism results in discipleship, and discipleship results in more evangelism. I’m excited and blessed to be a part of what God is doing through internet evangelism, yet I’m really, really excited by the opportunities He’s given us for internet-enabled discipleship.
If God continues to bless GMO’s evangelism efforts, we’re likely to see well over 2 million indicated decisions for Christ this year (we’ve already seen 545,123 in the first quarter)! Imagine if just 5% of the people we might reach in 2008 are “good soil” – a humble guess, since only God knows the real number. That’s over 100,000 people this year who, being equipped through effective discipleship, could go out and share the seed of the gospel with even more people!
Discipleship brings “spiritual multiplication” – exponential increases in the people hearing and responding to the gospel. And God has been increasing GMO’s evangelistic response exponentially. This is why I steadfastly believe that God may use the internet as a tool to multiply these two exponential factors together to fulfill the Great Commission. While we cannot reach everyone through digital technologies, but we can reach the connected and equip them to reach the un-connected.
In 1 Corinthians 3:6 (NIV), Paul writes, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” We are currently planting many seeds through internet evangelism. Many of those that “sprout” will ideally be “watered” in the context of a local church body – though there are still many ways that God can use our online ministry as a growth factor. Yet there may be a number of people for whom our internet ministry is both the planter and the waterer, at least for a season. Above all else, regardless of people or process, it is God alone who causes good soil to produce good fruit.
