The Problem with Addition
In the church world, we’ve gotten used to celebrating addition – more people in the room, more followers online, more dollars in the offering.
But addition is not the same thing as multiplication. And when we settle for addition, we end up celebrating the wrong wins.
I want to challenge that mindset because multiplication is what Jesus modeled, and it’s what the world needs.
Jesus didn’t tell us to gather an audience; He told us to make disciples. That’s the real metric of movement – not how many people we gather, but how many people we send. I’ve always been captured by this statement from Dr. Robert Coleman, “Jesus reached the masses through the men.”
At Blueprint Church, we’ve come to believe that success in the church isn’t about how many people show up on Sunday; it’s about how many people are sent into the world with a mission to make disciples. I believe you can grow churches without making any disciples. But if you make disciples, you will grow and multiply healthy churches. That’s the shift we’re trying to make, from addition to multiplication, from members to missionaries. We believe that every covenant member is a co-vocational missionary sent to his or her platform to intentionally make disciples.
Why Urban? Why Now?
We believe the urban context is one of the most strategic and underserved mission fields in America. Cities are where culture is created, where influence flows, and where the nations gather. But they’re also where the church has often pulled back, gotten overwhelmed, or defaulted to passive participation through program-based ministry that doesn’t multiply.
At Blueprint, we’ve chosen to focus our efforts on cities because we believe they are not just dense with people – they are dense with opportunity. If we can help our members to think and act as urban missionaries, we can reach the neighborhood, the school, the block, the whole city. And if we reach the city, we’ll shape the culture.
The Foundation: Disciple-Making Is the Ministry
Let’s start with the basics: Disciple-making is not a ministry of the church. Disciple-making is the ministry of the church. Too many churches run discipleship like it’s an elective – one of many options. But Jesus made it the main thing.
That conviction has shaped everything we’ve done: how we gather, how we plant, how we lead, and how we multiply. We don’t build programs and then tack on discipleship. We build everything around discipleship – because it’s what Jesus commanded. Every platform, from media to kids’ ministry, gets filtered through one question: How does this help us make disciples?
And it doesn’t stop with the leadership. At Blueprint, we believe every covenant member is a disciple-maker. More than that, we see every member as a co-vocational missionary. That doesn’t mean everyone’s starting a church tomorrow. But it does mean everyone is sent. Everyone is responsible. Everyone is on mission.
Here’s what that looks like practically: Every covenant member at Blueprint is discipled with the expectation that they will be both a disciple and a missionary. Whether they work in education, healthcare, tech, or trades, their identity in Christ comes first. Their mission is not secondary to their vocation – it’s woven into it. This changes the whole church culture from “come and get” to “go and give.” It changes the way people think about their time, their jobs, and their interactions with the world around them.
Three Shifts
Here are three key shifts that have helped us move from addition to multiplication.
1. From Members to Missionaries
Principle: Every Person owns the mission
We don’t just have members – we have missionaries. Every covenant partner is called, equipped, and sent. The shift from members to missionaries changes everything – from passive attendance to active ownership, from “What do I get?” to “How can I give?”
Too often, churches are built around spectatorship. But Jesus didn’t die to build an audience – He came to raise up a people on mission. That means the church isn’t a cruise ship; it’s a battleship. Everyone has a post. Everyone is sent. No one gets to sit on the sidelines.
Multiplication starts when mission stops being the job of the elite few and becomes the culture of the whole body. We disciple people not just to grow in knowledge, but to go with purpose.
Shift to Make: Multiply by mobilizing the whole church, not just the few.
2. From an Ethnic Missiology to a Neighbor Missiology
Principle: Reconsider Our Contextualization
In order to reach the city, we have to shift something fundamental in our missiology. I believe we must move from an ethnic missiology to a neighbor missiology, one that says I must love my neighbor no matter what they talk like, act like or look like. We want to create spaces where both the gentrified and indigenous can belong and matter. This is especially true in a neighborhood like the Old Fourth Ward where we minister – the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King.
Contextualization is not just about being relevant – it’s about being faithful. We define it this way: Communicating in a way where the receiver can understand the message in their heart language, while maintaining the integrity of the content. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, we must become “all things to all people” to “save some.” That doesn’t mean watering down the message. It means doing the hard, holy work of sitting in tension – of learning language, nuance, and pain – so that we preach Christ clearly.
Shift to Make: Reframe your missiology to be neighborhood-driven. We’re trying to grow rooted communities that reflect the Gospel in their local context.
3. From Planting a Church to Establishing a Family
Principle: Establish Authentic, Biblical, Purposeful Family
The gospel doesn’t just save us into a mission; it adopts us into a family. Too many in our communities are drawn into gangs, toxic relationships, or unhealthy behaviors simply because they’re searching for belonging. That same longing exists inside the church. And if we’re not intentional, our congregations can feel more like orphanages – overburdened leaders serving undernourished members – than healthy families where everyone contributes. God’s design for the church is not like family – it is family.
Shift to Make: Move from orphanage to family. Prioritize relational discipleship over programming. Create a culture where people are known, loved, and sent.
Plentiful Harvest, Shortage of Laborers
What if the future of the church didn’t rest on bigger stages, but on deeper roots? What if the solution to a divided and distracted culture wasn’t more programs, but more people living sent lives in their neighborhoods? That’s the church we believe in – and it starts with a simple return to what Jesus commanded: Make disciples.
This is our moment to stop settling for addition and step boldly into multiplication. The world doesn’t need another crowd – it needs a church full of everyday missionaries who embody the gospel where they live, work, and worship.
So here’s the invitation: Don’t just grow your church – grow the Kingdom. Don’t just count people – commission them. Don’t just lead services – launch movements.
