In a revival, an evangelist may lead thousands of people to the Lord. Whole communities
can be changed and many of societies problems are eliminated or at least reduced, for a
time. In most revivals, the new believers are not discipled. They are not taught how to
reproduce - how to multiply. Within a few generations, things are back to where they
were before the revival, or possibly even worse.
For an awakening, the new believers are taught to be disciples who can then disciple
others. This is multiplication.
II Timothy 2:2 (ESV)
2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many
witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
Impact of Multiplication
If a committed Christian leads 1 other person to the Lord and spends a year teaching
that person everything he or she knows, that is discipleship. The following year both
of them can each lead 1 person to the Lord and spend the year teaching those people all
they know. Each year the number will double.
Assuming an unbroken chain of multiplying disciples, 1 believer starting in 1980 could
have reached the whole world by now, without any revival or awakening. While God is not
constrained by mathematical models, this chart demonstrates the power of multiplication
We are expecting awakening. We are expecting people will become disciples in much less
than 1 year. We know that multiplication chains can easily be broken. God's methods are
rarely predictable. The primary reason for discipleship and resulting multiplication is
to ensure that all the workload of the awakening does not fall on the forerunners.