I’ve heard two words more in the last few weeks than any other time in my life. The strategic plan our country is implementing to eradicate the Coronavirus is summed up in two words: containment and mitigation.
The idea behind these two words is that if you contain the virus and slow down the spread of it, you will stop it. It sounds very logical, and I am praying that it works and works fast.
These two words have made me start thinking about the way our enemy seeks to stop disciple making movements. He uses containment and mitigation. If it works for an infectious virus, it will certainly work for stopping the multiplication of disciples.
Our spiritual enemy will do all he can to contain a disciple who is seeking to make another disciple. Satan uses discouragement, distraction, derailment, and disobedience to discourage disciple makers in hopes they will quit their work. I can’t tell you how many people I know who have started making disciples and have eventually given up.
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Containment is Satan’s number one way to keep a movement of disciple making from breaking out. If he can contain the making of disciples he can stop multiplication from occurring.
The best thing you can do to fight against the enemy’s attack is to make a multiplying disciple so that the movement of Jesus’ mission is not contained.
A second thing the enemy will seek to do is to mitigate the spread of disciples. According to Google’s dictionary, mitigate means: “To make less severe, serious, or painful.” The mitigation strategy for COVID-19 is to limit exposure to the virus. The lower the number of people who come into contact with the virus, the flatter the curve gets.
I believe Satan’s mitigation strategy for disciple making is to weaken the message. If Christians do not know that they are on mission to make disciples, disciples will not be made. A great way to flatten the “disciple making curve” is to keep people from learning what it means to make multiplying disciples. Satan simply loves to stop movements of multiplying disciples. He would love to keep us in a process of adding disciples so long as we don’t start multiplying them.
The best way to fight back against the evil one is to make as many multiplying disciples as you can and talk about your mission with everyone you know. In other words, spread the Word. The opposite of mitigation and containment is intensifying and enlargement.
By Ken Adams
Impact Discipleship Ministries exists to help you be and build disciples. For resources or training for disciple making, check out their website or contact them through impactdisciples.com.