Did you know, in just 2 years, 2 rabbits can reproduce and multiply to make 3,000 rabbits??
And, in just 4 years, the potential for reproduction reaches 3 Million rabbits! This is possible because rabbits begin fertility at 6 months of age, the gestation period is about 30 days, and the female rabbit can literally become pregnant again within minutes of giving birth to a litter! (Now that is a multiplication strategy!)
Consider this; It takes 2 years for 2 elephants to reproduce and make 1 elephant.
Give them 4 years, you will still only have 3 total elephants, since the pregnancy cycle lasts 22 months and it takes 12 years for an elephant to reach fertility. (This is absolutely an addition strategy!)
What is the lesson here? That large, bulky, complicated living things require a tremendous amount of time, energy, and resources to reproduce. This is not saying that these creatures can't reproduce, just that it is an overwhelming and laborsome process...
Unfortunately, nearly all churches (large and small) are built on an Elephant Model of Reproduction. To "Reproduce a Church", the compulsion is that you need a building, a trained and ordained professional (or two or three!), equipment for a service, and a boatload of marketing materials! And, once you get one of these creatures breathing, upon reflection of it being such an arduous task, no one even wants to think about doing something like that again! At least for a couple of years that is!
In our day, we are fixated on a complicated, "worship-service"-driven, model of Church, that must be manufactured by professionals and marketed to the masses...
The beautiful thing about a Rabbit Model of Reproduction is that from birth, every creature has an expectation and the ability to reproduce! It is easy, fun, quick, and effective! And guess what? Anyone and everyone can DO IT!!
Sadly, we have settled or rather been duped for addition, when God has called us to be fruitful and multiply!
Consider a new paradigm where Church was a "missionally responsive, culturally adaptive, organizationally agile, multiplication movement that mobilizes the whole people of God; one that was reproducing and reproducible." (One the Verge, Hirsch/Ferguson)
A Church Multiplication Movement like that would change the world!
We make a drastic mistake when we assume that to do Church we must invite the masses, just so we can reach a few. When Jesus invited a few, knowing that he would reach the masses.
Dwell on this truth for a moment: If the world was rid of all Christians save you, you hold within you the capacity to repopulate the world with millions of Christians!
Yes, YOU!
Now go and make like rabbits!