The Long Road to ‘Rapid’ Movements
I remember the first time we navigated the rugged mountain path, crossing streams and rocky trails to reach a valley filled with unreached villages. We came with the hope of seeing God's glory extended and worship take root through a movement of indigenous churches planting churches. In my mind, I pictured the Gospel spreading swiftly—lives transformed, churches multiplying within a few short years. But reality looked much different.
What followed was over a decade of labor built on the decades of others in prayer, patient relationship building, language and culture learning, painful setbacks, fierce opposition, and the slow work of catalytic discipleship. This journey would cost the lives of martyrs. It wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t rapid. But it was the necessary groundwork for what God would later do.
The Reality Behind the Timeline
Contrary to popular belief, the journey from the inception of a movement to its sustained impact is far from instantaneous. Movements are built on years of focused groundwork by both nationals and outside catalytic partners—what they do in those formative years is crucial. The core missionary task of casting vision, entering new fields, sharing the Gospel, discipling for obedience, gathering healthy churches, and multiplying leaders is often slow, gritty work with no immediate reward or present glory. Yet, this foundation is essential. When years of pioneering labor reach a critical mass, we witness the exponential fruit that many perceive as “rapid” growth. Unfortunately, we often focus on and celebrate the visible breakthrough while overlooking the unseen years of perseverance, prayer, and sacrifice that made it possible.
Jesus Himself demonstrated this principle. He spent 30 years in preparation before launching a three-year ministry focused on investing deeply in a small group of disciples (Luke 6:12-13). These disciples, in turn, endured years of perseverance and persecution as they spread the Gospel to the nations. From Jesus’s ascension in Jerusalem (around 33 AD) to the death of Stephen in Acts 7 and the establishment of the predominantly Gentile church in Antioch, nearly a decade passed (approximately 43 AD). From Antioch, Paul and Barnabas embarked on their first missionary journey, and over the next eight-to-nine years, the Gospel spread so widely that Luke recorded, “all of Asia heard” (Acts 19:10). Paul was intentional in laying strong foundations in the churches he planted, frequently revisiting them to strengthen believers and ensure their endurance in the faith (Acts 14:21-22).
No movement in the Bible happened overnight, and neither do movements today. What may look like sudden growth is the result of years—sometimes decades—of unseen faithfulness. Understanding this reality changes how we measure success, shifting our focus from short-term results to long-term obedience.
The Misleading Nature of "Rapid"
The word "rapid," popularized by David Garrison in the context of Church-Planting Movements (CPMs) and Disciple-Making Movements (DMMs), has unfortunately done more harm than good. While Garrison used it to describe the exponential nature of movements, it has often been misinterpreted as an expectation for immediate results. This places undue pressure on church planters to produce visible growth quickly, sometimes at the expense of long-term health and sustainability. Yet, Jesus Himself compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed—small and seemingly insignificant at first, but growing into a great tree over time (Matthew 13:31-32). True movements follow this same principle: What appears to be sudden growth is actually the culmination of years of unseen faithfulness, perseverance, and groundwork.
This misunderstanding has also fueled criticism, some of it valid. Detractors argue that movements are often “a mile wide and an inch deep.” Their concerns about church health are well intended, but the way these debates unfold has unnecessarily divided the missions world. Instead of fostering collaboration, these opposing camps create confusion, forcing new missionaries and supporting churches to choose sides when no such dichotomy should exist. The result? A misallocation of resources, discouragement among frontline practitioners, and, most tragically, a hindrance to the spread of the Gospel.
One of the most damaging responses to the "rapid" label has been the insistence that movements must go slow to ensure depth. This has led to an overreliance on non-reproducible methods—Western teachers, structured programs, and budgets that unintentionally stifle indigenous multiplication. While depth is essential, insisting on slow, institution-heavy approaches often replaces biblical, Spirit-led multiplication with models that are neither scalable nor sustainable in both frontier and home mission contexts.
What we call "rapid" is usually just the visible tipping point of years of slow, intentional discipleship. The unseen preparation—sharing the Gospel in culturally appropriate ways, enduring rejection, mentoring leaders, laying foundations of healthy churches, and equipping the priesthood—sets the stage for exponential growth when the Holy Spirit moves. The real issue isn’t speed versus slowness but obedience and faithfulness over time.
The Role of Culture in Movement Growth
Western culture, with its emphasis on speed, efficiency, and measurable outcomes, has often misapplied the concept of rapidity in the context of CPMs and DMMs. Success is frequently equated with quick, tangible results, but this mindset overlooks the reality that healthy movements take time to develop. Nathan Shank, in Four Fields of Kingdom Growth, warns against assuming that rapid growth equals healthy growth, pointing out that even the early church’s expansion unfolded over decades.
While homogeneous communities—such as language groups or villages—may experience movements when entire social networks come to faith together, urban megacities require intentional cross-cultural engagement to foster multiplication beyond isolated pockets. Missiologists like Ed Stetzer argue that no true movements—defined as four-generations, four-streams-deep multiplication of churches within a 10-year period—exist in Western industrialized democracies. Yet, Rodger Shull, in Movements in North America, counters that movements ARE happening in the U.S. when viewed collectively as networks sharing common principles, practices, and problem-solving (see noplaceleft.net). Shull notes that, while rapid multiplication can occur in U.S. cities, the broader impact depends on leadership development, adaptability, and the ability to navigate complex cross-cultural contexts.
This need for time, releasing of authority, cross-cultural learning, and perseverance is evident in the early church itself. The spread of the Gospel from Jews to Gentiles was not automatic but required years of theological wrestling and cultural adjustment (Acts 10, Acts 15). Paul’s missionary work, though strategic and catalytic, was not an overnight success—his churches endured because they were built through years of teaching, suffering, and deep discipleship. True movement growth, then, cannot be assessed merely by speed but must consider cultural context and the unseen foundational work that precedes multiplication. When Western expectations prioritize efficiency over endurance, they risk distorting both the process and the outcome, leading to misunderstandings about what truly sustainable movements look like.
The True Pioneers of Movements
The real pioneers of movements around the world are, in most cases, same- or near-culture Christians. These individuals, deeply embedded in their own linguistic and cultural contexts, serve as the catalysts for sustainable movement growth. They implement biblical movement principles in simple, reproducible, and applicable ways, leading to the exponential reproduction of disciples and churches (2 Timothy 2:2). They follow Kingdom processes and biblical patterns, but their work is not driven by methodology alone but by obedience to Jesus, often at great personal cost.
Western audiences and critics frequently misinterpret movements, filtering them through a lens of sensationalism. Many focus on numbers and methods as if there were a silver bullet, failing to recognize the long, arduous process behind the visible outcomes. The reality is far less glamorous—there is nothing “rapid” about the lifelong commitment to obey Jesus, endure persecution, and disciple others with little recognition or comfort (Matthew 10:22). Movements are not the result of quick-fix strategies but the fruit of years, even generations, of faithful labor.
Steve Addison, in Movements That Change the World, highlights this common misunderstanding, noting that outsiders often overlook the foundational work that precedes visible multiplication. True movements are built on the sacrifices of those who have gone before, laboring in obscurity long before any breakthrough occurs. Critics who want to understand movements must look beyond statistics and secondhand reports. They must witness the reality firsthand—the messy, complex, and often painful process of movement work. Through listening, experiencing, and seeing the tireless labor, the resilience of practitioners, and the opposition they face can one fully grasp the cost of multiplication. Jesus Himself warned that making disciples requires sacrifice, calling His followers to take up their cross daily (Luke 9:23-24). The true pioneers of movements are those who embrace this cost, faithfully sowing the Gospel regardless of whether they ever see the harvest in their lifetime.
Conclusion
I look back now at that same village I entered years ago where nothing seemed to be happening. Today, a network of multiplying churches exists in that region, led by indigenous leaders who are faithfully discipling others. But it wasn’t rapid. It was the result of years of prayer, obedience, and perseverance. The idea that church- and disciple-making movements happen quickly is a misconception. The true nature of these movements is one of steady, often slow, progress—requiring sacrifice, resilience, and long-term faithfulness. Behind every visible breakthrough are years of unseen labor, countless prayers, and the endurance of those who refuse to give up. The Apostle Paul’s words remain just as true today: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Movements are not measured by speed but by faithfulness to Christ’s mission—one disciple, one church, one generation at a time.