(Ep34) Being a Force Multiplier

In this season finale, we wrap up the spiritual warfare series by teaching listeners how to become "force multipliers" or mature believers whose growth and intentional investment in others amplifies the effectiveness of everyone around them. Drawing on military experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, we outline three key areas: developing a multiplier mindset, integrating every spiritual asset God provides (prayer warriors, teachers, gifts of the Spirit, etc.), and understanding how one steady, equipped believer can shift the entire spiritual battlefield for their community.

Transcript

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Hello, and welcome back to Joining the Fight. You are here for episode 34. This is a bonus episode, and this is the last episode of season one of this spiritual warfare podcast. Now we will take a quick four-week break, and then season two will launch shortly after. But before then, two weeks from now, we're actually launching a brand new podcast that's called The Standing Word. This is going to be our ministry's main podcast where we talk about a variety of different topics. The first one being Jesus' ministry. I'm so excited for this new podcast. I would love for all of our listeners in this topic to join us for that one too. And your feedback and questions are always welcome. Because with our new podcast, The Standing Word, we're going to also address any of those questions that people may have. But before we do that, let's wrap up this last episode and get started on talking about how we become a force multiplier. I'm Kyle Clark from Standing Word Ministries, a Christ-centered ministry dedicated to equipment believers with solid biblical truth and practical training. We create scripture-based resources like our workbook joining the fight to strengthen discipleship, deepen our understanding of the word so that we can follow Jesus and help every one of us live with purpose as we stand firm in the truth and carry the message of Christ forward. If you want to explore more teachings or grab this workbook, head over to standingword.com right now. We've walked a long road together in this season. We've talked about facing the enemy and looking at who he is. Then we've fixed our eyes on our commander, Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life. We've built a practical battle plan with our position, our strength, and the stance that we take. We've learned to wear the gear God has issued us, the belt of truth, the breastplate of salvation, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit. We've trained in our individual warrior tasks like shoot, move, and communicate. We've built strongholds, we've formed our church castle, we've locked shields in unity, we've become hard targets, and we've pressed the offense together from those bastions of strength. Now today we want to put a capstone on all of this and point you in the future how you can best use all that we've talked about here. So in the military, we have what's called a force multiplier. As dangerous as you are as an individual, there are things that greatly increase your ability to fight the enemy. Things or even people that increase what a unit can accomplish without actually adding more bodies. So this is like air support, good intel, enablers like up-armored vehicles, machine guns mounted on top of those vehicles, minehounds, what we use to find explosives in the ground. Even one that's most often overlooked, a mature leader who trains others, or one well-placed soldier who is steady and seasoned that helps to change the postures and abilities of other soldiers around them. So spiritually, it's exactly the same way. God is calling us to become force multipliers for others. Believers whose maturity and willingness to integrate what He has given make everyone else around them more effective at growing, defending, and advancing the kingdom. It's great that you've become spiritually strong yourself, but no one does this in a vacuum. We are bound to a community of believers, and therefore we must look at ways we can multiply the forces of those around us. And so I want to share something from my own time running missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a combat engineer, I saw how one integrated enabler or one solid leader who knew how to bring assets together could multiply safety, intelligence, and our mission success for the whole element. When we stayed isolated or failed to use what was available, the fight was always harder for everyone. The same principle works in spiritual warfare. Today we're going to talk about how we become those kind of people with everything we've talked about so far. We'll move through three main sections. How to have a multiplier mindset, growing so others can grow. Second, how to integrate our spiritual enablers, asking for and using every asset God provides, and third, how one life can change the entire battlefield. Let's start with the heart of it, a mindset that turns a single believer into a multiplier. So Second Timothy two, two says this, and the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses and trust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. And Ephesians 4, 11 through 16 tells us that Christ gave gifts to the church to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. We've spent this whole season getting equipped, learning those basic elements of how to operate effectively in spiritual warfare. The question is now, what are we going to do with it? Are we just going to survive the fight ourselves? Are we just going to get through our small little battles and our small circle of life? Or are we going to become the kind of people whose presence makes everyone around us more dangerous to the darkness and more alive in Christ? In my time downrange, I watched how maturity in one person could ripple out and affect all those around. When a leader took time to train the young soldiers under his command, when someone who had been through the fire turned around and poured into the guy next to him, the whole patrol or company got stronger. The same thing happened spiritually. When we grow in our position, guarding our hearts, living with eternal focus, when we draw strength from God's spirit instead of fear, and when we stand courageous and Christ-like, that maturity doesn't stay private. It rubs off, it equips, it multiplies. But what I'm telling you today is that the mindset must be that this is intentional. That once we realize we've obtained that maturity, once we take the fight to the enemy and we effectively use God's tools and we are seasoned, we must intentionally engage with the people around us to season them as well. Hebrews 10 24 says, and let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. That word spur is active. It means we're not just hoping people grow around us, not just having casual interactions that do benefit others, but we are considering how we can engage in other people's lives to push them forward, to make them intentionally grow. So here's what this looks like practically for us. When it comes to spurring growth, teach one thing you've learned this season to someone else this week. Maybe over coffee, maybe in your small group, maybe to your kids. When it comes to spurring on someone else's defenses, lock shields with one person. That means praying with them regularly, standing with them when they're under pressure, providing scripture as a source of encouragement for them, build them up so that they can defend their lives better. And when it comes to spurring them on to the offensive, invite one person into serving alongside you, or sharing their story with others so that they can start taking ground for Jesus. This week I want you to name one person God has put in your life and one simple way you can multiply into them. Write it down, make it real, because when you carry this multiplier mindset, we stop being consumers of discipleship and start being producers of it. Our mindset matters, but isolated maturity still has its limits. God multiplies us most when we integrate every asset He's already placed in our care and around us, just like we learned to do with all the enablers they gave us in combat operations. In the military briefings that we used to receive, they talked about IEDs that had working groups for this, a place where analyst and technical data got fused with every available enabler. We had these databases we could pull up to see IEDs attack and look at pictures and gather intel. We had route reconnaissance and clearance assets and tactical human intelligence team. We had bombdogs, we had weapons intelligence teams, and all of this helped us exploit the evidence so that we could predict and prevent the next threat. Aviation assets, local security forces, and more. The key line that stayed with me was simple: never be afraid to ask for anything. Know whom to ask, know when to ask, and repeat it. If there is something available out there, ask if you can use it. I can't tell you how many assets we were given because we were the only ones who asked for it and we were willing to learn how to use it and integrate it into our missions. We don't fight alone. That's not just talking about the people around us, that also means God who surrounds us with all of the spiritual enablers that we can utilize. Think about it. Prayer warriors, a prayer team, a prayer ministry is like close air support or electronic warfare. They cover us when we can't see everything. Teachers and equippers are like weapons intelligence teams. They help us exploit what God is showing us so the whole body learns and grows and can benefit from that information they have. Encouragers and support groups, people who are good at extorting others, strengthen our morale and cohesion, just like good leadership in a unit. The gifts of the Spirit, discernment, prophecy, wisdom, they function like scouts and censors, giving us eyes and ears when we wouldn't have them on our own. Small groups in the local church act like a shield wall and a hardened perimeter. Scripture and worship are our daily weapons and our battle rhythm. The question is, are we integrating all of them into our spiritual battle plan? Just like we had to understand the capabilities and limitations of our equipment, coordinate through the right channels, and actually employ those assets, we need to do the same spiritually. Know what's available, don't stay isolated in your fight. Ask, receive, and then release what you've received to others. Take that, see how you can best use it, and then train others how to use it as well. In my own experience running missions, the days we integrated well, when we brought in the right support, when we listened to the intel that came from others, when we worked shoulder to shoulder with partner forces, with other units, those were the days the whole element was more effective and more protected. The same is true for us here in the spiritual battle. When we bring prayer, cover into a situation, when we invite wise counsel, when we activate a brother or a sister's gift, when we encourage others to join us in a fight, the whole fight shifts because everyone has gotten involved. This week, identify one enabler God has already placed around you that you haven't fully used: a prayer partner, a teacher at your church, a gift you see someone else have, and bring it into the fight on purpose. Ask, coordinate, employ it. Because when we integrate what God has given us, we multiply the effectiveness of the whole body. And when we carry the multiplier mindset and we've integrated what God is giving, something powerful happens. The entire battlefield around us starts to change. You see, mature, integrated believers don't just hold their ground, they strengthen the whole perimeter, they lock shields with others, they push the advance so more people are protected and more ground is taken for Jesus. Remember what we talked about earlier in this series: the church as a castle, love as the front gate, empathy as the watchtower, faith and holiness as the walls and moat. Remember the shield wall in our linear defense, believers standing shoulder to shoulder, interlocking disciplines, unity that makes the whole stronger than the one part, and remember becoming a hard target and pressing the offense. Maturity makes us resilient and able to move forward while bringing others with us. Survivability operations in the military are about measures that reduce our vulnerability so the force can keep accomplishing the mission longer and more effectively. One hardened position, one integrated enabler, one leader who trains and protects his people, it multiplies our combat power because more soldiers stay in the fight and they fight better. Spiritually, when one of us grows up, builds strongholds, integrates the assets God has provided, and then turns to equip and stands with others, the whole unit, our family, our small group, our church becomes harder to shake and more effective at advancing the kingdom. I've seen it in the military and I've seen it in ministry. One steady, integrated believer changes the atmosphere for everyone around them. The fight gets less lonely, the perimeter gets stronger, the advance picks up speed. Ministry opportunities open up around you for ways that you can benefit your community. The enemy loses ground he thought he had locked down because of that one person who has become a force multiplier. Look at Jesus and how he trained his disciples. He was definitely a force multiplier. So where is God asking you to multiply this week? One relationship to invest in intentionally, or one gift to start using publicly. Maybe it's one person to bring into your shield wall, one place where your maturity and your willingness to integrate can change the battlefield for others. Now look, we've come a long way together this season, and from seeing the enemy clearly to fixing our eyes on Jesus and to all of the things we've covered up until pushing forward to victory. Today we want to put one final element on top of this, and that's to be that force multiplier. Use what God has given you, integrate the enablers He has set before you and around you. Spur others on to grow, defend, and attack. Watch how he multiplies the impact far beyond just one life. I'm grateful for this series, for the opportunity to share this knowledge with you, for the opportunity to remind you that you don't fight alone and that you matter more than you know. And I'm so looking forward to covering the weapons and the armor in greater detail in season two. But as we wrap up, let's go ahead and pray. Father, thank you for every person listening. Make us force multipliers in your kingdom. Give us the maturity to equip others, the humility to integrate every asset you've provided, and the courage to change the battlefield around us for your glory. Strengthen our grip on what you've given. Open our eyes to the enablers you have placed beside us, and let our lives spur many others to grow, defend, and advance. We fight from the finished victory of Jesus and for the rescue of so many more around us. In Jesus' powerful name that we pray, Amen. Now before we go, here's our final reflection. First, when it comes to your mindset, who is one person you will multiply into this week? Teaching them, encouraging them, or just standing with them? Second, when it comes to integration, what spiritual enabler will you ask for or activate this week? A prayer partner, a gift in someone else, a gift of yours or wise counsel from others? And third, what is the battlefield impact going to be? How will you strengthen the perimeter or push the advance with someone else this week? Thank you so much for sitting with us this whole season. We're in this fight together. Keep standing firm, keep moving forward, and let's be the kind of people who multiply the kingdom everywhere we go. See you next time for season two of joining the fight. God bless.