Book Club Questions for Multiply

1.Chan opens with a striking admission: most Christians today would not know how to make a disciple if someone asked them. Does that description resonate with your experience? Why or why not?

2.Jesus's command in Matthew 28 is to 'go and make disciples' — not merely converts, attenders, or church members. What is the difference between a convert and a disciple, in your own words?

3.Chan argues that discipleship is not a program the church offers but the normal, expected life of every follower of Jesus. How does that challenge the way your church or community currently operates?

1.Chan defines a disciple as someone who follows Jesus, is being changed by Jesus, and is committed to the mission of Jesus. Which of those three elements feels most alive in your life right now, and which feels most underdeveloped?

2.Jesus says in Luke 9:23 that anyone who would come after him must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow. What does it mean practically to 'deny yourself' in the rhythms of your actual week?

3.Chan draws a contrast between people who are church attenders and people who are genuine disciples. What are some concrete markers that distinguish the two? Be honest — which category better describes your life?

1.Chan describes the discipling relationship as being less like a classroom and more like an apprenticeship. What is the difference, and why does it matter for how you approach investing in someone?

2.Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2 to entrust what he has learned to 'faithful people who will be able to teach others also.' Why is 'faithfulness' — rather than giftedness or knowledge — the key qualification for someone you disciple?

3.Chan emphasizes that discipleship requires sharing not just information but your very life, as Paul describes in 1 Thessalonians 2:8. What would it look like for you to share your life — not just your Bible knowledge — with someone you are discipling?

1.Chan uses the analogy of physical training to describe spiritual growth, drawing on 1 Timothy 4:7–8. What does 'training yourself for godliness' look like differently from merely 'trying harder'?

2.The author identifies several core spiritual disciplines — prayer, Scripture, community, and service. Which of these is most consistent in your life, and which is most neglected? Be specific.

3.Hebrews 5:11–14 rebukes believers for remaining spiritually immature when they should have become teachers by now. Does that passage sting in any way as you read it? What does it reveal?

1.Chan argues that the church is not a building or a program but a people — the body of Christ on earth. How does that definition change the way you think about your own relationship to your local church?

2.Ephesians 3:10 describes the church as the means through which God is making known his 'manifold wisdom' to the rulers and authorities. What does it mean that the church itself is a proclamation — not just the vehicle for proclamation?

3.Jesus says 'I will build my church' in Matthew 16:18. What is the significance of that — that the church belongs to Christ and is being built by him, not by any program, leader, or movement?

1.The early church in Acts 2 was devoted to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. Which of those four marks is most evident in your church, and which is least?

2.Chan challenges the consumeristic mindset that treats church as something to be evaluated based on what it offers you. Where do you see that mindset in yourself or in church culture around you?

3.The author raises the question of what to look for in a church. What are the non-negotiables — the things a church must be and do — versus the preferences that should not determine where you belong?

1.Paul's goal in Colossians 1:28–29 is to 'present everyone mature in Christ.' Chan draws on this to argue that maturity — not attendance or programming — should be the measure of a church's success. How would your church measure up by that standard?

2.Chan distinguishes between a church that has a discipleship program and a church that is a discipleship culture. What is the difference, and which do you think is harder to build?

3.Acts 6 shows the early church adapting its structure so that the apostles could focus on prayer and the Word. What does that teach us about the relationship between organization, leadership, and disciple-making?

1.Chan opens this section by acknowledging that many Christians essentially skip the Old Testament. Be honest: how much do you actually engage with the Old Testament in your own reading and devotional life?

2.2 Timothy 3:16 says 'all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable.' The Old Testament was the Scripture Paul had in mind. What does it mean for the Old Testament to be 'profitable' for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness — specifically?

3.In Luke 24:27, the risen Jesus opens the Scriptures to the disciples, showing how Moses and all the Prophets point to himself. How does reading the Old Testament through the lens of Christ change what you are looking for when you read it?

1.Chan walks through the grand arc of the Old Testament: creation, fall, promise, exodus, covenant, exile, and anticipation. Which part of that arc is clearest to you, and which is fuzziest?

2.The story begins with God creating everything good and humanity in his image. What does it mean to be made in the image of God, and how does the fall distort — without destroying — that image?

3.Romans 5:12–21 frames the entire human story around two men: Adam and Christ. How does understanding Adam's role in the fall deepen your understanding of what Christ accomplished in his obedience?

1.Chan distinguishes between the moral, ceremonial, and civil law in the Old Testament. Why does that distinction matter for how we apply the Old Testament to our lives today?

2.God gives the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 after rescuing Israel from Egypt — not as the condition of rescue but as the grateful response of a redeemed people. How does that order (rescue, then law) shape the way you understand your own obedience to God?

3.Paul says in Romans 7 that the Law is 'holy, righteous, and good,' and yet it produces death in him. How can the Law be good and yet be powerless to save us?

1.Chan walks through Old Testament genres: narrative, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, and law. Which genre do you find most accessible, and which feels most foreign? What makes the difference?

2.Biblical narrative (like Genesis or Samuel) was not written as a history textbook but as theology told through story. What are the dangers of reading Old Testament narrative too literally (missing the theology) or too allegorically (missing the history)?

3.The Psalms are the Bible's prayer book — raw, honest, sometimes even angry prayers offered to God. How does reading psalms of lament give you permission to bring your full emotional range to God?

1.Chan describes the prophets as people who stood between a holy God and an unfaithful people, calling Israel to return. What is the equivalent of that prophetic role in the church today?

2.Isaiah's vision of God in Isaiah 6 — the Lord 'high and lifted up,' the seraphim covering their faces, the smoke and the shaking — is one of the most dramatic theophanies in Scripture. What does Isaiah's immediate response ('Woe is me!') teach us about what happens when we genuinely encounter God's holiness?

3.The prophets consistently called Israel to justice for the poor, the widow, and the foreigner — often more urgently than they called for correct ritual. How does that emphasis challenge comfortable Christianity today?

1.Chan describes the New Testament as the fulfillment of the Old — the promises kept, the types realized, the shadow replaced by substance. What difference does that continuity make for how you read the Gospels or Paul's letters?

2.Hebrews 1:1–2 says God 'in these last days has spoken to us by his Son.' What does it mean that Jesus is himself God's final and fullest Word — not just a messenger but the message?

3.Mark 1:14–15 records Jesus's first words of public ministry: 'The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.' What does it mean that the kingdom is 'at hand' — present but not yet fully arrived? How does that tension shape the Christian life?

1.John 1:14 says 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.' Chan dwells on the staggering nature of the Incarnation. What does it mean for the eternal Son of God to take on human flesh — and why does it matter for your salvation?

2.Jesus's announcement in Luke 4 — quoting Isaiah 61 — is his own mission statement: good news to the poor, release to the captive, sight to the blind. How does that mission shape the way you understand what following him means?

3.Chan notes that Jesus lived a fully human life — he got tired, grieved, was tempted — and yet without sin. Why is the full humanity of Jesus as important to the gospel as his full divinity?

1.Chan describes the cross as the center of history — the moment all of Scripture points toward and all of Christian life flows from. Do you actually feel that centrality in your daily experience, or has the cross become familiar to the point of feeling distant?

2.Isaiah 53 describes a servant who bears the sins of others — 'the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.' How does reading this prophecy written centuries before the crucifixion affect your confidence in the Scriptures?

3.Romans 3:21–26 introduces the concept of propitiation — God's wrath against sin being fully absorbed by Christ. Why is it important that the cross addresses both God's justice and God's love, and what goes wrong if we emphasize one at the expense of the other?

1.Jesus's promise in Acts 1:8 — 'you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses' — links the Spirit's coming directly to witness and mission. How has the Spirit's presence actually made you bolder in your witness?

2.Acts 2:42–47 describes the early church as devoted, generous, glad, and growing — and doing all of it daily. What part of that picture feels most different from the rhythm of your own church community?

3.Chan points out that the early church 'turned the world upside down' (Acts 17:6) not through political power or sophisticated programs but through the spread of the gospel person to person. What does that model say to the church today?

1.Chan emphasizes that the epistles were occasional letters — written to specific situations. How does knowing the background of a letter (Who wrote it? To whom? Why?) change the way you read it?

2.Romans 1:16–17 is Paul's thesis statement for the most systematically theological letter in the New Testament: he is 'not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation.' Where does shame about the gospel show up in your own life — even subtly?

3.Ephesians 1 piles up blessing upon blessing — chosen, predestined, redeemed, forgiven, sealed. How does meditating on your identity in Christ, rather than your performance, change the emotional texture of your faith?

1.Chan approaches Revelation not as a newspaper code for predicting current events but as a pastoral letter written to persecuted first-century churches. How does that interpretive lens change the way you read passages that might otherwise feel cryptic?

2.Revelation 1:3 promises a blessing to those who 'read aloud the words of this prophecy and hear it and keep what is written in it.' What would it mean to 'keep' Revelation — to obey and apply it — rather than just decode it?

3.The central vision of Revelation is that Jesus — the Lamb who was slain — reigns over all history. How does that vision of Christ's sovereignty over suffering and evil speak to your own experience of hardship?

1.God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 is that 'all the families of the earth shall be blessed' through him. Chan argues this means missions is not an optional program — it is the storyline of the whole Bible. Does that feel true to you as you read Scripture?

2.Psalm 67 is essentially a prayer for the whole world to praise God. How does making the global purposes of God a regular part of your prayer life change your own sense of mission?

3.Revelation 7:9 shows a final worshipping community from 'every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.' If that is the guaranteed end of history, how should it shape the priorities of the church right now?

1.Jesus prays in John 17 that the Father would not take his disciples out of the world but protect them in it. How does that prayer shape your posture toward culture, society, and the people around you who don't yet believe?

2.Chan talks about being 'in the world but not of it.' In practical terms, what does it look like to be genuinely present in your community without being conformed to it?

3.Matthew 5:13–16 says we are salt and light. What happens to salt when it loses its saltiness? How does that image speak to the danger of Christians who blend in so thoroughly that they have no transforming effect?

1.Romans 10:14–15 poses a chain of logic: how can people believe without hearing? How can they hear without someone telling them? How can someone tell them unless they are sent? Where do you see yourself in that chain — and where is the chain broken in your life?

2.Chan identifies two common failure modes: sharing the gospel without relationship (cold and transactional) and having relationship without ever sharing the gospel (warm and useless). Which failure mode is more tempting for you?

3.1 Peter 3:15 commands us to 'always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in you.' Are you prepared? If someone asked you tonight why you are a Christian, what would you say?

1.Jesus's Great Commission includes baptizing disciples 'in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.' Why do you think Jesus included baptism in his commission to make disciples — what does it accomplish?

2.Romans 6 describes baptism as a picture of death and resurrection with Christ — going under the water and coming back up. How does that imagery deepen your understanding of what happened at your own baptism (or what it would mean for you to be baptized)?

3.Chan notes that in Acts, new believers are baptized quickly — the same day in several cases. What does that pattern suggest about the relationship between faith and baptism, and how does it compare to the practice in your church?

1.1 Corinthians 12 makes clear that spiritual gifts are distributed by the Spirit 'as he wills' — not based on maturity, seniority, or performance. How does that sovereignty over gifting both humble and encourage you?

2.Chan emphasizes that gifts are given for the common good — for 'building up the body' — not for personal advancement or spiritual résumé. How does that purpose reshape the way you think about your own gifts?

3.Romans 12:3 warns against thinking of yourself more highly than you ought. How can pride operate even within the exercise of spiritual gifts — and how does the gospel guard against it?

1.Jesus tells his disciples in Mark 10 that whoever wants to be great must become a servant, and that he himself came 'not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.' How does that statement redefine greatness in a way that still feels countercultural today?

2.Chan makes the point that service is not optional charity for Christians — it is the shape of the Christian life itself. Where do you see service being treated as optional or exceptional in the church culture around you?

3.Galatians 5:13 commands us to 'through love serve one another.' The word used is doulos — slave. How does framing loving service in that strong language change the degree to which you feel free to opt out when service is inconvenient?

1.Chan describes prayer as the oxygen of the disciple's life — not an activity added onto the Christian life but the expression of total dependence on God. How does your actual prayer life reflect that description — or contradict it?

2.Jesus's model prayer in Matthew 6 begins with the Father's name, kingdom, and will — before ever getting to our needs. What does that ordering teach about the posture prayer is meant to form in us?

3.Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18 to encourage his disciples to 'pray and not lose heart.' Have you experienced a season of persistent prayer for something — and what did that experience teach you about God?

1.Chan closes the book where it began — with the Great Commission. After working through all twenty-four sessions, how has your understanding of what it means to 'make disciples' changed or deepened?

2.Paul's goal in Colossians 1:28–29 was to present 'everyone mature in Christ,' and he 'toiled' for it 'with all the energy that God powerfully works in me.' How does that description of disciple-making — hard work energized by divine power — shape your expectations for what this calling will actually feel like?

3.2 Timothy 2:2 describes a four-generation chain: Paul to Timothy to faithful people to others. Who are the links in the chain behind you — who made you a disciple? Who are you currently investing in, and who are they investing in?

1.Which session or chapter of Multiply had the single greatest impact on you — the one that most changed how you think, feel, or act? What was it about that session that hit so hard?

2.Before you started this study, how would you have described a disciple? How would you describe one now? How has your definition changed?

3.Chan's goal was not just for you to finish the book but to give it away. Have you identified and begun investing in someone else — formally or informally? If yes, what has that looked like? If not, what is standing in the way?