One of God’s greatest desires is to see as many people as possible get saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). And while Jesus was on Earth, He began to execute this vision. So He started to preach about the gospel of the kingdom.
But over time, people noted Him for miracles, food sharing and other things He did that were supposed to become a testimony to the gospel He preached and not to replace it. So because of this, many people came to Jesus not to receive teaching about God’s kingdom but for food, healing and other personal selfish interests. Jesus really had very few people who followed Him to be trained for ministry. And that included the twelve apostles.
In His quest to maximise impact through teamwork, He carried out one leadership lifestyle copied by the world. He sent the twelve to preach the gospel. Today, secular work fields send employees out to attend to projects to increase their work results, thinking such ideas originated from them.
Jesus called the twelve to first be with Him
Every man of vision knows or gets to know that without training, people won’t be able to work with them. Jesus is the one who pioneered this idea. In Mark 3:14 (NIV), the Bible says,
“He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach”
Jesus knew that without training the apostles in the ways of God, they’d not be fit for ministry. He encountered disappointments, hurts and even betrayal from these apostles during their physical time with Him. Yet, He didn’t give up. He continued training and teaching them. But it got to a time, He had to test their ministry abilities. So He started sending them out.
He sent them out
The first time Jesus was about to send the twelve, He gave them authority over impure spirits (Mark 6:7). Later, He told them never to take bread, bags, money or extra clothing for their journey. The question is, why?
Jesus was teaching these people how to trust in God for provision to do His work without depending on anybody. Secondly, He gave them authority over impure spirits because, at that time, He hadn’t died and resurrected, so the devil had power. Now, it’s not the case (Luke 10:19, Hebrews 2:14).
When Jesus sent them out, He maximised His impact. What could have taken Him several days to accomplish was done in a few hours. That’s the power of multiplication of impact through teamwork.
Build your team before giving them tasks
As a leader, you’re not going to excel in what you’re doing for long if you’re not ready to invest in training people. And that’s where the labour is. Every good team has a headteacher. And in Christ, such a person must be connected to God very strongly to determine the prophetic direction of the vision.
The more you spend time training your team, the lesser they’ll make mistakes in what you give them to do. Don’t focus on doing what God has called you to do alone. Train the people God gives you because very soon, you’ll see expansion in such a way that you’ll not be able to handle it alone.
Also Read: Four leadership principles in Christ
