SUNDAY MARCH 9 Leadership Starts Here Christ’s earthly sojourn was relatively brief. Therefore, the training of disciple-makers was imperative. Whom should He select? How many should He choose? Jesus’ disciples doubtless numbered in the hundreds. Should everyone undergo mass education? Christ under-stood that leadership was cultivated effectively within small groups, not mass-produced through lectureships. Limited numbers would be chosen for Christ’s initial graduating class. Study Luke 6:12–16. What did Jesus do before He chose His disciples, and why was this so important? Choosing effectively required advanced wisdom. Jesus approached His heavenly Father through prayer to acquire this wisdom. Likewise, prayer should precede the selection of leadership candidates in twenty-first-century disciple-making. Since Christ apparently believed that He needed extensive prayer in order to obtain the wisdom required, how much more should today’s Christians petition for divine wisdom when choosing those charged with overseeing the progress of the Great Commission? Having chosen twelve, Jesus designated them apostles—His com-missioned representatives invested with spiritual authority. The larger group of disciples witnessed this ordaining or commissioning with no apparent jealousy or negative feelings. Later, Jesus would commis-sion a larger group of seventy-two and, perhaps, others not recorded within Scripture. The twelve apostles, however, retained the identity of those most closely associated with Jesus; they shouldered the larg-est responsibilities and, therefore, required the most extensive train-ing and commitment. This arrangement clearly implies intentional organizational structure among the earliest Christians. Christ spiritu-ally invested the leaders within that organization with capabilities and education commensurate to their assigned tasks. Think through the implications of how much time Jesus spent in prayer. What should this tell us about our own prayer lives? What does prayer do for you?
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 05:00:37 +0000
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