S unday 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 understood 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?
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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 twentyfirst-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 commissioned 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 commission 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 largest responsibilities and, therefore, required the most extensive training and commitment. This arrangement clearly implies intentional
organizational structure among the earliest Christians. Christ spiritually 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?
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