Do you find it surprising that Jesus said, ‘no’ to some people? I know that I did at first, but then I began to notice that Jesus didn’t work closely with everyone He encountered. Jesus interacted with people on differing levels (the masses, the 200, the 70, the 12, and the ’inner circle’ of Peter, Andrew, James and John). He even made some hard statements and asked difficult things that caused some disciples chose not to follow Him (John 6:66 is one example).
I was reminded by something I read a while ago in that classic book on discipleship, The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman. Jesus Himself was looking for people with the same characteristics as we look for in ‘Key Volunteers’:
He looked for:
- disciples who would bear witness to His life and carry on His work
- disciples willing to learn and were teachable
- disciples who could lead and give the multitudes personal care
In reading Coleman’s study of Jesus’ method for reaching the masses, we find these guiding principles:
- The fewer the number of disciples, the greater the opportunity for effective instruction.
- Focus on raising up trained disciples “for the work of ministering to the multitudes”.
- We must decide where we want to invest in ministry – momentary recognition of what kind of ministry we have built or reproduction of our lives in a few chosen people who will carry on to future generations.
Ultimately the vision is to help raise up an army of disciples who are equipped to help disciple and nurture those who aren’t yet ready for active ministry.
But what about those who aren’t ready to be KVs?
What about those who are burdened by the Lord to do different things? What about those who love Jesus, but do not have the passion or vision for building movements on their campus? What do we do when we find that a student doesn’t have all of the characteristics of a KV? Check out What to Do When a Student Does Not Share the Vision of Building Movements for some ideas of how you can respond to those who aren’t led to be active in reaching their campus, but perhaps are called in a different direction.
It’s encouraging to remember that God provides for the ‘masses’ to be shepherded. It is not up to us to care for everyone who crosses our path, but we can help to raise up an army of laborers who will be equipped to care for the rest. Our role is to ‘focus on raising up trained disciples for the work of ministering to the multitudes’. What an exciting and awesome way to be a part of what God is doing among us!
Questions to consider:
Which of Robert Coleman’s principles stand out to you? Why?
How do these ideas influence your thinking as you consider the people in whom you invest?
How will spending a lot of time working with those who do not have a vision or desire to take the first steps to build a movement affect the process of seeing movements multiply in your scope?
Passages to ponder:
- Matthew 19:16-22, John 6:60-69, Luke 9:57-62
- Mark 5:1-17/Luke 8:26-37
- Identify various groups of believers connected with Jesus (including the women who followed Him). What was His interaction with each ‘group’ of them?
- Acts 15:36-41 (and make special note of Mark’s change after a period of years as found in 2 Timothy 4:11 and Colossians 4:10)
- 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 and 1 Corinthians 3:5-6 (1-9)