Discipling people as Jesus did means going beyond four walls

Jesus Instructs the Twelve

What a wonderful thing that we have four gospels accounting for the earthly life and ministry of our Savior Jesus! If you have never read through them looking to see what is revealed there about Jesus’ training of His men, I encourage you to do so. And you can repeat the process. New insights will appear! Why not consider yourself one of those 12 disciples following, watching, hearing the Master?

One thing is apparent: Jesus’ instruction did not come in a formal classroom setting. That reveals to us how mentoring requires not only the teacher and the learner, but also the environment. I’ve been frustrated trying to teach certain practical courses in a seminary classroom. Someone has said that teaching evangelism in a classroom is like teaching swimming by correspondence course! And because Jesus trained the twelve in a ministering environment, you can grasp why I mentioned earlier the necessity of availability. As Mark poignantly puts it in 3:14, “He appointed twelve…to be with him.” This emphasizes Jesus’ earlier word to the fishermen, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” He didn’t just say, “Listen to Me.” And this led them into two environments for their instruction: public and private.

According to Matthew 4, Jesus had been going all around Galilee teaching in the synagogues and healing illnesses and maladies, including casting out demons. The word spread like wildfire and crowds of inquirers competed for His attention.

Now you are watching. What are you learning? You heard Him preach in the synagogues “the gospel of the kingdom.” And it’s not long until Jesus, seeing the crowds, takes the teacher’s position, probably sitting on a rock, and beginning to teach. (Whether the term “disciples” in Matthew 5:1 means only the twelve or rather the crowd of learners isn’t completely clear. It’s true Jesus’ trainees watched and heard.) And it’s appropriate to listen to Jesus.

This is what I would call direct instruction. Let’s list what we hear.

First, He speaks of kingdom citizens and their character, what we call the beatitudes. Then follow specifics about the kingdom. We are to learn how to interpret the law of God, and He’s quite specific about it. How does one treat one’s enemies? It’s there. He deals with hypocrisy and applies it to prayer. Singleness of heart is next, handling anxiety and kingdom values. And so it goes, poignant and practical principles governing kingdom living.

Does it surprise you? No wonder, His teaching is so contradictory to the popular perspectives of the Jewish leaders. Describing the narrow entrance into God’s kingdom, Jesus warns against false teachers, commending and commanding obedience to His words. No one could listen to that without picking up on His authority.

And isn’t that critical in discipling people? That is, we must be clear in our faith in terms of Jesus, who He is, and what His authority is. As Jesus taught, He opened His men’s minds to understand the Scriptures. There is content to the gospel of the kingdom, but these trainees heard it in the environment of actual ministry. They listened, too. That instruction was for them, but they would make additional observations-what we might call indirect learning.

Take the parables in Matthew 13. They noticed Jesus’ change in style as He spelled out those illustrations of the kingdom called parables. “Why are you teaching this way?” they inquired, He then explained. He showed them that kingdom learning requires the revelation of the Holy Spirit. They were privileged to learn what they were learning, “the mysteries of the kingdom.” In more specific terms, being Jewish didn’t automatically make one a citizen of Christ’s kingdom. Nicodemus learned from Jesus that he must be born again to enter the kingdom.

There was more than Christ’s words about the nature of the kingdom. There were His works. As the disciples observed Jesus’ healing and other miraculous works-for example, stilling the storm on Galilee-they were learning. And were they learning! “Who is this man?” they queried. These men were caught up in a cultural climate, and it would take more than a word or two to help them recognize the spiritual nature of the kingdom of God. And here was this man Jesus who could do anything He chose. In time they would understand that He is king! It’s His kingdom, not the Jews’. The twelve were observers as well as listeners, and as they watched Him exercise His power, their faith in Him began to grow.

They watched His approach to teaching the crowds about the kingdom, and then they observed His works, which could only be termed miraculous. Yet there was another aspect of indirect learning that would touch them. They saw His attitude. It was always appropriate. They saw Him under fire from the Pharisees and other religious leaders. They observed His compassion for the blind. He didn’t say, “I’m too busy now.” (When He did get busy in prayer, He withdrew from the crowds.) But Jesus got angry when His men tried to discourage ministry to children. Read through a gospel, noting Jesus’ attitudes. That’s where one sees Jesus’ heart-watching Him minister.

We’ve already spilled over into Jesus’ private ministry with His men. It impresses me that in training men I cannot expect it all to happen from my preaching-not if I follow Jesus’ model. And that also makes a fascinating reading of the gospels. Make a special observation of Jesus’ private instruction to his men. It’s beautiful! For example, no one ever saw Jesus walking on water but His men in the boat. That was for their personal growth. And when Jesus raised Jairus’s daughter, He took with him only Peter, James, and John. You will note the twelve asked Jesus to explain what it was all about, but it was done privately. I’ve never tried to categorize Jesus’ instruction to His men into actual class hours or semesters. It just doesn’t come together like that in Jesus’ mentoring style. I am not suggesting classes and semesters should be abandoned. But much of what is learned in Christian growth and ministry must take place in the environment of real life. And being with Jesus in His ministry gave the twelve precious learning experiences they would later recall and practice.

We would miss something, however, if we didn’t notice those occasions when Jesus had specific things for His men to do and learn-a significant order-and these were done in private. However, make no mistake that He confronted them often as a group. His rebuke of Peter and calling him Satan in Matthew 16 was not private. He was very sharp in that rebuke, for it was a challenge to His very mission, namely the cross. His men did not yet understand these things, and He repeatedly advised them of his coming arrest, condemnation, and death. I’m impressed with His patience and persistence. He didn’t fail them.

It would be remiss of me to omit that precious lesson Jesus taught them in the upper room on the occasion of the Passover. It’s so poignant. Bickering about who among them was the greatest, none of the twelve volunteered to do the task of the normal servant who washed the feet of the houseguests. So Jesus did it Himself. The twelve were shocked, then ashamed. It should have been obvious to them who among them was the greatest: Jesus Himself. But no instruction of which I know could have conveyed to them their need for love and humility like their leader’s washing their feet. They learned!

I’ve always found John 15:15 one of the most amazing passages in the gospels. “I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” The essence of mentoring in the biblical sense is sharing one’s life with another so he can be helped in his walk with Christ. And Jesus, in perfect communion with His Father in heaven, had readily shared with His men everything the Father had shared with Him.

I conclude that to disciple a person for the kingdom of God-or better now, the kingdom of Christ-is to take him into my life with Christ, publicly and privately. And this, of course, gives him exposure to my failures and sins, not just my victories. But in that way I am able to show him what to do about those failures and sins. And he learns to be who he really is in Christ.

Jesus Sends the Twelve

Someone has said, “Confidence is born through experience.” After you attempted something for the first time-like the first time you jumped or dived into a swimming pool-the second time was not so threatening. In the process of mentoring someone as a disciple of Christ, there comes a time when the trainee must do things himself.

Right now I’m helping one of my grandsons learn to drive a car. It all started when he asked me if he could move our car away from the basketball hoop. That time I sat beside him, explaining the dials and levers, and we moved slowly to another spot in the driveway. Of course, he had been watching his parents and older sisters and others drive for many months; but it’s different when sitting behind the wheel and actually driving! Now I am very comfortable with him in the driver’s seat as we run errands. His growing experience has produced confidence, both in him and in me.

When we read the gospels, observing Jesus’ training of His disciples, we note that in calling some of them, He said, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). They followed. In fact, all of the twelve followed Him for a long time, watching, listening, interacting, processing. They were being trained to be Jesus’ “apostles”-that is, literally “sent ones.” So when you reach Matthew 10, Mark 6, and Luke 9, the record is clear. Jesus was now ready to send these men out to minister. They were not graduating from their course of learning, but they were now ready to gain some confidence through experience. They would be, in a sense, on their own, but Jesus put some “lines on the pavement” so they wouldn’t get off track. In fact, He gave them very definite instructions. We can learn from this. We don’t send out people without defining what they are to be about. Also note that He sent them out two by two, a very important principle.

When Vince Ward of the Ottawa, Ont., RPC envisioned mission work in Sudan, we consulted. I had taught him in Ottawa Theological Hall, so we conferred about the process: Stay under the guidance of session, coordinate with Global Missions, etc. He wanted my support, and I told him I would be delighted to back him in this effort, but only if he had another man to go with him. He heard that counsel. In time Andrew Stringer became part of the team.

Another young man has just finished training at the RP Seminary in Pittsburgh, and he has been called to church plant in Manhattan, Kan., where Kansas State University is located. It’s not far from a military base. He was in my class on discipleship where I stressed the two-by-two principle. He began to pray for a man to join him in this venture. With excitement in his voice, he shared how God had heard. A newlywed couple would be joining them as they moved into the area with this “Manhattan project” on their hearts! Jesus sent them out in twos!

If you read the texts putting yourself in the place of one of those “being-sent-ones,” can you pick up on Jesus’ careful instruction? In the military they teach men how to give an order. Clear, brief, loud enough to hear. So let’s catch our orders, like in Matthew 10:5 and following.

First, Jesus specifies location. It’s not strictly geographical; it’s more people-oriented. Not to the Gentiles, not to the Samaritans, but “to the lost sheep…of Israel.” There were a number of reasons for this in God’s plan of redemption, but my purpose is to help discern how Jesus trained His men. It was true with the Apostle Paul later when he wrote in Romans 1:16, “to the Jew first.”

Second, look how clearly He told them what to say: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus began His preaching by declaring the gospel of the kingdom, what every thinking Jew longed for. So now He assigned His men the same message. There is, after all, only one message from God to a lost world: It’s the gospel of Jesus Christ and His kingdom!

Third, look what He told them to do: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” Jesus gave them His power to do these things, for it was really Him they were proclaiming. Can Jesus do these things? Certainly. But the glory is not theirs, but God’s. Without going into whether or not this power is still conferred upon Jesus’ workers, it was then! And that was their clear assignment. And they went out and did it.

Fourth, look at the attitude they were to display wherever they went: mercy-something Jesus rebuked the hypocritical religious leaders for having abandoned. “Freely you have received; freely give.” And that remains the spirit of Christ’s true laborers. It’s not how to get new church members; it’s how to give help and mercy to the lost and hurting.

This was the disciples’ first time out on their own. But we don’t just pick up what they did and say the same things. No, we’re looking at training principle. Note that Jesus warned them that they might not be well received. They were to look to Jewish hospitality for their food and shelter, but they were not seeking funds. They were not on a mission to get, but to give. It is difficult to get that idea across both to workers and those to whom they go. People we’ve visited in cold contact think we’re after either members or money!

I suppose behind all of this matter of wallet, checkbook, housing, clothing, there is a serious lesson to be learned: how to live by faith. In this case, the twelve obeyed Jesus, trusting that their needs would be adequately covered. Stories abound describing how God’s workers remarkably found provision and hospitality when needed. There’s a balance here, of course, but at this point in their training, they would learn this way to trust His word.

He told them something important in case they and their ministry were rejected. Shaking the dust off their feet was a testimony to the future judgment of that village. Jesus was not, and is not, playing games with the gospel. Nothing is more serious than how one responds to God’s call in Christ. In a time when the gospel has become cheap and the cutting edge has gone from the church’s public witness, it will take some straight talk-and probably some hard times-to convince today’s disciples of the consequence of rejecting Christ!

This sober note becomes clearer and more intense as one continues through these instructions. Years ago I heard a sermon by RP pastor Harold Harrington on Matthew 10:16, and I’ve never forgotten it. In commenting on the text, he asked, “Do you know what wolves do to sheep?” What did Jesus mean by this? It has to do with one’s mindset. Don’t be surprised; keep your cool; be harmless and wise when encountering opposition. Of all the things Jesus might have cautioned them about, He simply said, “Beware of men” (Matt. 10:17).

Jesus paints no romantic picture of what it meant to these trainees going out on their first assignment. General Patton, in World War II, when preparing a new unit of men, would challenge and summon their courage, warning them of the sinister aspects of the coming battle. Then he would give them a rather easy assignment so they would experience the taste of victory. After that experience he’d send them into the tough battles.

But Jesus does not use any subtle psychology to fire up His men. He tells them the facts. He would continue to reinforce this throughout their training. We should not be surprised that many of our brothers and sisters in various locations in the world are imprisoned, tortured, and even martyred for the sake of the gospel. Read Jesus’ instructions again. Remember, this was their first on-your-own commission. (I believe there are people in the church waiting for this kind of assignment-a mission in Christ that demands their entire lives!)

When the disciples returned, Mark 6:30 informs us that they reported to Jesus. When did we stop debriefing after similar campaigns? Have we reviewed why things went either positively or negatively on particular efforts? Jesus’ men checked in. They didn’t report what they saw-as the twelve spies scouting Canaan-but what they did and taught. In short, did they fulfill the assignment? That’s the point!

We began by considering how experience can encourage confidence. And we reviewed how Jesus helped His men begin to learn how to minister in His name with the gospel of the kingdom in hand. It would have been interesting to sit in on that report session. My suspicion is that they were mildly excited. But harder times were ahead, and the training would continue.