As I read the Gospels with the question in mind, "how did Jesus invest in his disciples?" I find one reference after another that clearly shows how Jesus purposefully mentored his disciples.
In Mark 6, starting with verse 7, Jesus sent his disciples out after empowering them with the authority to cast out evil spirits. He took time to instruct them on how to go out, what to take with them, and how to respond to those who accepted their message and how to respond to those who didn't. Jesus was investing in their growth as leaders of the early church.
Then in Mark 6:30 we see the disciples coming to Jesus to report all they had done and taught. They have stories to tell and they eagerly share how God used them.
Note verse 31: "because there were so many people coming and going, they didn't even have time to eat." The miracles were drawing massive crowds, the needs were overwhelming, the crowds with needs were such that they didn't even have time to eat.
Notice what Jesus did in verse 31. He said, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." In verse 32 we see the disciples reaction, "So they went away by themselves to a solitary place."
Let's break this verse down.
Jesus says:
First - come with me
Second - by yourselves
Third - to a quiet place
Fourth - and get some rest
First: Jesus said, "come with me." He wanted time away from the hectic non-stop ministry to hurting people. He wants some time to be alone with those he had chosen as his disciples. He called them out and he invested in them personally.
Jesus said-we need time together.
Jesus made it a priority to take time with his disciples to train them, to speak into their life and to connect them to His Father. Jesus used parables to teach them the principles of the kingdom of God. He ate with them, they witnessed his prayer life, they witnessed his implementation of God's purpose for his life. He modeled Christian leadership. He modeled compassion, grace and forgiveness. He modeled teaching in the synagogues, healing the sick and raising the dead. He modeled confronting the religious leaders of the day.
In Mark 6 he was speaking to all 12 of his disciples. But in Mark 5:37 we see Jesus taking only Peter, James and John with him. Sometimes Jesus took only the three of them into his company for investing in them the deeper things he wanted to share. He invested in them as individuals. He raised sons.
Second, Jesus said, "by yourselves." Jesus wanted alone time with them. Jesus was selecting them and making time for just them in the midst of the crowd. Now this speaks to us about how important it is for us to spend time with our key team leaders.
If you want your leadership team to follow you and to embrace your leadership, it is critical that you invest time in building a relationship with them. Your relationship is developed by spending time together in purposeful ways. Jesus simply drew attention to this as a need for both he and his disciples.
Third, Jesus indicated the location where they could have a time for quality communication. He said, let's go to a "quiet place," or a place of solitude away from the crowd.
This is so challenging when there is so much to do and the demand on your time is so pressing. But, here we see Jesus taking his disciples away to a quiet place. The noise of the everyday challenges of this ministry is so loud, that it makes it hard to hear from the Lord. It is difficult to take the time to get alone in a quiet place with our leadership team. Jesus set the example. We need to follow it.
Fourth, Jesus said, "get some rest."
Do we need any counsel on that point? WOW! Jesus said to his disciples, "come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
Jesus saw the need for rest. Jesus was communicating his priorities to his disciples. We all should learn from Jesus' example.
Jesus set an example of the importance of solitude, for prayer, for relationship building, for a quiet time away from the norm and put an emphasis on a place of rest.
As leaders we need to pay attention to these truths as they are unfolded to us. Life passes so fast and the challenges of this work can be so distracting from our ongoing relationships with each other and with our relationship with Christ. We need time with our key leaders and we need time in places of solitude to get rest.
May we listen to the Holy Spirit as we continue to lead others and be reminded of the Jesus model of raising up sons.
Jerry Nance
