His plan rested on the few men He had chosen. The Lord knew that quality of discipleship and not quantity of disciples was more important. Before the masses could be reached and taught and ministered to there must be leadership to minister. One man cannot carry the load of the whole world- first a foundation must be laid. Jesus concentrated on His disciples for good reasons. Disciples - not converts - was His goal.
Selection: He chose a few faithful, available, teachable (FAT) disciples. (Luke 6:13-17, Mark 3:13-19). They weren't scholars, men with special talents, just ordinary men who he could shape and mould into leaders. He did not spread Himself too thin.
2. Association: He devoted His time to them, even in the midst of ministry to the masses. They were with him in all sorts of situations -called to simply "be with Him" and "follow Him".
3. Consecration: He called them to obedience- to turn away from sin and sacrifice their own personal interests- to turn to Him and His teaching. He called them to commit themselves not to a doctrine or program, but to His person.
4. Impartation -He gave Himself to them and for them. The foundation of their relationship to Him was His love and self denial. He lived discipleship before them on a daily basis and there was no limit to His love for them. His commitment to them, and giving of Himself for them was the motivation of their giving themselves totally for Him.
5. Demonstration: He taught them by showing them. All the disciples had to teach them was a teacher who practiced with them what He expected them to learn. So they learned to pray by hearing Him pray, learned how to use the Word by observing His handling of it, learned how to minister by watching Him ministering. They became evangelists by His demonstrations of evangelism. Discipleship is easier caught than taught.
6. Delegation: He put them to work. (Mark 6:7, Matt 10:5, Luke 9:1-2) They assisted Him as He ministered; gradually He sent them out two by two. The instructions He gave them are most interesting, revealing how even this was a part of their preparation as His disciples.
7. Supervision: He kept check on them and used their experiences to instruct them further. (Mark 6:30) This was “on the job training” at its best. They were given adequate room to work and learn, yet never without His concern and guidance as it was needed.
8. Reproduction: it is clear that He intended them to become disciplers. The church is like the mustard seed, it starts out small- yet we expect it to grown bigger than the crops around it. John 15:1-17 the branch abiding in the vine must bear fruit. The wisdom and strength of His methodology stands out. He chose those who were teachable, and devoted him self to them. He established a relationship based on commitment to Him on their parts, and His commitment to them on His. He showed them how, and then sent them out to learn by doing, using their successes and failures to make them into men able to do what He was doing with them.
