“Come, follow me,” went the invitation, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
With this clear call, Jesus launched the first team to advance his new Kingdom message. They would become the team that would herald the coming of the Messiah – the hope of Israel. They would be called his disciples (students) and later the apostles (ones sent out with the message). The result would be a movement that would expand across the earth for well over 2000 years.
The New Testament and church history tell a powerful story of teams and movements, beginning with Jesus and his team of disciples. Almost the first thing that Jesus does is assemble a team. There is something profound about the Son of God choosing to build his ministry, his Kingdom and His church through a team.
The words that Jesus chooses as he invites his first disciples are powerful in their simplicity, yet profound in their content. These words provide the basic components of all successful mission teams. This is a call to leadership – the type of leadership that pioneers new frontiers together.
The invitation that Jesus gives includes belonging, lordship, learning and mission.
BELONGING: Jesus calls them to “come” before he sends them to “go.” He first calls them to belong. We cannot follow the Jesus who sends us before we know the Jesus who calls us. The call is a personal and intimate invitation to a shared life in sacrificial community. Jesus gives them more than a mission – he gives them a home.
LORDSHIP: The call to belong was linked with the command to “follow me.” This new team would not be one of comfort or settling down. They would continually be on the move, following His Lordship and authority.
LEARNING: Jesus promises to prepare them. “I will make you,” he announces. Jesus took them into a real-life learning journey with the Living Word. It involved character formation, confrontation, conflict, watching Jesus do ministry, obeying Him and learning thought their own failures.
MISSION: The disciples were not only called to be with Jesus. They were ultimately called for a purpose. They would be sent out to be “fishers of men.” From the very beginning, Jesus defines his new team around mission.
Jesus taught us how to launch teams through the way he called his disciples. It takes a team to start a movement. Every team that desires to ignite movements would do well to study the words of Jesus and learn how he built his team – the team that changed the world!
You can learn more about building movement teams through our free online training.
NEXT: Working with God
