Leaders Develop Other Leaders – Jesus (Part 2)

It was supposed to be the first Sunday of summer, and church attendance dropped off due to travel and busy summer schedules. As a result, we combined the classes, grouping the 1-3 graders and the 4-6 graders.

Unfortunately, we got the school schedule messed up and did not realize that school was not out for another week. My 4th-6th-grade class had nearly one hundred children.

I was supposed to be teaching on the Fruits of the Spirit and had been well equipped for the Sunday through our intern training program. However, when I tried to teach the lesson, it became apparent that things were getting out of control. 

After the Bible teaching, before we could break into small group discussion, a small scuffle broke out between some feisty boys, causing a complete breakdown of the lesson. Disaster is not too strong a word.

Afterward, all the interns were milling about in the hallway with our Children’s Pastor, and everyone had experienced something similar. We were all considering a “calling” to the youth ministry ☺!

The next day, we had a staff meeting to debrief the experience, finding it ironic that I was teaching on patience, self-control, and the like, …….shortly before the rumble started ☺!

We reviewed our planning mistakes, teaching skills, and ability to adjust, etc. This was one of countless leadership development experiences in my own lifetime that included my training (ministry instruction), my experience (ministry practice), evaluation (de-briefing), and spiritual lessons learned (spiritual formation).

We reviewed those elements in last week’s blog and will now examine them in Jesus’ development of the disciples.

We see these leadership development elements in Mark 3:20-35, Mark 6:6-13, and Mark 9:14-29.

Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.” Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:20-35)

Teaching

The Gospel of Mark is well known for its emphasis on the spiritual conflict that is a background for so much of life.

From the onset of the gospel account, Mark portrays a variety of healings, exorcisms, and spiritual conflicts between Jesus and the forces of evil and darkness, Beelzebub, Satan, and the demonic.

In Mark 3, Jesus confronts the leaders of Judaism and His own family with fundamental spiritual truth that is in direct opposition to their thinking.

His family thinks He’s crazy (vs. 21), and the teachers of the Law deem Him to be possessed by Beelzebub (vs. 22). With the disciples nearby (vs. 20), he teaches some fundamental truths. They may be summarized as follows:

• If Jesus is casting out demons serving at the behest of Beelzebub, a term for Satan, then Satan is working at odds with himself and destroying his own kingdom. (vs. 26)
• In order to cast out demons, Satan must be bound. Jesus casting out demons is evidence that He has bound Satan (vs. 27).
• Accusing and believing that the Son of God, Messiah, and God in the flesh indwelt with the Holy Spirit is under the control of Satan is unforgivable (vs. 29).
• The world is divided into those who follow Christ and those in allegiance to Satan. These two worlds are in spiritual conflict. Birth and lineage do not determine where one resides, but rather faith in Christ and obedience to Him (vv. 32-35)

In this passage, Jesus teaches what has been evident in the preceding narrative in Mark and will continue to the end of his account. There is a spiritual conflict in our world between God and Satan.

It is not simply a battle of flesh and blood, but rather a spiritual conflict between good and evil. The creation finds itself caught on the battlefield of this conflict and, as such, can be drawn under the influence of God through faith in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, or become enslaved to Satan and sin.

This teaching is what Jesus sends his emerging twelve leaders to experience in Mark 6.

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place, and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. (Mark 6:6-13)

Experience

In this passage, Jesus continues his teaching and then sends the Twelve out for practice. Teaching about spiritual battle becomes more than a theory or idea, it becomes something to practice and experience.

The Twelve had sat under His teaching, and now it was time to put some of those ideas, concepts, and truths into practice. Jesus gave them practical instruction (vv.8-11), and then they went out in pairs to experience some new ministry work.

There are three specific elements mentioned in the passage.

• Preaching Repentance – The message is one of repentance, a turning away from sin and rebellion from God. The specific content of the message is not mentioned but we can be certain that they were preaching the very things Jesus had taught them in places like Mark 1:15. It was a Kingdom announcement that the reign of God had come in Christ Jesus who would finally confront all the power of sin, Satan, and death. Repentance was a call to turn away from the Kingdom of Darkness and embrace the Kingdom of God. 
• Drive Out Demons – The six pairs confronted that Kingdom and it’s “possession” of people by driving out demons. The disciples had watched Jesus drive out the demons from the possessed man in Gerasene and now it was their turn to experience this kind of ministry (Mark 5:1-20). Again, spiritual conflict became an experiential reality. 
• Healing – Finally, the disciples were to confront sickness, viewed as a consequence of Satan and his dark spiritual influence. Those suffering from illness were anointed with oil, and healings resulted. In the previous chapter (Mark 5:21-43), Jesus healed Jarius’ daughter, actually raising her to life from the deathbed. What they saw, they were to practice.

This passage was about taking the truth, taught by Jesus, and experiencing it in real-life ministry settings. Jesus had announced and taught about spiritual conflict, and His leadership development program included an element of ministry experience.

The ministry experience was intended to put into practice what He had taught. Then He created a time to debrief the experience and the truth, a kind of evaluation.

When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us, and help us.” “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” (Mark 9:14-29)

Debriefing

Having experienced success in driving demons from the possessed, the disciples attempt to continue their ministry with a demon-possessed child. However, they meet with failure, causing the father great consternation (9:17-18).

Jesus drives out the demon, giving new life to the boy, and then Jesus privately explains that this kind of demon is driven out only by prayer. Whatever methodology they had been using or misperceptions that may have developed were corrected by Jesus.

It was an important clarification or correction regarding the nature of spiritual warfare. Namely, it is a battle fought and won by God, with the disciples only acting as His ministry vessels.

Character Formation

Throughout Jesus' time with His disciples, He taught about the importance of a transformed heart within His followers (Mark 7). He speaks strongly against hypocrisy and the importance of inner renewal (7:14-23).

He urges His disciples to deny themselves and take up His cross, a life of suffering service. It is not difficult to argue that He sought to develop godly character as the bedrock of effective leadership.

This brief survey serves to show that not only did Jesus identify emerging leaders, but He also developed them to lead the Christian movement forward.

This development included ministry instruction, ministry experience, evaluation, and spiritual formation. Many of these same elements were evident in Paul’s extensive leadership development ministry.

My blog will be posted the same time every week and I hope you can join us next week. The podcast version is available here!