Recently Pastor Craig created a bonus episode of the Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast. He wanted to answer some of the many questions sent in by listeners. Wow, is this episode packed with wisdom! Here’s Pastor Craig’s answer to one of the many questions.
“Would you have hired any of Jesus’ disciples? Why or why not?”
I ask people who listen to my leadership podcast to send in questions they’d like me to answer, and so this month, I decided to pick a few of my favorite questions and answer them for you. (You can listen to that episode here.) This is a question from one of our listeners, Tim. It especially stood out to me.
So, Tim, to answer your question: Yes. I would have hired 11 of them. But clearly I would have passed on Judas! It’s encouraging to think about as someone who’s made a few bad hires—even Jesus had a Judas.
I like this question because we can learn a lot from the men Jesus chose to surround Himself with. Why did He choose these 12 guys to join His team? Who didn’t He choose? What made Jesus successful when He chose His disciples? Here’s what I think.
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- He chose people others overlooked. I think you can find great talent and potential in the people others pass by.
- He passed on people trained by the traditional system. He didn’t pick any Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, or other established church leaders. I think that implies He knew He could lead the disciples better individually because He saw qualities in them others undervalued. They had raw talents, skills, and life experience that people from the prevailing religious systems just wouldn’t have had.
- Andrew, Peter, James, and John were small business owners.
- Matthew was a tax collector—he was not a popular guy, but he had valuable experience and perspective.
- Simon was called “Simon the Zealot” because he had a revolutionary, rebellious streak in him.
- James and John were called the Sons of Thunder—not sure why this is important, exactly, but it just sounds so cool!
- He had a very intentional onboarding and training process. For three years, Jesus intentionally invested in His team. He was consistent and involved in the details of their lives. He knew them intimately. He taught them, empowered them, gave them great feedback, and modeled how to live a life that honors God.
- He delegated full authority for them to carry on His vision and mission. After Jesus trained the disciples for three years, He passed the torch to them. He gave them an incredible assignment: Go into the world and make disciples. He told them what to do and where to do it, but here’s what He didn’t tell them: how to do it. He left it up to them.
Jesus has given us the same vision and mission. He’s given us the why. The how is up to us.
What about you? Would you have hired the same 12 disciples? Is there anyone else from the Bible you would’ve chosen to be one of your closest companions?
If you want to hear the rest of this Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast episode, make sure you check it out by visiting www.life.church/leadershippodcast or subscribing on iTunes.
