Six Things Jesus Did To Equip His Disciples For Ministry - Discipleship.org (2024)

From the beginning, Jesus told the disciples that He would make them into something different: “Come, follow me,…and I willmakeyou fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). Their occupation of catching fish changed into amissionof fishing for people. Each step along the way, Jesus taught them to share with others, connect people to God, and minister to those who were in need.

When a disciple matures into a spiritual adult, the Holy Spirit brings them through aheart change:

• They move from self-centered to others-centered
• They become God-centered in motivation
• They have thedesire to serve and lead

As you see the person you are disciplingbegin displaying these signs of heart change, you need togive them an opportunity to serve.

Jim Putman, author of this blog, is one of the speakers at this year’s National Disciple Making Forum. Learn more and register here.

Jesus usedeveryday opportunitiesto train his disciples to serve and minister to others. One place in scripture where we can see an example of Jesus’ intentional leadership is in the feeding of the five thousand.

Read through John 6:1-13 and notice all the times Jesus had his disciplesministerto the people during this event.

During this miracle, the disciples were learning aboutministryas well as learning about whoJesuswas. Jesus modeledintentional actions in His relationships with people. He gave the disciples hands-on experience in learning to care for others. He didn’t just have them sit back and watchHimmeet peoples needs – he got them activelyinvolvedin ministering to the people around them.

So what are some places we can give the people we are discipling an opportunity toserve? If you personally serve in a ministry, one of the best things you can do is have them servealongsideyou. It might not turn out to be a long-term fit as far as skill or ability goes, but serving alongside someone they know and are comfortable with will help set them up for initialsuccess. As they become comfortable getting involved and realize the value of serving, they will be better able to look at different areas they might be equippedfor.

If you are unable to find a spot for them in to serve in your church, consider inviting them along when you are servingoutsideof weekend services. For instance, if you are going tovisitsomeone who is in the hospital – orhelpinga shut-in with yard work, invite them to come along and help. If there is an activity going on in yourcommunitythat you are volunteering to help with, see if they would like to get involved. In the area I live in, we have marathons a few time a year and they need people to man the water stations and cheer people on. It is a great place to jump in andlove onour community, and it makes an impression on people. Ministry doesn’t only happen in a church building.

Releasing your disciple to ministerto others is animperativepart of helping them become disciple makers, and it requires you to be intentional as a leader. You need to knowwherethe people you are discipling are in their spiritual growth and knowwhereyou are taking them.

Below are6 things Jesusdid with his disciples to prepare them for ministering to others:

1. Jesus brought themto a place/situation where there were others who were in need.
2. Jesus had given them real teaching prior to this point.
3. Jesus connected them to God and to each other.
4. Jesus had equipped them and released them to do ministry
5. Jesus shared truththat was new to them.
6. Jesus modeled discipleship to them as they were all together

Jesus taught toandmodeled for his disciples, fully expecting them to reach the point that they could make disciplesindependently. Disciples will always be dependent on God, that is why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit when he left them. But Jesus led his disciples to become spirituallymature discipleswho were able to makemore disciples. And we are disciples today because it worked.

Written by Jim Putman

This was originally posted on Jim Putman’s blog here. Used with permission.

Photo byPhilip SwinburnonUnsplash