In previous posts, we explored the first two stages of discipleship — the invitation to Come and See and then to Follow Me. In Stage I, discipleship begins by inviting someone to walk with us so that we can learn together to follow Jesus. Stage II is where a disciple learns the basics about following Jesus. During this time, a disciple develops the spiritual disciplines that ensure maximum fruitfulness. Now we arrive at Stage III, and the invitation deepens considerably.

This stage moves beyond personal spiritual growth. It is about being equipped for ministry leadership. Jesus modeled this when He called the Twelve not merely to follow Him from a distance, but to be with Him — to train alongside Him, do ministry with Him, and ultimately carry His mission forward. The question this post wrestles with is this: What does it take to move from being an established disciple to becoming an equipped worker?

The goal of Stage III is to turn an established disciple into an equipped worker so that he or she can move into ministry leadership. Jesus invited only a few (twelve) to “be with Him” for this stage (Mark 3:13-16). In Luke’s account, so important was the selection of the Twelve that it required forgoing an entire night’s sleep to know who should be invited into this group (Luke 6:12). From this point on, Jesus spent the majority of His time training the Twelve. These twelve were selected by Jesus to become equipped workers, sharing together with Him in the work of the ministry.

In order to move disciples from established disciples to equipped workers, the discipler must, like the Lord, focus on spending time with a few. The question must be asked: if Jesus’ goal was to reach as many as possible, why did He choose to spend the majority of His time with a few? (Luke 6:12). The answer is that if Jesus’ purpose was to ensure that His kingdom and message outlived His earthly ministry, He had to have a core of people who knew His person and mission in depth. In other words, there had to be a group who internalized His message.

Perhaps Bible scholar F.F. Bruce said it best:

This careful, painstaking education of the disciples secured that
the teacher’s influence should be permanent; that His kingdom
should be founded on deep and indestructible convictions in the
minds of a few, not on the shifting sands of superficial impressions
in the minds of the many.

Many assume that in order to reach the multitudes, public events and large crowds are necessary. Jesus had a different vision — He had a big enough vision to think small. It was because of His vision for the multitudes and His compassion for them that He gave Himself primarily to the Twelve. In his humorous way, Eugene Peterson says, “Jesus, it must be remembered, restricted nine-tenths of his ministry to twelve Jews because it was the only way to redeem all Americans.”

In Stage III, the disciple continues to grow spiritually and deepen in discipleship. Much time is also spent doing ministry together. Just as Jesus gave the Twelve supervised field training, so must the discipler. Disciples in this stage need to encounter a variety of ministry experiences and learn key ministry skills. For that reason, Jesus sent out the Twelve on short-term mission trips (Mark 6:7). Their training was more than academic learning (though it certainly included a deeper understanding of Scripture) — it was tailored to give them various ministry experiences that would ensure their growth as equipped workers.