TRAINING: CHRIST'S EXAMPLE

Matthew 4:19--“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

Many people have studied the life and ministry of Jesus. There is much written about His three-fold ministry of teaching, preaching and healing revealed in the gospels. But it seems to me that Jesus’ most important work was His fourth ministry of training! Where would the world be today had He not invested His life in the lives of His followers? John Maxwell, a superb trainer of leaders says, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.”

Both leaders and followers understand the importance of effective training. One of the reasons why I thoroughly love the Bible is that it provides incredible principles applicable to our lives at work and at home. Jesus was the world’s greatest trainer! A careful study of His methods reveals an intentional approach to coaching that if applied by us would yield life-changing results. May I share with you at least nine principles He demonstrated?

Effective training consists of:
Ø Preparation—Luke 6:12. Before Jesus embarked down the path of leading anyone, He spent a night in prayer. I suspect He sought God’s direction in who He should choose to train.
Ø Calling and Selection—Luke 6:13. Many people followed Christ before He called them to Himself and from among a pool of interested folks chose twelve apostles to intentionally instruct.
Ø Modeling—Matthew 9:35. J. Oswald Sanders wrote in his book Spiritual Leadership, “It is a general principle that we can influence and lead others only so far as we ourselves have gone.”
Ø Vision-casting—Matthew 9:37--“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” Men and women will hardly rise to the challenge if they don’t understand the need and the task before them!
Ø Instructing—Matthew 11:1. Effective training is not built by happenstance. It involves the careful application of truth. After Jesus left earth, His apostles amazed an unsuspecting world by their works, wisdom and heart because they learned from an awesome Teacher. They had lots of questions. He had perfect answers.
Ø Empowering—Luke 9:1. God’s Son gave His apprentices power and authority to minister. A bird can’t fly if its not pushed out the nest!
Ø Application (hands-on)—Luke 9:2. The mark of an effective trainer is reproduction. Jesus sent His team out to do what He did. They came back and reported what they were able to do and there was great celebration in heaven!
Ø Commissioning—Mat.28:19,20. Go! The time comes when the trainer must let go and send out those who have been trained. The hand of the invisible leader lives on in the lives of the visibly affected.

Inspiration
Often the crowd does not recognize a leader until he has gone, and then they build a monument for him with the stones they threw at him in life.—Charles E. Cowman

“We teach what we know, we reproduce what we are.”—Richard Schmidgall