Move from individual to team
“Give me one hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth.” — John Wesley
Once a leader knows what a disciple looks like, understands Jesus’ four-step process for making disciples, and begins to actively invest in people, then he is ready to raise up a team of disciple makers. Ministry is not something you do in isolation; rather, it is something you do in community.
The burden of isolation in ministry
Far too often, pastors feel alone. In an article titled, “Taking a Break from the Lord’s Work,” The New York Times highlighted the real epidemic of pastor burnout:
“The findings have surfaced with ominous regularity over the last few years, and with little notice: Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could.”
Over the years, our church has hosted a disciple-making conference for pastors. When I talk to many of them, discouragement and loneliness are real issues. I know because I’ve experienced it firsthand.
If you have been a pastor for any length of time, you know what I mean. The pressure to get results, demanding deadlines, unreasonable expectations, church divisions, unresolved conflicts, financial pressures, and struggles at home—these can build up walls that imprison and isolate a leader.
But ministry was never intended to be done in isolation. Nor was ministry ever intended to be solely the pastor’s job.
Jesus’ model for ministry
Ministry has always been intended to be done in community, alongside other brothers and sisters in Christ. The role of the pastor is not to do the work of ministry alone but to equip a team of people to accomplish the work together. The secret to doing ministry together in community and raising up co-laborers is an intentional disciple-making strategy.
Jesus taught this principle. In Luke 10:2, Jesus saw the hurting crowd and told his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Jesus didn’t say, “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few, so I’ll just do it myself.” Yet that’s how many pastors feel—like a lone laborer trying to bring in a massive harvest.
Instead, Jesus envisioned many laborers working side by side, bringing in the harvest together.
The power of multiplication
Jesus didn’t just teach this principle; he modeled it.
- He called men to follow him and drew them into community (Matthew 4:18-19).
- He identified twelve emerging leaders and intentionally invested in them (Mark 3:13-14).
- He taught them truth, demonstrated God’s power, and involved them in ministry (Luke 9:1-2).
- He released them to minister on their own with oversight and accountability.
- He led them to identify and raise up more leaders (Luke 10:1).
Soon, the twelve became seventy-two, and the seventy-two became one hundred twenty (Acts 1:15). The one hundred twenty, in turn, became five hundred (1 Corinthians 15:6).
From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he engaged in relationships to train and release leaders into the harvest field.
Paul’s example of leadership in community
Paul followed the same pattern. From the moment of his conversion, believers surrounded him, discipled him, and supported him (Acts 9:19, 25).
- Barnabas reached out to Paul and invested in his life (Acts 11:25-26).
- Paul took men with him on his missionary journeys, forming ministry teams (Acts 14:23).
- He poured his life into leaders like Timothy (1 Corinthians 4:17), Titus (2 Corinthians 8:16, 23), and many others.
- Even when Paul was in prison, he was cared for by the community of believers (Acts 28:11-16).
Paul knew that ministry was never meant to be done in isolation but in community. He wrote in Ephesians 4:11-12, “He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…”
Building a ministry team
The sun was blazing in the hot Texas sky. It was August, and the high temperatures were well into triple digits. By the late afternoon, trucks and cars streamed onto a remote ranch. As the sun set, nearly one hundred men gathered, eating barbecue and playing capture the flag with paint guns.
But this was no ordinary gathering. These were men who had made the choice to invest their lives in others. Each one was a proven reproducer, a multiplier.
I stood in the circle and began telling these men the secret to the power of the Roman Army:
“The Centuria was the basic tactical unit of the Roman army during the life of Christ. It was comprised of eighty warriors, broken down into ten groups of eight. These eight warriors slept in tents together, trained together, ate together, and fought back-to-back together. They were the tip of the spear.”
I looked into their eyes and said, “This is why tonight I am calling you Centuria. You are the personally trained and battle-tested warriors of our church! You know how to make disciples. You are the special forces. You are the front-line warriors of the movement that God is producing in and through us.”
Then I gave them a challenge.
“Will you commit to make disciples until Jesus comes?”
One by one, each man stood by the fire, received a challenge coin, and declared:
“Yes, I will!”
Step into the mission
There is something compelling about a clear call and a band of brothers. Most men go through life accomplishing tasks but never accomplishing much. They aren’t called to a battle. They aren’t called to something greater than themselves.
That is exactly what Jesus did with his men. He called them away from small thinking and self-absorbed living to a greater cause. He called them to give their lives to a movement that would change the world.
When you give yourself to making disciples, you help others reproduce. Eventually, you will gather a group of like-minded men who, as John Wesley said, can “shake the gates of hell.”
So how do you build a team of men like that? How do you develop men who will work shoulder-to-shoulder with you in the trenches of disciple-making?
It starts with one simple step—commit to invest in a few.
This blog features an excerpt from one of our books, Bold Moves.
