When I was a brand-new Christian, I remember wondering why Pastor Mark always insisted we go to Subway for lunch. How about some variety? Later on, I realized he was systematically building a relationship with the family behind the counter. He was also modeling intentionality and evangelistic faithfulness for me.
What Mark did for me is like what Jesus did with his disciples. He invested deeply in the Twelve and even more so in the Big Three (Peter, James, and John). It turns out this is a good model for any pastor trying to develop leaders—select a few promising men and invest deeply in them.
But what does this investment actually involve? Consider the following priorities.
1. Raising up Elders
In 2005, I accepted the call to be the pastor of Evangelical Christian Church of Dubai. There were six elders at ECCD when I arrived. They came from an array of theological backgrounds, including Brethren, Mennonite, charismatic, evangelical, and pragmatic. One elder also happened to be the pastor of a Mandarin-speaking church planted by ECCD. This conflict meant he never attended our church.
We were all over the place in our ministry philosophy and outlook. Some elders emphasized prayer walks,
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