Um.. excuse me?
In elementary school, we had a lot of mnemonic devices to remember things. Never eat soggy waffles. My very elegant mother just served us nine pizzas. PEMDAS. Basically every School House Rock song ever recorded.
Sunday School was no different for me. We had catchy tunes to learn scripture or the order of the books in the bible. We learned little phrases or letter orders for how to evangelize, how to pray, how to be a C, a C-H, a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N. But apparently one that was skipped for me was the names of all 12 disciples.
I know there are some out there that probably roll their eyes at that one, the same way they rolled their eyes when I told them that up until a year ago, I hadn't read the bible from cover to cover. While these good intentioned people could probably tell me every King mentioned in the bible, in order, what they didn't realize is that they missed a huge opportunity to disciple me, encourage me, recognize that my walk with God was developing in new ways.
I've been a Christian practically my entire life. I was raised in the church. I went to a private Christian school for many years. I could tell you all of the major stories, the layout, the books in order, and all the facts we're taught to spit out. I even was a credentialed Pastor for a while! But it took me, making a conscious choice to be better and grow closer to God, to pick up that Bible every day and read. I remember a pastor in a podcast that I was listening to say that when a congregant asked him what he did when he got to the end of the bible, he just started back over. So I did! And it's like I'm reading something brand new all over again.
The same thing is happening with my schooling. I'm back at it again. Apparently getting my MBA wasn't enough for me.. But what I love about school this time around is that it's forcing me to open my eyes and dive deeper into this thing called ministry. And that's where this comes in - a blog of my exhausted echoes. Where I can sound off my thoughts and my sound waves into a giant valley called the internet and only hear my own voice come back to me. It's not about fame or recognition. It's about remembering the building blocks in this journey that are creating a more solid foundation for my ministry to grow.
So what's with the Bart and John thing? It's a mnemonic device to remember the names of the twelve disciples! "Bart and John filled Tom's mat with 2 Jams, 2 Juds, and 2 Simons." Bartholomew, Andrew, John, Philip, Thomas, Matthew, James, James (Thaddeus), Jude, Judas, Simon, and Simon Peter. 12 ordinary guys that Jesus hand selected when he began his years of ministry. Roughly 80% of his ministry was served with these guys.
They were more than companions or friends. They were a pretty big deal. And on paper, they really weren't qualified at all to be the Messiah's right hands. They were sinners, tax collectors, regular joes, fisherman. Not one held nobility status. Some were impulsive, one was specifically nicknamed a troublemaker. Peter cussed. They were just like you and me.- except for maybe one small difference. Jesus saw their potential and they were willing to leave it all behind to follow their master. He demanded obedience and they gave it with all that they had.
In my Great Commission Strategies course, the professor mentions Jesus and his passion for people over programs. Discipleship is all about the people. When the right people are in place, the rest of the stuff falls in to order just as it is designed to. Jesus would never have been able to feed 5000 people in a field without his team. He couldn't have effectively ministered without his team. He couldn't have been the Messiah without his people. We can't be ministers without ours, either.
So, who are your twelve? Who are you going to select to be on your team to help you do what God has asked you to do? Can you name them without a mnemonic device to remember? Are you involved with them, showing them through your life choices how to serve and live for God? Are you building them up, teaching them, and releasing them into the world as effective disciples? Jesus commanded us to go. It's our turn to be obedient and give it all that we have.
