As our nominating committee meets to prayerfully select potential leaders for our congregation, I reflect back on the ways Jesus chose His disciples – and then His apostles. I find myself fascinated by the variety of personalities. Though approximately half of them were fishermen, the others came from different cultural backgrounds. I saw in a small group of men a microcosm of the church – the body of Jesus Christ. Each man was unique, but each had a special place in carrying out God’s Kingdom’s work. Even Judas would have made a great contribution had he not been captivated by greed and motivated to betray Jesus and sell his soul for thirty pieces of silver. If these disciples were being selected for strategic positions today – both for ministry, and in the corporate world, I wonder how they would fare. Bill McCartney and David Halbrook in their book entitled “Sold Out” share the following fascinating interpretation. It is an e-mail from the Jordan Management Consultants, sent to Jesus in response to His request for an assessment of the men He was thinking about choosing to be His apostles. It reads as follows.

To:	Jesus, son of Joseph Woodcrafter's Carpenter Shop Nazareth 35922 E-Mail Jesuscarpenter.com
From:	Jordan Management Consultants Jeruselum 26544 E-Mail: JMC.org

Thank You for submitting the resumes of the twelve men you have picked for management positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests; and we have not only run the results through our computer, but also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant.

It is the staff’s opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education, and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking.

Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, sons of Zebedee, place personal interests above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We feel it our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James, the son of Alphaeus, and particularly Simon the Zealot have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic depressive scale. Thaddaeus is definitely sensitive, but he wants to make everyone happy.

One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind, and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious, and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right-hand man.

All of the other profiles are self-explanatory.

We wish you every success in your new venture.

These profiles are “tongue in cheek” and in no way invalidate all evaluation techniques and tools, which can be very useful in discovering personality traits, abilities, skills, and leadership styles. However, the implication is clear and accurate. Most of these men would have been disqualified for service if they had been chosen based on what they were when Christ called them. The important lesson is what they became because of Jesus Christ’s discipleship program and the power of the Holy Spirit in bringing about the new birth in each of their lives and empowering them to carry out the Great Commission.

This certainly doesn’t imply that we should select people for key positions in the church who are self-centered and immature. But it does say we must think long range in preparing men and women to become good faithful followers of Jesus Christ.

These life stories are also a great source of encouragement. Jesus demonstrates that He can use us in spite of our weakness. He has the power to enable us to become men and women of God!

It’s my prayer that you’ll be as inspired as I have been as you reflect on the lives of these men and what they can teach us. I pray you will offer yourselves to God’s divine work through the ministries of Florissant Valley Christian Church.

Rev. Janice Walters