I was recently listening to a podcast on hiring church staff. The presenter made the statement that you might have to “kiss a few frogs” before you find the right person for your staff.
As I thought about that statement for a while, I began to realize it wasn’t just true for hiring church staff people. It is also true for finding the right disciples to invest in. Not every potential disciple is created equal and not everyone that you pour your life into is going to become a fully trained disciple that is ready to multiply more disciples.
When I tell you I know what it means “to kiss a few frogs”, trust me, I do. I have kissed a few frogs when hiring staff people and I have also kissed a few frogs in disciple making. You can never really know for sure how a disciple will turn out. Sometimes the ones that seem to have the most potential never finish the race and sometimes those you think will never make it end up reproducing the most disciples.
Trying to identify the right disciples to invest in is always a bit of a gamble but I do offer a few suggestions. First, pray that God will direct you to the right person or persons. Jesus prayed as a part of selecting his disciples and it will serve you well to do the same. Secondly, look for hungry people. In other words, look for potential disciples that indicate a certain level of desire to grow and go to another level in their walk with God. If a person isn’t hungry to grow, there is less of a chance that they will develop and then reproduce more disciples. Finally, look for people who have taken smaller steps before taking larger steps. In other words, test a person’s level of commitment before making a big commitment to them. The person who is faithful in small things is more likely to be faithful in bigger things.
Jesus had some frogs in his life. In fact, one of the saddest verses in the Bible is John 6:66, “From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him.” Even Jesus had people in his life that did not finish the race.
