Living in the Image of God M05S09
Christ interactions with two boats and their crew, during the call of four disciples on Sea of Galilee, lead to understanding leader-follower relationships and responsibilities. The interactions show that God sees every person at the same time and knows every quality of each person to determine who to choose for what. Although he calls some as leaders and others as followers, he values leaders and followers alike. He calls every person to perform their responsibility as leader or follower and rewards them according to the same criterion. In the study example, he rewarded the chosen boat and the other boat with a catch of fish to the full capacity of each boat. Also, he rewarded the crew of both boats with equal opportunity to become disciples of Jesus.
This is the second of a two-part bible study on leadership, focused on understanding the relationships between leaders and followers when two or more people organize to execute a mission or project. In Part 1 of the study, we discussed leadership in the partnership of Paul and Barnabas. The current study, Part 2, discusses leader-follower relationships based on Christ interactions with two boats and their crew during the call of four disciples on the Sea of Galilee.
The interactions lead to understanding that God sees every person at the same time and knows every quality of each person to determine who to choose for what. He calls people to mission and assigns them responsibilities as leaders or followers. He values leaders and followers alike and rewards them according to the same criterion.
In the study event, Jesus saw two boats and chose one as platform for his teaching. However, the crew of both the chosen boat and the other boat stayed to listen and wait for further instructions from him. After his teaching, he rewarded the crew of both boats with a catch of fish that exceeded their expectation and was measured according to the capacity of each boat. The reward criterion for the crew of the chosen boat was the same as the criterion for the crew of the other boat. Further, he rewarded the crew of both boats with an opportunity to become disciples of Jesus. Thus, the interactions lead to understanding that when God calls people to a mission, he assigns them specific responsibilities as leaders or followers and rewards them alike for performing the responsibilities.
Continue reading “Leader-Follower Relationships Based On Call of Four Disciples”
In this bible study we examine interactions at the call-up of the first disciples of Jesus (based on the account in Luke 5:1–11) to understand God’s expectations and designs for human partnerships. The interactions illustrate that God expects people to work together, in collaboration, to accomplish objectives that he places in our path. For each assignment, he chooses a leader and provides opportunity for other potential participants to join the leader in an alliance to accomplish the task. The chosen leader is expected to recognize the assignment—an opportunity that God has placed in his/her path, start work as needed while leaving doors open for others to contribute. The other potential participants are expected to recognize the opportunity and make themselves available to contribute, by staying close enough to offer needed assistance but far enough to avoid getting in the way of accomplishing the objective. We learn through the interactions that God will reward all participants in a successful alliance. Leading or following, the size of your harvest will be determined by your capacity.