4 Steps To Start Moving From Teaching A Crowd To Equipping The Saints

Teaching requires two things: a competent instructor and receptive students. Equipping and discipling require much more. The difference can be seen in the ways Jesus addressed a crowd, compared to how he addressed his disciples. The New Testament says he taught, scolded and had compassion on crowds (Mark 10:1, Luke 11:29, Matt 9:36). But with the disciples, he did much more. To start getting a handle on what it means to become a disciple/equipper, here are a few essentials we see Jesus doing with his disciples:

May 25, 2018

by Karl Vaters

Teaching requires two things: a competent instructor and receptive students.

Equipping and discipling require much more.

The difference can be seen in the ways Jesus addressed a crowd, compared to how he addressed his disciples. The New Testament says he taught, scolded and had compassion on crowds (Mark 10:1, Luke 11:29, Matt 9:36). But with the disciples, he did much more.

To start getting a handle on what it means to become a disciple/equipper, here are a few essentials we see Jesus doing with his disciples:

Author

Karl Vaters

Karl produces resources for Helping Small Churches Thrive at KarlVaters.com.
He's the author of five books on church leadership, including his newest, De-Sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What's Next. His other books include The Grasshopper Myth and Small Church Essentials.
Karl also hosts a bi-weekly podcast,The Church Lobby: Conversations on Faith & Ministry, featuring in-depth interviews about topics that concern pastors, especially those who minister in a small church context.
Karl has served in small-church ministry for over 40 years, so he speaks and writes from decades of hands-on pastoral experience. He and his wife, Shelley have three children and two grandkids.

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