Surround Yourself With Those You Want

From today’s reading…

Many times when you see the close friends of a celebrity they are comprised of people they knew before they were rich and famous. It’s a trust issue.

As a celebrity, it’s hard to tell if people want to be your friend because they sincerely like you or if they want something from you now that you have means and connections.

And that circle of trust is small and closely guarded.

Jesus does the same thing in choosing a small group that “he wanted.” I bet many begged and did things to ingratiate themselves to Him, but He didn’t pick them.

And He didn’t pick a huge group because being the King of Kings He knew that a manageable group of men that could be effectively lead into battle by one person was in the range of eight to twelve.

The Roman Legion had Contuberniums of eight while our modern Army has squads of 7 to 14 soldiers led by a sergeant.

Speaking of sergeants, in verse 16 Mark begins naming the 12 and starts with Simon, who is renamed Peter, Cephas or Kepha in Aramaic, which is the language Jesus spoke, thereby indicating that Peter was the leader of the group under the King, but I digress.

The other brilliant move Jesus makes today is having a corporate off-site meeting. You gotta get your people out of the office, free them from their cubicles, get their faces out of their computer screens, get them out into nature, stretch their legs, shake things up a bit so the new policies are clearly understood along with their importance.

Finally, Jesus empowered and trusted His team to spread the Good News. He understood the mission statement and could repeat it, which only about 6% of executives can today, but I digress.

So make sure you believe in the mission you expect your people to convey to the world. You do that by empowering them, getting to know them, and showing them that you love them by your actions, which is the only way to…

Stay the course. Keep the faith. Endure.

Now go sell something.