Part 2 – Investing in the Right People

Who are the right people? How do I choose whom to invest in? Sometimes I think we are too easily paralyzed by choices. Mainly, I think, because we are so afraid of making the wrong choices. These wrong choices don’t just pertain to the conferences you attend or the products you buy, but they also extend at times to the people you choose to trust.

A good friend recounts a story of how he spent every Thursday evening for an entire year helping a young couple put their marriage back together. Then when the couple had finally begun to approach health in their relationship, they left the church to go somewhere else. They thought they needed a fresh start because the pastor knew too much about their messy past.

When we choose to engage in life with people, we are choosing to get messy. Sometimes we invest and we invest and we invest, and then at the end of our investment people disappoint us. Should we stop investing? No!

Investing in the right people simply means that you are spending yourself for the sake of someone who needs you. They must have a passion for Christ. They need to have a desire to serve the Lord and grow in their faith. They need to be teachable and willing to listen and learn. And you need to be able to get along with them.

It seems to me that the discipleship model that rises out of Titus 2 is for the older to teach the younger. Paul tells Titus to teach the older men and women so that they can then teach those who are younger than themselves.

The rabbinic model of discipleship that Jesus used allowed the teacher to choose his disciples, not the other way around.

I wonder what it would look like if we pastors took the initiative in the spiritual formation process of individuals in the church. This year, why not identify one or two young men (or women, depending on your gender) and invite them into your spiritual journey. Become a spiritual father or mother to someone who needs you. Go into it with one specific agenda: To see this person grow closer to Christ and to be more capable of clearly reflecting His glory to a watching world.