Day 37 of Lent :: Unlikely Candidates

He appointed twelve that they might be with Him 

and that He might send them out to preach.
(Mark 3:14)

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He spent all night in prayer, seeking God’s direction, and He then chose twelve individuals to be His disciples.  Consider His perspective.  As the Son of God, He was going to choose twelve men to carry on His mission on earth once He returned to the Father.  For what character and temperament qualities should He look?  What type of selective process should He use? 

Suppose Jesus had consulted a local employment agency to assist Him in His selection of future leaders.  How would this agency have assessed the twelve men Jesus selected?  Consider the following as a possibility:

Memorandum

TO:
Jesus, Son of Joseph
Woodcrafter Carpenter Shop
Nazareth

FROM:
Jordan Management Consultants
Jerusalem

Thank you for submitting the résumés of the 12 men you have chosen for management positions in your new organization.  Each of them took our battery of tests, and we analyzed the results.  Our psychologist and vocational-aptitude consultant then interviewed each one.
It is the opinion of the staff that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education, and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking.  They do not have a concept of working as a team.  We would recommend that you continue your search for people of proven capabilities and managerial experience.

Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper.  Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty.  Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale.  We feel that it is our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau.  James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both register high manic-depressive tendencies.

One of the candidates, however, shows great potential.  He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind and has contacts in high places.  He is highly motivated, ambitious and innovative.  We recommend Judas Iscariot as your comptroller and right-hand man.  All other profiles are self-explanatory.
We wish you every success in your new venture.1

Reflection: Are you glad God does not see things the way humans do? As you go through your day, reflect on the following verse.  As you meditate on it, ask God to increase your ability to see situations and people as He does.

No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this, 

Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—
What God has arranged for those who love Him.
(1 Corinthians 2:9)

1 Greg Ogden, Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples a Few at a Time, 77.