Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. (Mark 6:7-10)
There are three important elements to the way that the first disciple-makers were sent out to make disciples: 1. They possessed the authority of Jesus 2. They had nothing to depend upon 3. They were relational.
1. It’s important for my church to once again understand what it means to have the authority of Jesus. It is not a magical phrase “in Jesus name” nor is it emotionalism or anything else that can be contrived in the heart of man. To have the authority of Jesus you must be under the authority of Jesus; fully submitted to him and determine to do all things for his name and for the kingdom. Only one under authority can operate in authority.
2. It’s also important not to overlook the reason behind the radical instructions to take nothing for the journey, no bread, no money, not even an extra shirt. The reason was not that poverty somehow makes a person more holy, but that it makes a person more dependent upon me. It is this unwillingness to step out in real physical dependence that has kept my church from accomplishing my call to preach the gospel to every nation. It’s not enough merely to ask for my blessing, I want my church to be in a place where they are literally dependent upon my blessing. The disciples intentionally chose to be needy and weak so that my power would be perfected in each of them.
3. The third element was perhaps the most important part of disciple-making: they were instructed not to organize public meetings or rent public halls, but to enter a house and stay in that house until the work was done. My kingdom can only spread in a relational way, where potential disciples are in close contact with disciples and there is an imparting not just of evangelistic information, but of the character and lifestyle of a follower of Jesus. I am calling my church to once more see gatherings in terms of individual houses and to turn away from kingdom of the world concepts of how gatherings should look.
— October 4, 2020