Jesus clearly built a team to carry out His mission on earth. These men would travel with Him for three years, and they would be entrusted to carry His mission forward after the Day of Pentecost. But how did Jesus build His team? In the Gospel of Luke, we read about the choosing of the apostles. This was one of the most important decisions Jesus would make, and he took it very seriously. From His decision, we discover three characteristics that marked Jesus’ team-building approach.

1. Prayer

Luke 6:12 says, “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.” Before Jesus made His team-building decision, He invested significant time in prayer. If I had to guess, this probably wasn’t His first time to pray about it, but it was clearly the moment that He invested the greatest amount of time.

There’s an important lesson here for leaders: The weight of the decision determines the length of your prayers. By length, I’m not talking about rambling on and on in a public setting. I’m talking about investing adequate time in prayer before making the most important decisions. 

Jesus would travel with these men for the next three years, so He had to hear from His Heavenly Father. Similarly, some of our decisions will impact us and the people we lead (and the mission God has entrusted to us) for years to come. Hearing from God about the people we invite onto our staff, boards, and teams is essential. 

2. Choice

Luke 6:13 says, “When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles” (emphasis added). Notice, Jesus didn’t vote on the twelve. He didn’t call everyone together and say, “I’ve got twelve openings on my leadership team. Here’s your voting card with everyone’s name on it. Whichever twelve get the most votes…you’re in.” 

This was Jesus’ choice, and His choice was guided by the time He had spent in prayer with His Heavenly Father. Similarly, leaders don’t need to make every team building effort a matter of voting. That’s why you’re the leader. You are responsible for choosing the right team for the moment…the right team for the mission. 

Team building isn’t a popularity contest. Team building is guided by the fact that there’s a mission that hangs in the balance, and the only way to fulfill that mission is to get the right people on the team. Choose…and choose wisely. 

3. Selectivity

There’s a subtle aspect to Luke 6:13 that reveals another dimension of Jesus’ team-building efforts. It says, “he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them.” Who were these disciples?

During the first century, a disciple was a learner. A learner wasn’t focused so much on a subject, but rather a person. When we think of learning today, we think of a class, a major, or a subject matter. But in Jesus’ day, it was a matter of learning from a rabbi…from a specific person. It was a matter of a mentoring and discipling.

At this moment, Jesus had disciples…people who wanted to learn from Him personally. We don’t know how many, but there were obviously more than twelve. And yet, when Jesus built His team, He didn’t choose everyone. He picked twelve. Who were they?

“Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor” (Luke 6:12-14). 

This rather average band of men would follow Jesus for the next three years. Though average on the surface, they were the right people. From everybody He could have chosen, Jesus selected these twelve men. 

I’ll say it again: team building is not a popularity contest. When you select people for the team, it implies that you didn’t select others. That’s one of the hard decisions you have to make as a leader. Not everybody is going to be on the team. Not everybody will make the cut. And not everybody will be happy when you make your final decision. 

Does that mean you don’t love them? Of course not. Does that mean they can’t serve on other teams or in other places of ministry? Not at all. You have to prayerfully align character, competence, and chemistry to select the right person. 

This doesn’t mean that every team building effort is a public matter. In most cases, they won’t be. But you have to make the call. You have to live with your decision. And if somebody asks, “Why am I not on that team,” you have to confidently and humbly give your reason. 

Another reason selectivity is important is because teams become less effective the larger they become. Small teams can pivot quickly and make faster decisions (often better decisions). In fact, if you want to eliminate a great deal of frustration in your leadership, keep your teams small. Working with a team of 3-6 qualified leaders is far better than trying to guide a team of 15 people. You’ll never make a decision with that many people on the team.

As you build your teams, keep these three keys in focus. As you do, you’ll experience greater impact and fewer issues. Most importantly, the mission of Jesus will move forward as you maximize the gifts and abilities of the team.