YESHUA’S HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
To accomplish His global mission, He needed the best talent in the world. He did not look for them in the corridors of knowledge but found them in the backwaters of Galilee. (Luke 4:18; Hab. 2:1-3).
TALENT SCOUTING FOR WORLD CHANGERS
Warren Buffet, one of the world’s richest men, once said that he is not a very smart man, but he surrounds himself with smart men who make all the money for him. A smart man is evaluated by his performance and not by his academic qualifications. Jews were once the most literate people in the world. As soon as a Jewish woman knows that she is pregnant, she starts doing mathematics so that the child will grow up to be a scientist. Although Jews were known as the “People of the Book,” Yeshua did not go talent scouting among scholars, for he was looking for work horses who would turn the world upside down. He did not go to Jerusalem, where the smartest young men were undergoing training, under the most talented teachers of the time, rather he went to the lakeside and fished out some dirty, smelly but hardworking fishermen and turbo-charged them who then went like a tornado, turning the world upside down.
Seafaring fishermen are a hardy bunch who are used to working at odd hours, sometimes all night, in uncomfortable situations, away from the comforts of home-cooked food, soft bed and family. They are used to taking risks under hazardous weather conditions. They knew how to survive in the perilous sea as well as in the competitive world of the fish market. A fisherman is not known by his fishing gear but by how many fish he catches. Yeshua Himself was evaluated by John when he was in jail: “Are you the one (Messiah)?” Similarly, an Ekklesia is a club of “fishers of men,” and will be evaluated, not based on the club activities, but by the number and variety of fish they catch. (Matt. 4:19; 11:1-6)
YESHUA BREAKS THE MONOPOLY AND DIVERSIFIES
Yeshua was looking for entrepreneurs who would capture and create a global market for His product, “salvation through the gospel.” A salesman is judged by the amount of company product he sells. A completely new kind of talent was required that was not available at the top ‘Business schools’ in Jerusalem where students were being trained primarily for synagogues and temple business, which were of no use to Him.
Yeshua was planning to take “His Father’s business” (Luke 2:49) out of the monopoly of the oligarchy of the elite few, and to diversify it into the hands of the common man worldwide. This required a completely different talent, which, surprisingly, was available in abundance everywhere else. Yeshua knew that the Father had put the bud of leadership skills inside every person, so that all they needed was opportunity to blossom under careful nurturing and mentoring.
YESHUA BUILDS A SUICIDE SQUAD
It is one thing to recruit talent and another to equip and retain them, for trainees are only as competent as their training. Training is not just transfer of knowledge but making effective and productive practitioners of the skills acquired. Do not just impart theological knowledge but provide tools that help fabricate disciples. Yeshua was training a suicide squad (‘witnesses’ comes from the Greek martyrs) that would be willing to wage a holy war against malignant monsters, releasing the earth from their illegal possession. For this, He did not give them a Sunday morning pep talk, rather He led them to enemy territory every day, providing them with hands-on experience. The best place for learning the skills of spiritual warfare is in the demon infested trenches of real life, not inside of classrooms. At the end of training, they not only had the game plan but also the skills for intergalactic Star Wars against the extraterrestrial powers out there.
YESHUA’S CONFRONTATIONAL STYLE
The modern church seeks tranquility in volatile situations, resulting in zero impact on society, whereas every time Yeshua went to the temple, He encountered hostile temple authorities. Finally, He cracked a whip and cleansed the temple. He was brutal towards the Pharisees and other religious leaders, calling them hypocrites, a brood of vipers, whitewashed graves, to their face. The original meaning of the Greek word hupocrite is ’actor.’ The church today is full of religious actors who put on all kinds of special effects, costumes, titles and body expressions as they act out their role. Yeshua called Herod a fox. His disciple, Peter, went one-step further, calling those religious leaders, murderers in his maiden public speech (Matt. 23:14-33; Acts 3:15).
The church must torpedo its own unlawful structures before it can become a prophetic voice to the world. A surgeon must explain to his patient that their cancer must be removed, lest it kill him. Yeshua remains the Great Physician wielding a sharp scalpel, which is for the healing of the nations. Yeshua did not follow the soft option of being a “man pleaser,” or to show himself politically correct. Rather, He died to convict the world of sin, having promised, When the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:8-14). Truth can prove brutal. Your family, friends and community may reject you, yet the Bride must be without spot or wrinkle (Eph. 5:27; Gal.1:10).
YESHUA REPLACES HIERARCHICAL MODEL WITH ROLE MODEL
Like the secular world, churches and missions also have become hierarchical and bureaucratic with a top-down management style. The symbols of power are buildings, a large staff, air-conditioned offices, fancy cars, sound systems, computers, money and being surrounded by sycophants and boot lickers. The security issue has become so urgent that many leaders build virtual fortresses around themselves. In the NT Ekklesia, the only security they had was the Holy Spirit with whom they managed to turn the world upside down (Luke 24:49). Equipping a spiritually effective successor requires a love like Jonathan’s love for David, which meant willingly giving up one’s own legitimate right to the throne (1 Sam. 18:1-4).
Yeshua reversed the self-seeking model by dying on a cross in obedience to His Father. Paul said, “Imitate me as I imitate Yeshua” (1 Cor. 11:1). The disciples were to be trained by imitating His lifestyle and His teachings. He was a role model who removed the teacher-student and race, class and gender divides, by calling His disciples friends, brothers and sisters (John 15:15; Luke 8:19- 21; 22:24-27). Guru Yeshua inverted the top-down hierarchical system when He washed His disciples’ feet (John 13:5). Finally, He taught them the ultimate lesson that the captain must be the first one to face the firing squad and declare, “tetelestai, mission accomplished.”
YESHUA SUCCEEDS IN SUCCESSION PLANNING
One of the most important things that Yeshua did was to train His disciples (John 17:4). Today, we live in a “talent economy” where your business can only be as good as your personnel’s talent. Since no one is perfect, the best CEO surrounds himself with the best talent. Once His disciples were trained in making disciples, their boss, Yeshua, set them free, no longer controlling them. This does not mean that He abandoned them. Rather, He sent His Spirit who did not control them either but became their partner (John 14:1618; 15:26-27; 16:7-15).
Often when a charismatic leader dies, his movement begins to peter out. In the case of Yeshua, however, the movement not only thrived but is today the biggest multinational enterprise, generating billions of dollars whilst providing employment to thousands, and is in the process transforming the lives of millions.
TALENT SCOUTING SHOULD BE A CHURCH’S OBSESSION
In a knowledge-based, world economy obsessed with talent, there is no competitor who comes anywhere close to Yeshua’ model of transforming ordinary people. He debunked the exploitative world economic system based on sucking the sweat and blood of poor people and built a team, without worldly economic muscle power, of goal-oriented entrepreneurs who went and turned the world upside-down. Yeshua developed techniques, methods, and financially sustainable services by deploying the hidden talents of ordinary men and women that took them out of poverty and instead provided them with abundant life. He instilled in them such a passion that they would be willing to commit their entire lives to His mission (Acts 4:18-20; 2 Tim. 2:2). Not surprisingly, all His disciples, like their Master, willingly became martyrs.
SEEK, AND YOU SHALL FIND
Nebuchadnezzar a pagan emperor, knew where to find the best talent, even among the slaves. The world is ready for social, economic, and spiritual plunder, but there is insufficient skilled talent available for capturing the global market. We must become obsessed with finding talent, like Daniel, Shadrak, Meshach and Abednego and equip them with core competencies, and then letting them go to plunder those that are in the illegal possession of the strongman (Matt. 12:29-30). The most important thing that we can do is to find common folk who have hidden talents, and to equip them to become extraordinary channels of grace and power. With Yeshua beside them, and with us out of their way, they will be more than conquerors, helping God’s people to live in peace, harmony, equality, justice, and love.
GEMS:
The Ekklesia exists to save the meanest of rascals, where they can be transformed, equipped, and sent out into the world as extraordinary channels of His grace, to rescue other rogues and scoundrels.
Because of churches’ shoddy performance, salvation has been reduced to a trickle, even denied, so the death toll rises daily, with millions languishing in Hell.
Avoid argument, because then you are trying to prove that you are right, and the other guy is wrong. Rather, discuss, because then you are trying to prove that a point is right or wrong.
“Do not say I am but a youth, for you shall go to all to whom I send you and whatever I command, you shall speak. Do not be afraid… Behold I have put My words in your mouth”. “I have this day set you over the nations and kingdoms to root out, to pull down, to destroy and to tear down. To rebuild and to plant again” (Jer. 1:7-10).
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