The most important need in ministry today is not for more entertainment but for DEEP DISCIPLESHIP that is based in truth that comes from the life of Jesus Christ. We might call this type of discipleship the “leadership development of the heart.” This is not skill-based leadership since this training only scratches the surface of deep leadership. The issue in a man’s life is not so much leadership, but the heart which guides his leadership. Christian men across the country sense the need for this deep discipleship. If you listen carefully around you, you can hear a quiet cry rising in the hearts of men for something more than they currently experience; a void that is only filled with discipleship from God’s word.
We are not the only generation of men who longed for this. There were ancient men like John of Patmos, Luke the Evangelist, Simon Peter, and the other men who were seeking a “rabbi” (or “teacher”) in a time when there were few, if any, that invited them into a journey of discipleship. These ancient men had desperate hearts for deep discipleship. Just notice how they quickly they dropped everything to follow Jesus when he called. The void of their hearts was not filled with entertaining services, pop culture books, or new the latest trends in philosophy, but only with the truths of God’s word mixed with life on life experiences where they were confronted, challenged, and shaped by real circumstances from a qualified rabbi named Jesus.